EXPERIENCING THE ALL-NEW LAND ROVER DISCOVERY SPORT L.A.-STYLE

To mark the North American debut of the new 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport, the brand is creating Land Rover Experience Los Angeles right in the heart of West Hollywood at the Pacific Design Center.

Bob Burns, Events Manager, Land Rover North America, explains what’s in store for the hundreds of invited customers and potential buyers who will take part.
 

What is Land Rover Experience Los Angeles?

The 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport is making its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opened on Wednesday, Nov 19th. We wanted to give customers and hand-raisers a much more in-depth look than they would get at our busy show stand, so we’ve taken over the main plaza of the Pacific Design Center on San Vicente Blvd. in West Hollywood, where we’ve created a display and viewing area for the new Land Rover Discovery Sport. We’ve also created a pretty cool urban off-road driving course where consumers can try out other models in the 2014 Land Rover line-up.
 

How long will the Land Rover Experience Los Angeles run for?

On Tuesday, we kicked things off with an opening night consumer and media reception at the Pacific Design Center plaza, where the 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport made its official North American debut. From Wednesday through Sunday, we’ll host hundreds of prospective buyers currently shopping for a compact sport-utility.

What will visitors of the ‘Experience’ see and do?

This is a really great opportunity for consumers to get an in-depth, under-the-skin look at the new Land Rover Discovery Sport. We’ll have experts on hand to explain the technology, explain the optional 5+2 passenger seating configuration, talk about its remarkable on-road and off-road capability and explain why the Discovery Sport really does set a new benchmark in this ultra-competitive premium compact SUV class.

What makes the 2015 Discovery Sport standout?

The Discovery Sport is Land Rover’s new premium compact SUV. Created to deliver a refined combination of capability and versatility in an efficient compact SUV, it features a 240hp turbocharged 2.0L engine with a nine-speed automatic transmission and standard four-wheel drive packaged with optional “5+2” seven passenger seating. Its design and engineering result in a dynamic profile, and excellent interior space featuring high-quality materials, elegantly integrated storage solutions and a Sports Command Driving Position. Long-travel suspension and a new multi-link rear suspension allow the Discovery Sport to be comfortable and refined on-road, while retaining the breadth of all-terrain capability for which Land Rover is renowned.

Will visitors be able to drive the Discovery Sport?

Visitors will not be able to drive the Discovery Sport, but, of course no Land Rover Experience event would be complete without an opportunity to experience some of our other vehicles, which is why we’ve created a dramatic, circular off-road driving course within the Pacific Design Center plaza.

What kind of challenges will drivers face?

The drive starts with the vehicle easing along a wooden-slat bridge, which replicates something you would find in Central America. From there it’s straight into a 50-ft long section of foot-deep sand, which really showcases the vehicle’s traction and composure over a very soft surface. No Land Rover Experience course is complete without splashing through some water. One of the features of the Pacific Design Center plaza is quite a large fountain. We built a bridge that pretty much goes straight through, soaking the vehicle with cascading water. Later on we have a 25-degree descent that plunges the vehicle into water that’s around 20 inches deep, perfect for showing off its wading capability.
 

What else does the course offer?

To create a gravel and rock-crawl section, we brought in around five tons of boulders to demonstrate the vehicle’s remarkable traction. To display axle articulation, we have our famous Elephant’s Footprint where the vehicle picks its way over staggered surfaces around 18 inches high. It’s not a long course - it probably takes 8-to-9 minutes to complete, and it’s a lot of fun. We have eight vehicles on hand for visitors to drive, with a mix of 2014 Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover LR4.

Will participants be able to take home a souvenir from the course?

We are mounting video cameras inside and outside each vehicle to record each driver’s entire driving experience. After their drive, visitors will receive a video to share with friends on social media. We encourage people to share in the conversation all week and tweet us at @LandRoverUSA #LandRoverLA.