Spend 60 Seconds Of Your Day Watching A Land Rover LR3 Get Torture Tested

There are few brands that are as synonymous with producing vehicles capable of conquering the harshest terrains on Earth as Land Rover. Unfortunately, most modern Land Rover buyers don't take their expensive British bruisers very far away from the pristine paved roads of their respective suburbs. I have a lot of respect for Land Rover, though, as despite the fact that most of its buyers never use their SUV's outstanding off-road capabilities, it refuses to phone-in the development of its new off-roaders.

Land Rover subjects its development vehicles to plenty of torture testing before they reach dealer lots, and I recently came across a video showcasing the development of the 2004 LR3, known as the Discovery 3 in most markets. The video shows a lightly camouflaged LR3 prototype undergoing a barrage of durability tests, most of which involve scenarios that could easily be reproduced in a city setting. I suppose if it can withstand abuse off-road, it can also withstand on-road abuse, too.

I used to be a pre-production durability test driver, but sadly it never involved time on a closed course like this. My old job involved putting hundreds of thousands of normal-use miles on the test mules and prototypes, and testing certain features like self-parking systems and doing repeated charges on electrified cars. If the job was more like this video, I might've stuck with it.

The first clip shows an LR3 absolutely barreling over a curb at 30 mph, and the boxy SUV reacts as though it hit a speed bump while traveling a bit too quickly. The second clip shows the development vehicle hitting a short, steep ramp then promptly dropping off a small cliff, which again, the LR3 makes short work of. The voice-over refers to this obstacle as a 300-mm ramp, which is nearly one foot in Freedom Units, at a speed of 10 mph, and again the LR3 takes it like a champ.

Arguably the most spectacular stunt the LR3 faces in this video is the third event, which according to the narrator is the 450-mm ramp dropoff. The narration is tough to decipher, but the LR3 hits the ramp at either 20 or 30 mph, vaults into the air, and slams down on its front wheels quite unceremoniously. 450 mm is nearly 18 inches, which may not sound like a lot, but performing this stunt in most other vehicles could total the vehicle if the nose were to hit the ground first and deploy the airbags. There are plenty more tests it faces, so go ahead and indulge. Watch someone torture test a luxury off-roader for 60 seconds. You've earned it.