Land Rover Experience UK anyone done it

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,


Flew back from Townsville last night and someone left a magazine in the seat pocket, so looking thru it came across a article about Land rover Experience UK, and seemed like a impressive set up.


Sure it may be similar to any driving course, but being all Landy's and instructors who drive Landy's could be a good day out.


Yep of course you need to be in the UK I know, but would like to hear any first hand thoughts.


Cheers Ean

[UncleHo]

They have several "experience" centres around UK,they have been going for years,many of the staff have been competors in the Global Challenge and other Land Rover sponsored events.

Reads 90 may be able to clue you up, shoot him a PM ;)

[Aussiebean]

I have done the Land rover experience a couple of times before moving to Australia, it is a really good day out, but it is aimed to owners with new Land Rover, so if you are expecting a hard 4x4 day, you might be disappointed, but if you want to learn what you can do safely, and within the limits of the Landy, then it is well worth it

[jerryd]

I have done the Land rover experience a couple of times before moving to Australia, it is a really good day out, but it is aimed to owners with new Land Rover, so if you are expecting a hard 4x4 day, you might be disappointed, but if you want to learn what you can do safely, and within the limits of the Landy, then it is well worth it

X 2 :)

We used to live near Gaydon so were regular visitors to the heritage centre, did the experience drive a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn't even own a land rover in those days :D

Land Rover Offroad Experience - Heritage Motor Centre Gaydon - YouTube

[camel_landy]

I have done the Land rover experience a couple of times before moving to Australia, it is a really good day out, but it is aimed to owners with new Land Rover, so if you are expecting a hard 4x4 day, you might be disappointed, but if you want to learn what you can do safely, and within the limits of the Landy, then it is well worth it

Sorry... Not correct.

LR Experience deliver lots of different courses, ranging from a little spin around a dealer carpark to the full-on 'hardcore' stuff. It depends on the course you pay for.

M

[camel_landy]

Gday All,


Flew back from Townsville last night and someone left a magazine in the seat pocket, so looking thru it came across a article about Land rover Experience UK, and seemed like a impressive set up.


Sure it may be similar to any driving course, but being all Landy's and instructors who drive Landy's could be a good day out.


Yep of course you need to be in the UK I know, but would like to hear any first hand thoughts.


Cheers Ean

Whadda ya wanna know???

I'm one of the Eastnor instructors. ;)

M

[Jojo]

Have a look here:
LR Experience (http://www.landrover.com/gb/en/lr/experience-land-rover/land-rover-experience/land-rover-experience)

Now make your pick. Those days are quite fun. I have suggested getting a gift voucher for one of those events as a present at several worthy occasions, but hitherto my hints have failed to produce any result :(. Will have to continue working on it.:angel:
Cheers

[solmanic]

I did it at Solihull in 2007 just before buying our Puma Defender. For me that was the best one as you got a full (minus paint shop) factory tour in the morning followed by a decent lunch then afternoon on the test tracks. They gave us choices of vehicles so I chose a Defender and top spec Disco.

You get to drive the course and then backseat for others in the group. The Solihull course has all the same testy bits any other one does - elephant's footprints, see-saw bridge, steep cross angles and up and downy bits. Water wading etc etc. All very impressive and just about as hardcore as any real world off-roading I've done.

It must have been good because I came away with only a couple of photos - too busy doing stuff to bother with the camera. At the end they threw several Land Rover magazines at us (so don't buy any beforehand) and some other trinkets. Massive fun and informative. Eastnor may be a more picturesque location (been there too) but for my mind Solihull is the heartland... and close enough to Birmingham for the wife to spend the day shopping ;-)

[Ean Austral]

Whadda ya wanna know???

I'm one of the Eastnor instructors. ;)

M


Good Stuff, some would say you have the perfect job.:D


Some questions have been answered, but was interested if you could choose what model Landy you wanted to drive, and even if you got to do it in a few different models which would be even better.


If I ever get to the UK think it would be worth giving it a crack. If these are the testing grounds for Land rover then they wouldn't be a walk in the park, plus get to try it all in someone else's car:wasntme:


Cheers Ean

[Steve Td5 130]

Hi all

My parents David & Maureen P

Have been on a number of Landrover Experience Training days over the years.

The last course they was about September/ October this year.

On there return I get chance to watch the videos and check out all the pictures.

I will be happy to pass on your email if you would like some more information on the courses.

Cheers

Steve

[MC90]

Hi Ean,

Yes you can choose the model of Land Rover for the training, just request it when you book the course. I did the half day in Dunkeld, Perthshire earlier this year in a Defender - great fun!

[jon3950]

I've done a couple.

The first one I did was at Solihull, with the half day tour of the factory and half day on the test tracks. Drove a Defender, Disco and Rangie. If you're interested in engineering or manufacturing at all this is a fascinating day.

The second was at Bala in Snowdonia. For this one I went with a friend who had recently bought a Disco 3 and was new to 4wding. We did a full day beginners course in a G4 Disco 3 as I wanted him to learn what the D3 was capable of. I had discussed it with them beforehand and they were very accommodating. We did a lot of the set-piece drive through a big puddle, climb a rough hill, put a wheel up a bank stuff which was good for a beginner but a bit ho-hum. However, in between this stuff the instructor let me loose on a few very interesting tracks and at the end of the day we ended up on a track that looked for a while like we were going to spend an evening winching out.

At the time I had just moved from a D2 to a D3 and it was actually on this course that I really learnt how to drive the D3 and it went from being this weird car that went off-road to feeling like a real 4wd.

At the time, both these days were quite expensive for what they were due to the exchange rate, but they were worth it. It was really interesting trying 4wding in another country, tracks were interesting and instructors very knowledgeable. I would thoroughly recommend them and next time I'm the UK I will do another one. I was thinking Perthshire, but maybe I should try Eastnor?

Here are a couple of photos from the day - apologies for the quality they were scanned from prints.

Cheers,
Jon

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/12/235.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/12/236.jpg

[camel_landy]

Yes, you get to choose which car from the range you want to go out in. There is a slight price difference but not much. I know it's nice to try different cars but you'd be better off sticking with the one, otherwise you loose driving time to learning the details about each car.

I'd argue that Eastnor is probably the 'spiritual' home as it has been part of engineering & R&D for over 50yrs, synonymous with the like of Camel Trophy, G4 and the launch location for many cars over the years. We've got approx 5,500 acres & circa 70km of track to play with, most of which started life as forestry tracks... :D

M

[camel_landy]

The first one I did was at Solihull, with the half day tour of the factory and half day on the test tracks. Drove a Defender, Disco and Rangie. If you're interested in engineering or manufacturing at all this is a fascinating day.

Indeed it is. The new line that have gone in for the new Range Rover and the paint shop is fascinating. :cool:

M

[LandyAndy]

Ean
Adam(AgroJnr) visits there from time to time.His father in law works for Land Rover,nice bloke too.Adam brought him on an WA AULROian trip many years back.
A link to his recent post/visit.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/international-reports/184315-heritage-motor-centre-uk.html
Andrew