My day at THE JAGUAR LAND ROVER EXPERIENCE in Nairobi

#JLRexperience

First off, I am extremely grateful For the PACE  at which these invites keep coming my way (see what I did there?).

Invite number 3 is one that will not just be an experience, this is a memory!

Friday 31^ST March is when it all happened, The East African Motorsport Tracks is where it all went down. The guys over at RMA Motors Kenya; the official dealers of Jaguars and Land Rovers in Kenya had set up really well there ready for an experience like no other.

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The Jaguar Land Rover Experience is an activity that happens globally with an aim of bringing the driving experience of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles to life. The Kenyan edition of the #JLRexperience did exactly that in a two day event.

My experience was nothing short of EPIC!

The F-TYPE, the XF, the XJ the and F-PACE, were on the Jaguar line up. Land Rover had the Discovery, Discovery Sport, the Range Rover Vogue, Range Rover Sport, and Range Rover Evoque.

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With the available models in mind, the Jaguars were taken on road as the Land Rovers went onto an off-road obstacle course.

The Jaguars

We set out to have a feel of the cars on the roads around the Southern bypass. I decided to take the back seat on this trip; chill and enjoy the Jaguar convoy, the speed, feel the leather… soak it all in! I was in the XF with Gituro behind the wheel and Billy from CarBuy Kenya sitting shotgun busy complaining, “Argh… This is not the day for traffic!!” he said. Traffic was such an interference in getting the real feel of the car… (One of the reasons why I took a back seat).

What I loved the most about the trip was my view of how the F-Type had the top down, zooming past crowds of people taking pictures and ogling at that fine piece of art. The Jag convoy was pretty dope too! Then we stopped for a driver and passenger swap to ensure you get into two different models.

Again, back seat I went into the F-Pace with Michelle and Reinar, one of the instructors from Land Rover South Africa sitting shot gun.

I got to understand the F-Pace from an innovation point of view, from design, to technology and even convenience.

This was all the way back into Jamhuri MotoX Tracks for the Land Rover session.

The Land Rovers

So when we got back, I was all ready for a drive. I booked the Discovery Landmark for one particular reason… exceptional ground clearance! I knew the course would be done 100% … no sweat; by the way that beast sits high above the ground.

Guys… this car is cleverly proportioned!

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I was leading the course, my heart was racing. This was scary! I can’t count the number of times I said “Oh My GOOOOD!!!”

It was shocking how confident the instructors were in the capabilities of the Land Rovers; they’d tell you to

“Keep off the brakes… completely” and you’re up a hill, facing down. “Ati release the brakes???” I would ask. Sema roho mkononi! LOL. 😂😂😂

There was a point when I was driving up a hill and all I could see ahead of me was the sky and hands signaling me to steer straight slowly disappearing under the hood! That was terrifying… Still, you’d hear “No braking, keep your foot on the power!” WEEEEEH 😵

The challenge was to actualize the Gradient Acceleration Control, a feature that has been incorporated into the Discovery’s Hill Descent Control technology which basically reduces increased speeds and balances it out with the steepness of the terrain. This makes the feeling of descent more comfortable, and gives a sense of assurance of the safety of the driver as well. Cool huh?

When it was time to switch cars, I jumped into the Evoque. I literally needed to actualize Victoria Beckam’s design work. Because of its ground clearance, there’s a few things the Evoque and the Discovery Sport couldn’t do.

Also, I’m not a big fan of smaller versions of the Land Rovers. I subscribe to the school of thought that says ‘Size Matters’ when it comes to Land Rovers. The Bigger the Better. So I moved onto the Range Rover Vogue 5.0 Litre SE SDV8 for the last bit of the course.

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One word, ORGASMIC!!!! 😱😱

I took the back seat on this one and regretted. You’d think that it’s all flamboyant, executive and luxurious off road but this is a BAD BOY. Each and every obstacle was handled with precision, no failures at all.

In my view though… majority of the people who own these cars here in Kenya do not really drive them the way they should be driven. I can’t even explain the extremes I would take the Discovery if given the chance… Waaah! But then again, fuel prices are no joke here.

All in all, massive shout out to RMA Kenya for the #JLRexperience. Other brands need to borrow a leaf… or two… or 10 from you guys. 👏👏👏

Catch more of the action on the slideshow below… ENJOY!

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