If you thought car manufacturers would do anything to get noticed, you'd be right. Granted, few can top our man Elon Musk who actually launched his pre-production Tesla Roadster into space, for attention-grabbing headlines, but Land Rover is trying hard, and who recently told - a presumably very brave test driver - to drive up the very daunting Heaven's Gate, one of China's most famous landmarks.
Why so daunting you ask? Well, for starters it is a 45-degree incline, and also it features 999 steps. Yep, Land Rover drove a Range Rover Sport up 1000 steps (who's counting) at an angle akin to staring at the heavens. Get it? Heaven's Gate... Anyway, they didn't just use any Range Rover, they chose the companies new PHEV, which to you and I means 'Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle' designated P400e. Not a very sexy name Range Rover, not sexy at all. The car is sexy, though, and you hard pressed to point out in a Sandton parking lot. Oh, and that very brave test driver happens to be Le Mans class-winner and Panasonic Jaguar Racing reserve and test driver Ho-Pin Tung.
“I’ve experienced Formula E, Formula 1 and won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but this was, without doubt, one of the most demanding driving challenges I’ve ever faced. The Range Rover Sport PHEV performed brilliantly as it inspired real confidence on the mountain road and climbed the stairs up to Heaven’s Gate effortlessly,” said Ho-Pin.
Developing a healthy 297kW from its combined petrol and electrical power powerplant and featuring the marques now famed Terrain Response system, Range Rover is quick to point out the that this stunt shows the Range Rover Sport PHEVs "dynamic breadth of capability on one of the world’s most challenging driving roads". We tend to agree with that Range Rover, however, we'd have to argue with the use of 'driving' and 'road' in this context.
