All-New Range Rover Sport Takes On Mighty Spitfire In A Unique Duel Of British Legends At Goodwood
- Two British legends of land and sky engage for the first time
in a unique off-road race
- The All-New Range Rover Sport, Land Rover's fastest SUV to
date, goes head-to-head with the heroic Vickers Supermarine
Spitfire in a challenge organised by FortyOneSix.com
- First off-road challenge of its kind over the grass airstrip at
Goodwood Aerodrome, putting speed, agility and handling of both car
and plane to the test
Monday 8
th July 2013: Two supreme examples of British
engineering, the All-New Range Rover Sport and the legendary
Supermarine Spitfire, have engaged in a unique duel to measure
their off-road mastery.
The Range Rover Sport, the fastest production Land Rover to
date, representing the latest advances in all-terrain performance
has been pitted against Britain's most famous fighter aircraft in a
high-speed off-road race along the grass airstrip at the Goodwood
Aerodrome in Sussex. Land Rover was invited to take part in the
challenge, formulated by Goodwood's FortyOneSix.com website. It
provided a perfect curtain raiser for this weekend's Festival of
Speed, where the new Range Rover Sport will be making its UK
dynamic debut.
The race - the first of its kind at the airfield - involved a
straight drag run down and back on the runway, punctuated by a
nimble U-turn. It was particularly challenging being conducted on
the bumpy grass airfield, notorious for being a low traction
surface.
The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire lined up for the contest was a
1945-vintage model, piloted by Matt Jones from the Boultbee Flight
Academy. Powered by a 1,750bhp V12 Merlin engine, it has a maximum
airspeed of 400 mph, and its typical acceleration on take-off is up
to 80mph before the wheels leave the ground, making it a strong
contender for victory against the Land Rover.
Mike Cross, Jaguar Land Rover's Chief Vehicle Integrity
Engineer, was at the wheel of the All-New Range Rover Sport, a
5.0-litre supercharged V8 model with 510 hp on tap. Even though
grass is one of the most challenging terrains on which to gain
traction, for both acceleration and breaking, Cross still managed
to clock a top speed of 130 mph before braking for the mid-race
turn.
The turn manoeuvre was helped by the Range Rover Sport's new
Torque Vectoring technology, which contributes to stable and secure
cornering by applying appropriate braking to the inside wheels.
Cross explained that Land Rover was pleased to take up the
challenge: "The team couldn't resist the challenge laid down by FortyOneSix.com and to race
such a British icon.
"It's always difficult to find traction from a standing start on
grass, but the Range Rover Sport made a great launch off the line.
I was surprised by how bumpy the course was as I accelerated up to
130mph, and of course the other extreme challenge is to brake in
time for the turn-around, but the car felt composed throughout the
whole run."
To find out whether it was classic or cutting-edge British
engineering that won the day watch the film.
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