What's the news?
Land Rover will pull the covers off its new Discovery Sport on September 3, but to keep us interested in the Freelander replacement we've been given a glimpse into the massive development programme for the new seven-seat SUV.
A total of 181 prototypes were built for the 11,000 tests to which a new Land Rover is subjected. Those trials included driving in temperatures as low as -36 degrees Celsius in North America and the 42-degree heat of the desert in Dubai. Proving the Discovery Sport's mettle off road included tackling 40-degree ascents and 45-degree descents, plus wading through 600mm of water.
It is even designed to work at an altitude of 4,000 metres. In total the test fleet clocked up 750,000 miles, or three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Anything else?
Trips into space are the goal of Land Rover's partner Virgin Galactic; the two companies have produced videos comparing the development of the Discovery Sport and Virgin's commercial, passenger carrying spacecraft. According to Murray Dietsch, Programme Director at Land Rover:
"There is a common philosophy towards engineering between Land Rover and our partners Virgin Galactic. We start with an idea and build from there, spending years refining a design and completing virtual testing before the first prototypes see the tarmac. As our partnership with Virgin Galactic develops, it will be fascinating to get closer to their team and explore common areas of engineering and expertise."
John Lambert - 10 Aug 2014