JLR’s new off-roading tech is an absolute game-changer

You’d also need to have some pretty in-depth knowledge of how to actually drive a car off-road, which settings would be best for which scenario, how and when to brake and turn, how much throttle you would need for a particularly steep incline. Then there’s all the technical stuff, making the most of your locking differentials and low-range gearboxes, getting your car primed and ready for tackling harsh environments.

Truth be told, it was an incredibly exclusive exercise that many drivers would simply never feel competent or confident enough to risk, but the goal manufacturers like JLR – that have made a business out of selling off-roaders – is to make it far more accessible to people like me, who have never really engaged in any proper off-roading before.

The off-roading lifestyle is no longer locked away behind a door of complexity and uncertainty. Thanks to a constant cycle of development and innovation, the cars that JLR is producing have brought the idea of venturing into the wilderness to the masses.

We paid a visit to Land Rover’s testing base at Eastnor to get some hands-on experience of JLR’s latest off-roading technology and understand exactly why these cars are so good at what they do. The overwhelming takeaway was that driving off-road is not only crazy fun, but also an opportunity to revel in the genius of some very clever engineers.

The first car we jumped into was a Defender 110, the undisputed champion when it comes to off-road capability, particularly when tasked with wading into a river. This experience provided the first ‘wow’ moment of the day as, by selecting Wade Mode on the infotainment screen, the car proceeded to set itself up to tackle a bit of water. We say a bit, with a wading depth of up to 900mm the Defender can plunge into actual rivers without batting an eyelid.

With automatic ride height adjustment and active filters that can close themselves to stop water from trespassing into the engine, you’re ready to go, guided every moment of the way by a genius reimagining of parking sensors that beep at higher frequencies as you get closer to the limit of the car’s wading capability. It’s a wonderful piece of hand holding that will save many a driver from coming a cropper mid ford.

I had never driven through much more than a puddle before, and yet without any form of training or practice whatsoever, was able to drive straight into a river and come out the other end unscathed. Despite all of the hand holding, the experience of driving in deep water is brilliant fun. There’s a very odd feeling of traction as the throttle pedals seems to lighten up as the wheels grab at the surface, and you get quite the physics lesson as currents and waves affect the way the car behaves.

Our jaws remained firmly on the floor when we returned to dry land, because the sheer scope of the technology onboard these cars is firstly impressive in itself, but then you consider the attention to detail for each and every implementation. It’s only when you make the most of all the tech available that you realise the expertise and the passion that goes into cars like this. There are layers to the tech that continually address the needs of the driver. It is of course entirely down to the driver’s choice as to how much hand holding you accept, but some of the things you can ask for help with are remarkable.

Even down to the finest points of convenience, the Defender has an auto hold feature that will keep the car stood on an incline even on low-grip surfaces. Then, there’s the exterior cameras that keep an eye on the important areas you can’t actually see with your own eyes. If you’re having to be ultra-accurate with your front wheels there are cameras watching each side to help guide you. An additional forward-facing radar can also help you to plot your steering in much the same way a reversing camera can in your normal road car. There’s also a full augmented reality display of your car that will show you how close obstacles are from all directions, so you can be sure you’re clear of a nasty tree stump.

With all of these additional aids in use, the act of driving in rough terrain is transformed into a properly enjoyable and relatively stress-free affair. As long as you’re on the ball with your observations and keep an eye on what’s ahead to control your speed, there’s really very little that can go wrong. The Defender is an incredible piece of kit.

After finding that out, we swapped over into a Range Rover Sport to find out that it’s not just JLR’s utility vehicle that can mix it with the rough stuff. Here we had a chance to play with some of the other clever features that the brains behind Land Rover have been busy working on.

First and foremost was the adaptive off-road cruise control, which on the face of it may sound a bit dull, but after a bit of deeper thinking and experiencing its genius first hand this quickly became our favourite feature of them all. Activate the system and it will keep the car moving at a pre-set speed, much like your standard cruise control on your road car. But normally cruise control just has to worry about the speed of the car on the road, and if its adaptive it’ll conform to the traffic, too. With JLR’s off-road system however, it’s also paying attention to the surface its driving on and the steepness of inclines.

You take your foot off the pedal and the car will adjust its settings accordingly for the conditions and make progress for you. It’s absolutely mind-blowing stuff, and makes the car feel alive because it will occasionally come to halt to rethink its next move, you can almost hear the cogs turning in its car brain as it sets itself up for a climb or some particularly tricky looking mud ruts.

You are of course in control of the steering wheel throughout all of this, but the car can put up with your nonsense as well. We were challenged to put in increasingly jarring steering inputs at all kinds of horrible angles, and yet the car was able to shift the power to whichever wheel was required to keep everything in check and safely complete the manoeuvre. Deeply impressive.

Then, there’s the low-traction launch, that in much the same way can basically take an inexperienced driver out of the equation and carry out a steady and controlled hill start on seemingly any terrain. It’ll control power output according to grip levels and essentially ensure the car is able to get moving in almost any circumstance. We tested this with the system switched off, too, to feel the difference, and it’s safe to say we’d have been very stuck without it.

But that’s not to say any of this tech was taking away from our fundamental driving experience. Quite the opposite in fact. You still feel like you’re accomplishing something while you’re behind the wheel of one of these cars. There’s enough feel still coming through the pedals and the wheel that you’re still involved in the process. All of this just means you’re able to make progress without stress, and that, for drivers like me with no real clue of how to tackle terrain like this, is such a brilliant feeling.

The icing on the cake is the Range Rover’s four-wheel steering, which with 7.3 degrees of rear-axle steering allows for 10.95-metre turning circle which is frankly ridiculous. You simply can’t help but laugh at some of the manoeuvres you can complete in a car that is five metres long. We were weaving in and out of trees and clowning around a spot in the forest that would have felt tight in a Volkswagen Golf.

We genuinely believe that thanks to cars like this, with technology so advanced and incredibly well-honed delivering such user-focused assistance, the option to go off-roading has been opened up to absolutely anyone who wants to give it a go. We’ve certainly had our heads turned to trying out a bit of Green Laning around the Sussex countryside.