There are few brands that are as synonymous with producing vehicles capable of conquering the toughest terrains on earth as Land Rover. Unfortunately, most modern Land Rover buyers don’t take their expensive British bruisers too far from the pristine cobbled streets of their respective suburbs. I have a lot of respect for Land Rover, however, despite the fact that the majority of its buyers never use the excellent off-road capabilities of its SUVs, refusing to call for the development of its own new off-roaders.
Land Rover puts its development vehicles through a lot of torture testing before they reach dealer lots, and I recently watched a video showcasing the evolution of the 2004 LR3, known as the Discovery 3 in most markets. The video shows a lightly camouflaged LR3 prototype undergoing durability tests, most of which involve scenarios that can be easily reproduced in a city setting. I believe that if it can withstand abuse off the road, it can withstand abuse on the road too.
included curb strikes, ramp drops, and road emergency maneuvers
I used to be a pre-production durability test driver, but sadly it never included time on a closed course like this. My old job involved putting hundreds of thousands of general-use miles on test mules and prototypes, and testing certain features like self-parking systems and repeated charging on electrified cars. If the work was like this video, I might have stuck with it.
The first clip shows an LR3 going over a curb at 30 mph, and the boxy SUV reacts as if it’s hit a speed bump while traveling very fast. The second clip shows the development vehicle hitting a small, steep ramp and then immediately falling off a small cliff, which again, LR3 makes less work of. The voice-over refers to this obstacle as a 300-mm ramp, which is about a foot in Freedom units at 10 mph, and again the LR3 takes it like a champ.
Probably the LR3’s most spectacular stunt in this video is the third event, which according to the narrator is a 450-mm ramp dropoff. It’s hard to understand the statement, but the LR3 hits the ramp at 20 or 30 mph, goes airborne, and lands quite carelessly on its front wheels. 450 mm is about 18 inches, which may not seem like a lot, but performing this stunt in most other vehicles could bring the vehicle over if the nose hits the ground first and the airbags deploy. It has many more tests to face, so go ahead and join in. Watch someone torture a luxury off-roader by testing it for 60 seconds. you’ve earned it.
