Land Rover Discovery successfully tows 110-tonne road train across Outback
Seven-trailer lorry weighed more than 30 times the SUV’s maximum tow rating
Land Rover’s Discovery has successfully towed a 110 tonne Australian road train.
The SUV, which has a maximum certified towing capacity of 3,500kg, managed to pull the seven-trailer 100m-long lorry across the Outback for 10 miles.
No modifications were made to the 4×4 which, in the Td6 trim used for the stunt, featured a 3.0-litre diesel engine developing 255bhp and 600Nm of torque couple to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
In contrast, the road train has a 15-litre diesel engine that uses 2,983Nm of torque to pull its load.
The stunt was performed to celebrate the release of the 2018 model year Discovery, and it’s not the first time the British manufacturer has towed a heavy load with a new arrival of the SUV.
In 1989, the first Discovery model was used to tow a train, while last year a Discovery Sport was used to pull rail carriages 85ft above the Rhine.
Quentin Spottiswoode, product engineer at Land Rover, said: “Towing capability has always been an important part of Discovery DNA, and the raw weight of the road train tells only half the story here.
“Pulling a rig and seven trailers, with the rolling resistance of so many axles to overcome, is a huge achievement.
“We expected the vehicle to do well but it passed this test with flying colours, hitting 27mph along its 10-mile route.”
