Range Rover Sport Takes On Downhill Alpine Ski Course

Range Rover has taken its new Sport SUV and set the car and driver to a significant challenge. The vehicle took on an Alpine ski course that is difficult for skiers to finish and seems unthinkable for a SUV to complete. The ski course is called Inferno and is located in Murren Switzerland. The driver behind the wheel is former Stig from Top Gear fame Ben Collins.

The drive down the infamous course took 21 minutes and 36 seconds at speeds up to 96mph. The entire route spanned 14.9 km and was a 2170 meter descent with grades up to 75%. The Range Rover Sport used in the feat packs a 510PS 5.0L V8 engine.

Range Rover says that this is the first time that a production vehicle attempted this downhill ski run. The SUV followed the route used by skiers throughout the run. While the course wasn't yet covered in deep snow, there was snow, ice, loose rock, mud, broken asphalt grass, and gravel on the course. At the top of the course Collins had to contend with sleet and ice at speeds up to 75mph. The bottom of the course was packed with fog and wet grass, but Collins reached speeds up to 96mph.

"This was genuinely one of the hardest tests I've faced in my driving career. The route was insane and certainly the toughest course I've ever completed. It challenged you with every kind of obstacle this side of molten lava and as conditions go, it was about as bad as it gets – torrential weather mixed with cliffs, trees, all kinds of stuff you don't really want to crash into," said Ben Collins on the drive.

SOURCE: Land Rover