- 30 years of Land Rover Discovery: Comedian and actor Jack Whitehall and his father Michael go travelling in a new film with Land Rover
- Towing tech: Jack demonstrates the self-steering capability of the Land Rover Discovery using its Advanced Tow Assist technology
- Race against time: Under his father’s instruction, Jack reverses a 6.8m long Airstream caravan along the narrow tidal causeway to shore from La Corbière Lighthouse in Jersey
- Intuitive control: Jack shows how easy it is to reverse a trailer using ‘the knob’ on the centre console and rear-facing camera tech to guide the caravan
- Three decades of family SUV expertise: Discovery is renowned as a family 4x4, with seven full-size seats, world-first remote Intelligent Seat Fold functionality and the latest connectivity tech
- Tow king: With a maximum towing capacity of 3,500kg and a string of global towing awards, the Discovery is the world’s most capable and versatile premium SUV
- Watch it: The Land Rover Discovery seven-seat family SUV is priced from £47,745 in the UK. See The Whitehalls in a race against the tide here: https://youtu.be/m4fzr7c5QoU
Reversing a trailer is stressful at the best of times, but add the watchful eye of your father, a narrow single-track causeway, a luxury 6.8m caravan and an incoming tide and you have all the ingredients for a towing disaster – especially for a novice driver. But the pressure didn’t stop British comedian and actor Jack Whitehall from getting behind the wheel of the Land Rover Discovery at the Corbière lighthouse in Jersey, to reverse all the way to the mainland as the tide rushed in.
When it comes to towing, the seven-seat family SUV has led the way ever since the original model pulled a train at its launch in 1989. Now, with his father Michael providing encouragement, Jack has written the next chapter in the Discovery towing story by demonstrating how easy it is to reverse tow using Advanced Tow Assist.
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY TOW ASSIST TECHNOLOGY IS PROVED ‘IDIOT PROOF’ BY JACK AND MICHAEL WHITEHALL
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY TOW ASSIST TECHNOLOGY IS PROVED ‘IDIOT PROOF’ BY JACK AND MICHAEL WHITEHALL
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY TOW ASSIST TECHNOLOGY IS PROVED ‘IDIOT PROOF’ BY JACK AND MICHAEL WHITEHALL
With a luxurious 6.8m long Airstream Missouri caravan hitched to the Discovery, and using the rear-facing camera and dash-mounted rotary controller to steer, Jack successfully navigated the full-size SUV along the narrow causeway just in time to avoid the incoming tide. A few moments later, the entire 300m stretch of private road was covered by the waves.
I’m a driving novice, so reversing without a trailer is a challenge – never mind doing it with a huge luxury caravan hooked up. It was fun to see the steering wheel moving on its own, as I used ‘The Knob’ to steer. Without the clever tech on the Discovery, I’m pretty certain we’d have been swimming back to shore – I just wish it had a mute button for my dad, too.
Jack Whitehall
Comedian and Actor
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY TOW ASSIST TECHNOLOGY IS PROVED ‘IDIOT PROOF’ BY JACK AND MICHAEL WHITEHALL
The latest towing demonstration from the Discovery family follows a 16km drive across the Australian Outback in 2017, pulling a 110-tonne road train. The Discovery Sport premium compact SUV also pulled a 100-tonne train across a Swiss railway bridge – inspired by the Discovery 1, which completed a similar feat at its 1989 launch. Thirty years on, the Discovery is still the world’s most versatile and capable family SUV.
Reversing across the Corbière causeway was an impressive feat, but we all know the Land Rover Discovery did all the work. It wasn’t Jack, it was ‘The Knob’, so let’s not fool ourselves
Michael Whitehall
Jack’s father
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY TOW ASSIST TECHNOLOGY IS PROVED ‘IDIOT PROOF’ BY JACK AND MICHAEL WHITEHALL
Advanced Tow Assist allows drivers to reverse a trailer using the rotary controller on the centre console to guide the vehicle. Operating the pedals as normal, the intuitive system shows the predicted path of the caravan, horsebox or trailer on the infotainment touchscreen, enabling drivers to steer with ease as the vehicle calculates the precise level of counter-steering required to maintain the desired trajectory.
The Land Rover Discovery has proved itself to be the ultimate family SUV over the past 30 years and Advanced Tow Assist underlines those credentials. Jack had never towed anything before, but the technology makes parking a horse box or reversing a boat down a jetty really simple, which is great news for novice drivers and experienced hands
