Land Rover Driving Experience

After driving both the Range Rover Sport and the Range Rover HSE, I've been able to get a real sense of what these vehicles can do. Translation: the Range Rover can flat out get busy!

First, I put the full-size Range Rover HSE to the concrete jungle test. That is to say, I hurriedly drove through the streets of Los Angeles and Orange County as my usual crazy schedule dictated. I got a strange feeling from the Range Rover. It was a smooth and quiet ride, just as I had expected it to be. The handling was flawless.

Most likely the gentle ride along the freeways at high speeds was aided by the 19-inch alloy wheels and the fully independent electronic air suspension with cross linking. The braking was so smooth that I forgot I was in the stop-and-go rat race that is Southern California rush-hour traffic. Any reduction of stress while driving in high traffic is much appreciated, and Range Rover affords its drivers that subtle luxury.

Still, like I said, I expected to be comfortable. After all, Range Rover is a luxury SUV. And the Range Rover's interior features do not disappoint. The up-high drive with Blenheim leather-trimmed seats were complemented with a leather-wrapped power tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel with automatic tilt-away. This fantastic comfortable configuration had me thinking captain's chair on a James T. Kirk level.

However, there was always something else going on as I drove through the city. I would look down at the off-road gadgetry and, like the very first Star Trek film when the lost Voyager probe had become a living and thinking entity, it was if the car was secretly sending me a message that it could do more. Range Rover needed to do more. Range Rover needed to let its driver know that it could do more if given the chance.

The chance to show an unparallel driving adventure came for us both at the Land Rover Experience at Quail Lodge . I could handle the city stuff on my own, but when it came time to test out the Range Rover Sport HSE over a true off-road course, I sought out the professionals.

Lead Instructor Travis Martin would be my guide through the challenging off-road course nestled throughout the hills of Carmel Valley, California. I can paint many descriptions of what the daunting trail was like through the eyes of a novice. There were many steep cliffs with narrow passageways along with pointy rocks and several types of trees that seemed to grow freely in whatever direction that pleased them.

But as a true city boy, I can sum it up like this: anytime you drive off a cliff, and all you can see is mid-air and not the road underneath you, you're off-road driving!

When I got ready to take the wheel after Travis had driven for a while and explained some things to me, the Range Rover Sport seem to smile at me. I got that sci-fi feeling all over again as the vehicle raised its suspension about an inch as it readied itself for the adventure.

Several advanced systems worked in unison at the turn of a dial. It was simple. We had terrain response, electronic brake force distribution, emergency brake assist, cornering brake control, hill descent control, and all-terrain dynamic stability control working masterfully for us automatically after adjusting one setting. What does all that mean?

Well, let's go back to the cliff thing. After we had perched ourselves atop a narrow winding hill, I drove down without ever braking. The hill descent assist made adjustments as I maintained control of the vehicle by simply adjusting the steering whenever gravity took the vehicle in a direction that I didn't want to go. Man and machine worked together because Range Rover could do more.

There were other things I noticed about my off-road adventure. One was that the Range Rover Sport, although smaller and more compact than the Range Rover HSE, had just as much power. It went uphill like a beast when I stepped on the gas. The brake distribution was nice and even when I used it on the trail, whether it was down hill, uphill, or somewhat sideways on an uneven part of the trail. I had the feeling the Range Rover would not let me down.

The all-terrain dynamic stability control had various settings. We were using a loose gravel setting, I believe, but there was also a "mud and ruts" setting, as well as other settings that would assist in various types of weather and other hazards.

I finished my half-day experience with respect and admiration for the Range Rover and I felt as if I had become a little better driver myself.

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