| Motors
Range Rover Sport PHEV
is first to climb to
Heaven’s Gate
A dizzying 99 turns and 999 daunting steps didn’t stop the new Range Rover Sport PHEV from completing a world-first
at one of China’s most famous landmarks. The petrol-electric performance SUV has become the first vehicle to climb
the stairs to the natural rock arch of Heaven’s Gate.
he challenge
began at the
bott om of the
legendary 11.3km
Tianmen Mountain
Road (known as
the Dragon Road). The showroom
standard Range Rover Sport
P400e took on the demanding
course, with Panasonic Jaguar
Racing’s Ho-Pin Tung behind the
wheel and the Terrain Response 2
system in Dynamic mode.
At the summit of the road, the
Formula E driver optimised Terrain
Response for the second part of
the challenge, conquering the
towering 45-degree staircase of
999 steps leading to China’s
T
legendary Heaven’s Gate using a
combination of Ingenium petrol
and electric battery power.
Ho-Pin Tung said: “I’ve
experienced Formula E, Formula 1
and won at the 24 Hours of Le
Mans but this was without doubt
one of the most demanding driving
challenges I’ve ever faced. The
Range Rover Sport PHEV
performed brilliantly as it inspired
real confidence on the mountain
road and climbed the stairs up to
Heaven’s Gate effortlessly.”
The new PHEV powertrain gives
the Range Rover Sport a zero-
emission EV range of up to 50km
when fully charged but Ho-Pin
Tung used its advanced 300PS
56 | Farming Monthly | March 2018
Ingenium petrol engine and 116PS
electric motor to make short work
of the road section of the
challenge. The performance SUV
then showed its uncompromised
all-terrain credentials by climbing
the steep staircase to the natural
rock arch.
Phil Jones, Land Rover
Experience expert, said: "This was
the hardest Range Rover Sport
challenge I’ve ever been involved
with because, until we reached the
top, we couldn’t categorically say
we would succeed. By making it to
the summit, we’ve proven the
phenomenal capability of the
Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid
like never before – with a genuine
world first.”
The Dragon Challenge is the
latest in a series of adventures
completed by the Range Rover
Sport after the PHEV model made
its debut in a race against two-time
open-water swimming world
champion Keri-anne Payne and
endurance athlete Ross Edgley in
Devon, UK.
Previous exploits include a
record-setting hill-climb at Pikes
Peak, USA, a record crossing of
the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in the
Arabian Peninsula and a 2,170m
descent of the legendary Inferno
downhill course in Mürren,
Switzerland.
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