Motoring: Rovers rocked by rough terrain

UNTIL the 12th hour it had been so straightforward. The Range Rovers were doing what they were designed to do, in this case romping through and over the moorland tracks of the Borders. It looked glorious as the low winter sun radiated the autumn colours.

We had almost yelled with delight as they scrambled up and crawled down slopes, or careened along axle-deep ruts. There had even been a two-hour night route through the Duke of Roxburghe’s woods in that national treasure, the Land Rover Defender, surviving seemingly insane descents – into water which came halfway up the doors and smothered the beams from the headlamps.

The event was one of the 10 two-day workshops on the latest diesel engines – each attended by 20 motoring critics from around the world.

At face value it had seemed merely a validation of how a bit more power and lower emissions and better fuel consumption and minor detail changes were keeping the models up to scratch. We’d been here a few years ago to try the latest Discovery – now superseded.

Novices on the press rota cooed with alarm, “Will it really go down there?” as we were directed off tarmac and straight down what looked like a 45-degree dive to oblivion. It is called Ronnie’s Dream – set up by Land Rover off-road driving coach Ronnie Dale on his estate adjacent to the Duke’s, to put the jitters up “been-there” motoring hacks.

It is like high diving. Head first and keep focused. Do it right and you’ll arrive safely. Yarr, here we go. Back for a bath then dinner at Floors Castle in the duke’s personal dining room drinking his regular claret, Château Méaume, (said to be the home of cognac brandy) attended by his butler, hosted by the factor and lady wife. We had gone from backwoods to highest society in Land Rovers. Good enough for a gamekeeper, good enough for a Duke and Duchess.

Day two and the wheels started to come off the wagon, literally. The sharp rocks were nicking the walls of the Pirelli Scorpion tyres on some of the Range Rovers – making them unsafe for further use. At around £250 a shot it would add extra cost (and inconvenience) to your grouse shoot. With new rubber we were on our way to lunch at the Albert Roux branded restaurant at Greywalls, a watering hole for Muirfield golf course – Land Rover believes in delivering succour after the toil.

Our Buckingham Blue Range Rover V8 diesel was whisking us there in that uncanny opulence and grace achieved by these brick-like machines. Yours for £83,785 plus extras.

Suddenly we were being flashed and honked from behind. Jesters no doubt. Actually no, diesel was pouring out from the bowels of Blue Beauty. We hitched a lift to lunch. Lobster fish pie awaited. My Scottish co-driver was quickly informing his Facebook and Twitter pals of the calamity.

Land Rover later reported that diesel issue: further investigation showed that the fuel pipe at the bottom of bulkhead had fractured from rock impact damage.

A spokesman said: “Fuel pipes are protected under the vehicle in all vulnerable areas but it is impossible to protect all areas due to the unpredictable nature of severe off-road use. We will feed back our findings to the engineering team at Gaydon.”

Tyre damage: “The tyres we use on all Land Rover products are developed for use on and off-road. The sidewalls are developed in conjunction with Pirelli and are designed with several attributes in mind, not just off-road. These include; road noise, steering feel, ride and handling, etc.

“Sidewalls on all road tyres from any manufacturer could be damaged under the severe off-road that we were putting the cars through on the media drive. For customers that require a more off-road focused tyre we offer as a dealer fit option the Goodyear MTR.”

We had been testing the autumn updates of the 2012 diesel models (excluding Freelander and Evoque). The Defender has a cleaner and more economical 2.2 litre diesel replacing the old 2.4. It meets Euro 5 emissions and is fitted with a diesel particulate filter. Fluid seals have been improved to resist leaks and acoustic engine covers and sound insulation have been added to make it quieter.

Come next spring, Land Rover will be making firm proposals on the Defender’s replacement. It could use the platform shared by the Discovery and Range Rover Sport. Just how much they will change, or dare to change, the iconic shape is a big talking point. Things like side impact protection will be brought up to date and a full set of airbags and stability systems fitted. I was told it does not “have” to look much different from the current model. I hope not.

It could, though, use extra muscle to give it better ability on extreme hill starts. I would also like to try it with an automatic gearbox.

The Range Rover per se is at its 30,000 build capacity and receives very minor detail changes – such as the inclusion of some gloss black in the grille and lamp area.

Range Rover Sport and the Land Rover Discovery share a revised V6 diesel with an eight speed automatic gearbox. Power is up slightly and CO2 is down to around 230g/km. Rear DVD screens are an inch larger and the “infotainment” system is more powerful. The Sport has a powered, one-piece, aluminium tailgate option. The Discovery – the more practical of the pair – has the option of longer roof rails on the top model.

Random driving notes. The Sport’s door pockets are too slim to be of much use and the central locker fitted to it and the Discovery opens to reveal just a shallow tray. Neither vehicle is fitted with stop-start, nor is the Range Rover.

The Range Rovers are normally sold with 20-inch wheels but were fitted with 19-inch wheels in order to use the tougher walled off-road tyres. None of the test vehicles was in flash-git white, a colour that along with absurdly large alloys has boosted Range Rover Sport sales and diminished its image in politer circles. The dark muted colours look nicer.

Verdict: The Defender needs more power at low revs in extreme conditions.