Category: Land Rover

Land Rover DFW Members Roxie Byars, Juan Ramirez, and Teddy Clements recently completed the Land Rover TReK 2022 adventure off-road competition. The DFW team finished fourth out of 10 teams in their division. In total there were 100 three-person teams: 90 teams from across the U.S. and 10 from Canada.

“This trip started in Mahwah, New Jersey at Land Rover Headquarters,” explained Juan Ramirez, JLR DFW Service Advisor. “Then we drove 4.5 hours to Manchester, Vermont, one of Land Rover’s four North American Experience centers. We competed in a number of tasks including a one mile run relay as a team and driving the Defender through different obstacles where we received points based on accuracy and timing. We camped overnight in freezing weather and had to cook our own dinner on a small gas stove they provided. The experience showed us how well the Defender performs under any circumstance.”

Comprised of qualifying trials and finals utilizing the all-new Defender 110, the competition is designed to test some of the best driving experts across the U.S. and Canada in off-road driving, navigation and team collaboration.

The teams competed in 100 identically customized 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 vehicles with factory-approved accessories including a Remote-Control Electric Winch, Raised Air Intake, Roof Rack, Air Compressor, Front Undershield and Exterior Side Gear Carrier. Additionally, accessories from Lucky8 included TReK Edition badging, recovery bag and equipment, Roofnest Tent, Pull-out Awning, ARB refrigerator, Solar Panel, and more.

The first Land Rover TReK was held in 1996, and the competition continued in North America through 2003. It returned in 2019 with preliminaries at The Biltmore in North Carolina, another of Land Rover’s North American Experience centers. 

Located at 1300 East Highway 114, northwest of DFW Airport, Jaguar-Land Rover DFW is one of only 16 Land Rover retailers in the U.S. to earn the prestigious Pinnacle Retailer Excellence Award for exceptional sales, service and customer satisfaction.

Park Place Dealerships was founded in 1987 and has been engaged in the community through its support of the arts, medical research, children’s advocacy, and education. Park Place employs more than 1,400 members and operates eight full-service dealerships representing luxury brands including Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover. Park Place BodyWerks Collision Centers in Fort Worth and Dallas, and the Park Place Auto Auction, round out the company’s offerings. Park Place was acquired in 2020 by Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Duluth, GA. For more information, visit parkplace.com.

“We’re honored to share the exciting “New Range Rover” with our valued clients,” said Jason Feuerberg, new car sales director. “As the original luxury SUV, Range Rover has led by example for over 50 years. This latest evolution raises the bar in every way, bringing refinement, comfort, and capability to new heights.”

The New Range Rover arrives in showrooms this spring. The fifth-generation luxury SUV takes the Land Rover brand’s modernist design philosophy to the next level, with a contemporary interpretation of its trademark profile to create an incredible design statement.

The new 2022 Range Rover is available in SE and Autobiography models. A First Edition model will be available throughout the first year of production, based on the Autobiography and featuring a unique specification. It is exclusively available in a Sunset Gold Satin finish, among a choice of five exterior colors. Both Standard (SWB) or Long Wheelbase (LWB) body designs are available with five seats, while the New Range Rover LWB model is available with a third row for extended comfort for up to seven adults.

Available for order in early 2022, the new Range Rover SV is an exquisite interpretation of Range Rover luxury and personalization from the experts at Special Vehicle Operations. Available in both SWB and LWB body designs, with exclusive design details, material choices, and enhanced functionality, this hand-crafted model will be the first Land Rover vehicle to carry the new ceramic SV roundel and simplified naming strategy – known simply as SV. The SV roundel represents the distillation of Special Vehicle Operations design and engineering passion for modern luxury, performance, and capability. This is also the first time the LWB model is offered in a five-seat configuration on SV models.

A new extended-range plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model will also be available for order in early 2022. The new 434hp powertrain provides up to 62 miles of near-silent pure-electric driving. The clever packaging of the battery, beneath the vehicle, and within the wheelbase, ensures both luggage space and all-terrain capability are uncompromised. The use of advanced eHorizon navigation data also allows the hybrid system to optimize energy usage across a journey, to provide a peaceful arrival at a destination on electric power, while also optimizing EV usage.

A suite of innovative technologies contributes to the peerless comfort and refinement of the New Range Rover. New third-generation Active Noise Cancellation technology delivers one of the quietest cabins on the road. It builds on the hushed and sealed body architecture by using microphones on the outside of the vehicle and headrest speakers on the inside to create personal quiet zones for the cabin occupants – much like high-end active noise-canceling headphones.

The New Range Rover offers intuitive voice control with Amazon Alexa built-in in certain markets. Using natural voice commands enables customers to manage everything from favorite infotainment features and music track selection to navigation or phone contacts – all while keeping their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.

The Land Rover brand’s award-winning Pivi Pro infotainment technology is elevated by the New Range Rover with its largest-ever touchscreen. The 13.1-inch curved, floating screen embodies the architectural lightness of the interior with a minimalist frame design. It provides intuitive control of all the major vehicle functions, using the latest consumer technology to deliver a smartphone-inspired interface, haptic feedback when customers touch and press the screen, allied to convenient hard switches for climate control.

Every New Range Rover features All-Wheel Steering for an effortless drive with heightened stability at speed and improved maneuverability at low speeds, making it equally at home on the open road and negotiating tight city streets.

Park Place Land Rover DFW members Cade Mannetti, new car sales manager, of Frisco; Jeff Boyd, parts department, of Little Elm; and Jeff Kersh of Richardson, diagnostic specialist, recently participated in the 2021 Land Rover TReK event at The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, one of Land Rover’s four North American Experience centers.  

“This was our first experience as a Trek team,” said Cade Mannetti, “and we were proud to represent Park Place in a grueling set of mental, physical, and driving tasks.  A Top 10 finish was a remarkable reward after working as a team covered in mud, drenched by rain, cold and tired with the incredible backdrop of the Biltmore Estate.”

The Land Rover TReK 2021 was a multi-day event comprised of 70 teams from Land Rover retailers across the country. Each three-man team drove a 2022 Defender 110 SE P300 with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine across rugged terrain while executing a series of off-road driving events, navigation games, and team challenges.

“We had to pitch our own one-man tent in an open field next to the Biltmore vineyards,” Mannetti explained.  “I slept fully dressed in preparation for a 4:30 a.m. wake-up. With it raining overnight, it wasn’t as comfortable as staying in the Biltmore Hotel and not much sleep was achieved before an exhausting full day of challenges.”

The teams started off on foot, racing a quarter of a mile carrying their gear to receive the coordinates of where their vehicle was hidden on the 8,000-acre estate.

“Using a handheld GPS unit, we hiked over hills and through the woods to find our vehicle,” continued Mannetti.  “There were 15 tasks set up around the estate, all plotted on a crude map with GPS coordinates.  One of the biggest challenges was navigating the maze of trails without getting lost or backtracking.  The full week of rain made the clay turf as slick as ice and paths were often submerged in muddy water and deep mud-filled ruts.”

Challenges were both mental and physical, including building a wooden bridge over raging water. The most grueling task was constructing a hand-operated winch using the hi-jack, tow straps, and chains to leverage the 6,000-pound Defender backward up a slick, muddy hill for a full two car lengths… less than an inch at a time. Mannetti stated the challenge took a full hour and drained the team of everything they had.

The last challenge of the day involved a search through the woods on foot in overgrown thorn bushes and vines to find three clues leading the team to disassemble a part of the Defender to find a password to complete the task. During this time, the temperature had dropped significantly and it was pouring rain for a solid 45 minutes, said Mannetti. 

Some of the terrains across the course seemed impossible for a vehicle to pass through, but Mannetti reports the Defender made easy work of everything they encountered.

“Clay-like mud is unpredictable. Even a 4-wheel-drive vehicle can slide off a trail and rollover. But whether we were on wet grassy slopes, loose rock, submerged in water, or clawing our way through muddy ruts, the Defender never hesitated.  The Land Rover Terrain Response system worked its magic, and the surround cameras allowed us to see in front of the vehicle as well as what our tires were encountering.  The Defender is the most capable production SUV on the road while keeping us in refined comfort in the cabin.”

Give the experience and lessons they learned from this challenge, Mannetti and the team say they hope to compete again next year.

Park Place Jaguar-Land Rover DFW is located at 1300 E. State Highway 114 in Grapevine.

Park Place Dealerships was founded in 1987. For the past 34 years, the company has been engaged in the community through its support of the arts, medical research, children’s advocacy, and education. Park Place Dealerships employs more than 1,400 members and operates two collision centers, an auto auction, and eight full-service dealerships representing luxury brands including Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Sprinter Vans. For more info, visit parkplace.com.