Land Rover DC100 Concept Impresses in Frankfurt

The first images of the new Land Rover DC100 Concept showed up more than a month ago and the model which debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show got every Land Rover fan out there really excited. And they weren’t disappointed at all after the car made its debut. But the British carmaker also had a surprise, because there were two version of the concept on display, a regular one and a convertible one also, which got the Sport name tag. If the first model is aimed at off-road enthusiasts, the DC100 Sport is Land Rover’s attempt to offer a really attractive lifestyle car.

The Land Rover DC100 manages to continue the pragmatic design of the current Defender, which has been built for more than 50 years by almost the same recipe. Basically, what Land Rover does with the DC100 is a modern interpretation of a true off-road legend. With only two doors, the DC100 features a simple design, without any useless styling experiments, and with an impressive ride height it looks ready to face any obstacle.

The 22-inch wheels, besides their huge size and the impressive design, also features an interesting function, called “on demand spyke tyres”: by pressing a button, a hydraulic system inside each wheel pull out special bolts for driving on ice. As for the rest of the systems available for off-road driving, the list is extremely long: “wade aid” system (sonar sensors that display the depth of the, if the driver wants to cross rivers), MagneRide suspension system (the ride height can reach 32 cm and can cross waters as deep as 75 cm, especially with the air vents being automatically shut down to prevent water from getting to the engine) and, of course, an advanced version of Land Rover’s highly acclaimed All Terrain Response system which analyzes several factors including the suspension movement, the wheel’s turning angle, braking, acceleration and others to determine the best settings for the engine, transmission and suspension. Also, according to the press release, information about the terrain in front are gathered from an HD camera and the car’s system are adjusted for best performance.

But the Land Rover DC100 is also ready for paved roads, with its Torque Ventoring system, a special function of the stability control system, which sends the torque to the wheel with the best grip. Besides this, the all wheel drive system features Driveline Disconnect, a mechanical system that transforms the car into a front-wheel-drive one when the central unit decided four wheel drive is not necessary. This system accounts for a fuel economy improvement by 7 percent.

Under the bonnet, the DC100 is powered by a 2.0-liter diesel engine with Start/Stop system, while the DC100 Sport is equipped with a 2.0-liter petrol unit. Both versions are created to allow the integration of a hybrid powertrain later on.

Overall, the British carmaker managed to surprise everyone with the two concepts and especially with their promise that the two cars will make it into production, more or less changed, most likely around 2015 as the successor of the legendary Defender.


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