Range Rover Sport PHEV climbs China’s Dragon Road and Heaven’s Gate – 99 turns, 999 steps, 45 degrees

We watch quite a few car videos here at the paultan.org office, before passing on some of the more interesting ones to you. It’s our job, and the side effect leaves us a little desensitized. But this video is amazing, jaw droppingly so. It makes Pikes Peak look like child’s play.

Here, the new Range Rover Sport PHEV, piloted by Panasonic Jaguar Racing Formula E driver Ho-Pin Tung, takes on the 99 turns of China’s Dragon Road, before storming up 999 steps to the Heaven’s Gate on Tianmen Mountain.

The 11.3 km Tianmen Mountain Road looks a white dragon with its many hairpins and cliff sides. It’s challenging by itself, and pretty scary, and then there’s the 45 degree stair climb to the natural rock arch of Heaven’s Gate, which looks like the Eye of Sauron.

Of course, the showroom standard Range Rover Sport P400e completes the Dragon Challenge to be the first vehicle ever to climb one of China’s most famous landmarks, but you really got to see how it’s done.

“I’ve experienced Formula E, Formula 1 and won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but this was without doubt one of the most demanding driving challenges I’ve ever faced. The Range Rover Sport PHEV performed brilliantly as it inspired real confidence on the mountain road and climbed the stairs up to Heaven’s Gate effortlessly,” Tung said.

“This was the hardest Range Rover Sport challenge I’ve ever been involved with because, until we reached the top, we couldn’t categorically say we would succeed. By making it to the summit, we’ve proven the phenomenal capability of the Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid like never before – with a genuine world first,” said Land Rover Experience expert Phil Jones (not related to the bumbling Man United defender).

The Dragon Challenge is the latest in a series of adventures completed by the Range Rover Sport after the PHEV model made its debut in a race against two-time open-water swimming world champion Keri-anne Payne and endurance athlete Ross Edgley in Devon, UK.

Previous exploits include a record-setting hill-climb at Pikes Peak, a record crossing of the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in the Arabian Peninsula and a 2,170-metre descent of the legendary Inferno downhill course in Mürren, Switzerland. This takes the cake, though.

Unveiled in October 2017 as part of the Range Rover Sport facelift range, the P400e plug-in hybrid combines a 300 PS/400 Nm 2.0 litre turbocharged Ingenium petrol engine and an 85 kW (116 PS) electric motor integrated into the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, resulting in a total system output of 404 PS and 640 Nm of torque.

All that twist propels the big SUV from zero to 100 km/h in 6.7 seconds before hitting a top speed of 220 km/h. A 13.1 kWh lithium-ion battery under the boot floor provides an all-electric range of up to 50 km, and the vehicle is capable of driving in EV-only mode as speeds of up to 137 km/h.

As with most PHEVs, the P400e can be driven either in Parallel Hybrid or EV mode, with the former featuring an energy-reserving Save function, as well as Predictive Energy Optimisation that uses the navigation system to optimise battery energy usage. Plug it up through a port hidden in the front grille and it will be fully charged in 7 hours 30 minutes via a domestic socket, or 2 hours 45 minutes using a 32 A charge point.

It makes short work of stairs, too.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.

Certified Pre-Owned - 1 Year Warranty

10% discount when you renew your car insurance

Compare prices between different insurer providers and use the promo code 'PAULTAN10' when you make your payment to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services.

Car Insurance

Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • Digidigi on Feb 12, 2018 at 7:16 pm

    Any Toyota LC can do this without the risk of being stall in the middle

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 15
  • Range Rover defeated the dragon & conquered the heavens

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 15
  • Lucky not UNESCO site, otherwise, TATA sure jialat by UN

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 11
  • I like how Land Rover conveniently left out how the RR Sport went back down those 999 steps. Anyone else think a helicopter eventually arrived to save the SUV?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 0
    • Veronica on Jul 09, 2019 at 8:01 pm

      THAT is what I have been musing about for a long time – is there enough space to turn around at the top or did they let it down again slowly via ropes or winch it out via helicopters ????

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • So, there was a safety line involved in this stunt. They were quick to point that out at the end of this clip.

    Strangely, I didn’t see any. Did they edit it out?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • redline on Feb 13, 2018 at 7:38 am

      Look closely and you will see two parallel black cables going up the stairs… probably linked to rappel devices at the bottom of the chassis to stop the car from sliding backwards in worst case scenario. Maybe that’s how the car was brought down too… by slowly reversing down the stairs!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • Kennee Wong on Feb 12, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    Impressive video until you realize that Even Jeremy Clarkson can probably do it too. Cool feat nonetheless.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
  • Gao gao on Feb 12, 2018 at 10:20 pm

    Very soon. Another pirated electric version..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • Si Comel on Feb 12, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    Ya, after 99 turns 999 steps 45 degrees and stuff, it breaks down.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • Look forward to watch a video of the car is being driven down from the top.

    =)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Leonardo on Feb 13, 2018 at 9:12 am

    Awesome!! A great Ad for the Chinese market with a Chinese famous driver -Ho Ping Tung.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • Aim for Malaysia market, do it in Batu Caves

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • Ok. Drive up is possible and they have successfully done it. But I wonder how do they bring down the car? Did they drove it or use helicopter?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • nazri on Feb 13, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    how the hell did it go down then??? ada lif ke apa ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Mr Hakim on Feb 13, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    Pointless challenge, people already know Land Rover’s climbing capabilities..if SUV from Japanese H and T or Korean H and K brand then it’s an eye opener. Should have climbs it to space and try to make it comeback.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • Hakim; well tesla climbed to space, may not come back for a few million years though. I was impressed and I would sure want to go down the road but up…NAW I get nervous with my Quads at more then 30 degrees and they are designed for that stuff. At least down you can see the road.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

Add a comment

required

required