How to experience a Land Rover without buying one – The Mail & Guardian

Three wheels: The Land Rover Defender experience is sure to give you an adrenaline rush. (Eyaaz Matwadia/M&G)

Let’s be honest. Few South Africans can afford the luxury brand Land Rover. It’s difficult for most of us to step into a car that costs over R1 million, especially in this economy. 

But we South Africans like nice things — even if it’s just for a short period of time. We thrive on the thrill of beautiful experiences and those little things are what make us happy — what make us forget the challenges we face for a short time. 

Since the Land Rover Defender was relaunched in 2019, it has become smooth on the eye. Nobody ever doubted its off-road capabilities, and those who had one formed their own little community, but now it offers the best of both worlds — toughness and looks. 

When you see a new Defender on the road, its aura almost puts you the same trance you experience when a G-Wagon drives past you. It has become one of those vehicles that get added to your wishlist, although you might never be able to own them.

Fortunately, the Jaguar Land Rover Experience Centre in the Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, which is open to the public, offers you a time in the Land Rover model of your choice to show you what the vehicles are all about. 

My selection was the Defender 110 D350, which is a powerful vehicle. It started off with a smooth drive around Sandton and Fourways, where you can enjoy the vehicle on the N3, depending on the traffic. You finally get to be the guy on the road who everyone is looking at. But this experience went well past showing off. 

When you come back to the experience centre, you can take the vehicle around a trail designed to allow you to feel what a Land Rover — in my case, the Defender — can do. 

Sure, the big screens inside the vehicle, the technology, the pure luxury are sweet treats when it comes to any Land Rover, but I had no idea that what was about to come would push my adrenaline to the same levels that the Tower of Terror at Gold Reef City does.

To start off, the instructor brought me to a steep incline, the first of many. This was a sand road and seemed nothing major — except that when you are moving up the slope, the only view you have is of the sky. It was about trusting the camera, keeping tyres on tracks and just making it to the other side. 

We also went up muddy and rocky inclines but, using the same principles and the correct driving mode, that became a breeze after I had completed the first one. 

The experience got more thrilling as I continued.

At one point we drove over some rocks and I was instructed to turn one wheel onto a higher rock. I felt a tremble in my stomach, the car felt as if it was about to capsize, and then it just stopped. I could see that my instructor was having fun, but I had never experienced anything like this before, so it took me a moment to realise that the car was not on its side. 

When I got out, I found one tyre was off the ground but there was the Defender, perfectly balanced on three wheels.

We moved on to drive through 700mm of water. The Defender is capable of navigating a maximum depth of almost 900mm of water, so this was cutting it close, but we made it to the other side. Somehow, we made it over a rocky river bank. At this point, I was sweating more than I usually do after an intense game of padel. 

More hills filled with different obstacles followed but ,by then I had come into my own, so tricky terrain no longer phased me. 

The experience was not just an off-roader’s paradise, or for fans of the brand, but a real thrill-seeking adventure. 

However, it does come at a price. The 90-minute taster off-road experience, which I did, costs R1 520. You can also do a half-day course, which starts at R2 980, and a full day off-road advanced course that starts at R4 050. 

It’s not the cheapest but, if you’ve always wanted to step into one of these vehicles and fear that you might never own one, the R1 520 is definitely worth it, especially because you get to experience it in the correct manner.