P
Pacman
Guest
I sampled a Range Rover Sport Supercharged HST today at Gaydon Proving
Ground....and I must say, what a totally amazing vehicle.
First off I took it round the off-road testing course, which it handled with
such ease. Deep water, ruts, gravel, 35 degree angles...it took it all very
easily, only using about 3 of the 400hp I had available to me. I didn't
think that it would handle the course so easily, but it did - and this is
the same course that all Land Rovers use when in development.
Next it was out on the public highway, and apart from the blistering
performance I was most impressed with Active Cruise Control - it takes over
the complete driving of the vehicle - all the driver needs to do is point
the wheels in the right direction. It measures the gap between you and the
car infront and maintains that gap by accelerating and braking when
necessary. Very disconcerting at first, but after a couple of miles I got
used to it very easily.
Then finally I went with an instructor who took me on the test "lanes",
which are a mixture of smooth, bumpy, potholes, concrete roads, throwing
this 2.5 ton beast into corners on a piece of road, barely the width of the
car in some places, like a motorbike rider would...infact the instructor is
also a biker and he treats both his bike and the RRS in the same way and at
similar speeds, as the RRS holds the road so well. After that it was a
couple of runs up and down the high speed circuit, when he managed 133mph
before running out of straight.
Today has left me in awe of this vehicle, especially the off-road
performance, as I was expecting it to manage a few bumpy bits, but not the
terrain I've been on today. At £63,000 its far too expensive....plus I'm
not a footballer or drug dealer so I won't be buying one, but even so, it
was still amazing.
And did you know that every Aston Martin to leave the factory at Gaydon gets
upto 40 miles put on the clock by drivers throwing it round the high speed
track??
--
Thanks,
Paul
Ground....and I must say, what a totally amazing vehicle.
First off I took it round the off-road testing course, which it handled with
such ease. Deep water, ruts, gravel, 35 degree angles...it took it all very
easily, only using about 3 of the 400hp I had available to me. I didn't
think that it would handle the course so easily, but it did - and this is
the same course that all Land Rovers use when in development.
Next it was out on the public highway, and apart from the blistering
performance I was most impressed with Active Cruise Control - it takes over
the complete driving of the vehicle - all the driver needs to do is point
the wheels in the right direction. It measures the gap between you and the
car infront and maintains that gap by accelerating and braking when
necessary. Very disconcerting at first, but after a couple of miles I got
used to it very easily.
Then finally I went with an instructor who took me on the test "lanes",
which are a mixture of smooth, bumpy, potholes, concrete roads, throwing
this 2.5 ton beast into corners on a piece of road, barely the width of the
car in some places, like a motorbike rider would...infact the instructor is
also a biker and he treats both his bike and the RRS in the same way and at
similar speeds, as the RRS holds the road so well. After that it was a
couple of runs up and down the high speed circuit, when he managed 133mph
before running out of straight.
Today has left me in awe of this vehicle, especially the off-road
performance, as I was expecting it to manage a few bumpy bits, but not the
terrain I've been on today. At £63,000 its far too expensive....plus I'm
not a footballer or drug dealer so I won't be buying one, but even so, it
was still amazing.
And did you know that every Aston Martin to leave the factory at Gaydon gets
upto 40 miles put on the clock by drivers throwing it round the high speed
track??
--
Thanks,
Paul
