In a world first, and following on from a series of challenges which seem to be getting more extreme every time, JLR decided to take on the fearsome Inferno downhill ski course in Mürren, Switzerland. British racing driver Ben Collins, most commonly known as ‘The Stig’, was provided with a production model Range Rover Sport, modified only with essential safety features (reinforced tyres, harnesses and a roll cage), and handed the daunting task of tackling the 2,170 metre descent.
During the descent Collins wearing his protective gear and his solomon quest boots reached speeds of 96mph and facing gradients of 75% in the Range Rover Sport, which was equipped with a 510PS 5.0-lire supercharged V8 petrol engine. Upon completing the hair-raising course, Collins described the challenge as the “hardest thing I’ve ever done”.
The Range Rover Sport itself seemed to perform extremely well in the conditions, reaching 75mph through ice and sleet at the top of the mountain, and topping out at 96mph through fog and wet grass at the bottom of. According to Jaguar Land Rover, this can be attributed to the pioneering Terrain Response technology, which controls a number of different features on the car, to help it quickly adapt to whatever conditions it finds itself in. For example the Anti-Roll Bar stiffens to reduce body roll in dynamic mode, the rear diff is locked to allow controlled wheel slip in ‘Mud and Ruts’ mode and when the ‘Grass/Gravel/Snow’ setting is used, understeer and oversteer are reduced by engine braking.
Overall this challenge has showed the Range Rover Sport is a genuine off-roader, and not just suited to suburban streets, as some may have you believe.
As you would expect from Jaguar Land Rover, they seem to be ahead of the curve as always, and have managed to secure an exclusive partnership with the world’s largest audio streaming service, Spotify.
What is Spotify?
Spotify is a digital music streaming service that allows you to access millions of songs, podcasts and videos. Spotify has over 100million users worldwide, accessing music fram a huge variety of artists and genres. The free version of Spotify is similar to a commercial radio station in the fact that although you get to choose the music you listen to, your song choices are intertwined with short radio-style adverts.
Following launch at the end of September 2016, the Spotify in-car app, available through the InControl Apps library on both iOS and Android can utilise both online & offline Spotify modes, means that you can always listen to your favourite songs, even in low-signal areas. Picking your own offline playlists is a great feature of Spotify, which may mean all of those ‘Driving Anthems’ CDs stashed away in the glove box may need to find a new home.
Jaguar Land Rover say they have been working alongside Spotify for a number of years to bring this partnership to fruition, and are extremely excited to bring this new app to all vehicles, past and future, with InControl apps (vehicles since 2014).
As excited as we are about this new innovation from JLR here at Britcar, nothing quite beats a cassette in a car, does it?
