Range Rover Sport becomes the fastest land vehicle to ever cross the Empty Quarter in the Middle East, and celebrates at the Dubai Motor Show.
[Not a valid template]The Range Rover Sport that yesterday set the fastest ever time for a land crossing of the ‘Empty Quarter’ was displayed complete with dust and dirt at Land Rover’s stand on the first day of the 2013 Dubai Motor Show.
The Range Rover Sport, prepared by a dedicated team from Land Rover, took just 10 hours and 22 minutes to cross the 849km Empty Quarter. The area – Rub’ al Khali – is the largest sand desert in the world and the second largest desert after the Sahara, posing a tremendous challenge to both man and machine.
Driven by experienced Spanish rally driver Moi Torrallardona, who has also competed on the Dakar rally in the past, the Range Rover Sport set an average speed of 51.87 mph (81.87 kph) in the 50-degree terrain where water sources are minimal. The Empty Quarter spans four countries beginning in Wadi Adda Wasir in Saudi Arabia and ending in the United Arab Emirates, with Oman and Yemen in-between.
The new Range Rover Sport, which crankandpiston.com drove on its international launch in the UK, is powered by a 510hp 5.0-litre supercharged V8 and took on the challenge with standard tyres, the only modification being an underfloor protection plate. Thanks also to a new aluminium architecture indicative to the new fourth generation Range Rover on which the Sport is based, a 420kg weight saving over the previous iteration plus lightweight suspension helps to significantly improve the Sport’s performance.
