Look Ma, no feet!

[Trevor]

Toyota has been offering this technology for a bit with their "crawl control" (I think that's what its called), but from what I've read its pretty clunky. Land Rover appears to have jumped on the bandwagon.

I find it offensive that these companies are still forcing us to steer! Oh, the humanity of it all!

[Matt H]

Finally! I often think to myself how much more enjoyable off road driving would be if I didn't need to actually drive.

Another totally pointless "innovation" from the boffins at LR.

[binch]

Just think....if LR get together with GO PRO you'll be able to sed the vehicle off by itself and get all kinds of great vid footage without even leaving bed!!!! :'(

[B-Red]

You know. Pretty soon you can even go to sleep in the back seat and wake up at your distination.
Or better yet, in the 007 universe, hack the on board Nav dystem and kidnap a top diplomat.

And yes, when I am faced with the bedrock and the steep hills with slippery ice, I will let the machine take over. Really.

[Trevor]

And yes, when I am faced with the bedrock and the steep hills with slippery ice, I will let the machine take over. Really.

That's a valid point. The Hill Descent technology in these new vehicles is quite good. For LR, from about the '06 models forward they had it tuned very well. Prior to that the HD is a little too fast for rough terrain, but otherwise ok.

[Matt H]

And yes, when I am faced with the bedrock and the steep hills with slippery ice, I will let the machine take over. Really.

That's the last place I would choose to trust the computer. You should winch yourself or be winched down by another vehicle if there is any doubt at all in those situations Emad.
It doesn't matter if you are in a Series I or the latest RR. Once the tyres loose traction, all bets are off. I suppose you could argue the RR would have airbags so at least you have a shot at surviving the wreck?

Has anyone else noticed the very carefully controlled environments chosen by LR to showcase their products lately? In days of old they made no bones about filming a LR stuck up to doors in the jungle mud. These days it's all very tame and controlled with the units barely getting dirty.

 

[Matt H]

Just think....if LR get together with GO PRO you'll be able to sed the vehicle off by itself and get all kinds of great vid footage without even leaving bed!!!! :'(

Funny

[Trevor]

And yes, when I am faced with the bedrock and the steep hills with slippery ice, I will let the machine take over. Really.

That's the last place I would choose to trust the computer. You should winch yourself or be winched down by another vehicle if there is any doubt at all in those situations Emad.
It doesn't matter if you are in a Series I or the latest RR. Once the tyres loose traction, all bets are off. I suppose you could argue the RR would have airbags so at least you have a shot at surviving the wreck?

True, and a good point that I should have qualified in my response. It is good technology, and for a lot of situations the HDC will handle things quite a lot better than most drivers. But it is certainly not all powerful. An impassable situation is still an impassable situation, all the HDC in the world won't change that.

[Red90]

For myself, I don't see the point of wanting to have a computer drive the vehicle for me.  A big part of going out and doing off roading for its sake it being more a part of the experience.

This one seems to be adding a feature just because they can.  I really son't think that maintaining a constant speed through a obstacle is always the best idea.  But what do I know.