VIDEO: Range Rover crosses a paper bridge in China

It has been 45 years since the Range Rover first came to life, back in 1970. Now, to celebrate those four decades, Land Rover decided to drive its flagship Range Rover SUV over a man-made paper bridge, built in Suzhou, China.

Constructed over a period of three days, the 3.4 metre-high miniature crossing started out with wooden abutments as a support foundation, to hold a total of 54,390 sheets of paper in place. After having been stacked closely to each other, the abutments were then removed – leaving the papers to hold up in place, on their own.

It’s an attempt to showcase that the fourth-generation Range Rover as the first all-alumiunium SUV, according to the brand. This essentially translates to how light the luxury off-roader has become. The new aluminium body allows for weight savings of up to a total of 420 kg, compared to the use of traditional steel.

In addition to that, the company says that the Range Rover’s all-terrain tech was employed so as to preserve the fragile structure of the bridge. The tech involved includes Terrain Response 2 and All-Terrain Progress Control (ATPC).

Terrain Response 2 optimises vehicle settings, which enhances all-terrain capability without driver input. All-Terrain Progress Control (ATPC) however, helps the vehicle pull away on difficult surfaces from speeds of 1.6 km/h to 30 km/h, while the driver need only focus on steering the vehicle.

Land Rover says that apart from being the first all-aluminium SUV in today’s day-and-age, the Range Rover was the first luxury SUV to have ever been built. It was also the first vehicle to cross the Darien Gap in Central America. Apart from that, it was the first 4X4 to be fitted with ABS, electronic traction control and an electronic air suspension, back in 1992.

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