train

Land Rover stopped people in their tracks last week as a standard Discovery Sport towed three luxury train carriages weighing more than 100 tonnes along a railway track demonstrating its towing capability. The 10km journey through the Rhine region of northern Switzerland put the compact Discovery Sport’s pulling power to the ultimate test. Though the Discovery Sport has a certified maximum towing weight of 2,500kg (2.5 tonnes), it was able to pull 60 times its own weight, powered by Jaguar Land Rover’s 180PS Ingenium diesel engine providing 430Nm of torque. In addition, the Discovery Sport benefitted from Land Rover’s portfolio of towing and traction technologies such as Terrain Response, Tow Assist, Tow Hitch Assist and All Terrain Progress Control – a semi-autonomous off-road driving system that automatically manages engine output and braking, to complete the tow.

Eighty-five years after three-time Le Mans winner Captain Woolf Barnato famously raced the ‘Blue Train’ from Cannes to Calais, modern day Bentley Boy, Steven Kane, has reinvigorated the legendary spirit in a tense four-hour 14 minute sprint against Saudi Arabia’s only desert passenger train. The dune train takes a 480 km route from Riyadh – deep in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula – to Dammam on the Arabian Gulf. The new Continental GT V8 S Convertible raced this unique locomotive on August 15th across the scorched, baren landscape and won, with six minutes to spare. Bentley Team M-Sport driver, Steven Kane, said: “Four hours is the same time as a stint at Le Mans.  But this was far more stressful. The heat, the conditions, not knowing where the train was, while driving within the limits of the country’s regulations.   […]