Publications
Partners
Australia - The Land Rover Discovery has been nominated as a finalist in the 2018 SA Car of the Year awards – fresh off the back of its latest challenge; towing a 110-tonne road train in Australia.
Road trains cover the vast distances of Australia’s Outback, carrying fuel, mineral ore and cattle between remote rural communities.
The mega-transporters can consist of up to four trailers, with strict regulations limiting them to a maximum length of 53.5m.
100 Meters long, 110 000kg
To show off the towing prowess of Discovery, the automaker obtained special permission to pull seven trailers and the 12-tonne tractor unit, which was retained to operate the hydraulic brakes fitted to the trailers. This special road train was 100 metres long, and weighed 110 000kg.
Equipped with all-wheel drive and Land Rover’s 3.0-litre diesel engine, producing 190kW and 600Nm, the All-New Discovery successfully towed the 100-metre-long, 110-tonne road train for 16 kilometres along a closed section of the Lasseter Highway. On public roads, the All-New Discovery Td6 is rated to safely tow 3 500kg.
The test was carried out using an Discovery Td6, and is the latest in a series of impressive towing demonstrations completed by the Discovery family. At its 1989 launch, the original Discovery I was used to pull a train and last year the Discovery Sport premium compact SUV towed a trio of rail carriages 26m above the Rhine River.
Check out the video below:
Image: Motorpress
For this ultimate towing test, the Discovery used a standard eight-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive system and was hooked up to the road train using a factory-fitted tow bar attachment. The road train itself was even carrying 10-tonnes of ballast in order to hit the magic 110-tonne weight mark.
The automaker says that with 600Nm of torque, the Td6 is well suited to pulling heavy loads. The 190kW 3.0-litre single-turbo engine features low-pressure exhaust recirculation and a two-stage oil pump for improved responses, refinement and efficiency. As a result, the diesel model delivers CO2 emissions of 207g/km and fuel economy of 7.8l/100 km.
Image: Motorshow
