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Range Rover Sport PHEV Climbs 999 Steps to Heaven’s Gate

A natural arch on top of the Tianmen Mountain in China is at times referred to as Heaven's Gate. Visitors can get there using the cablecar, or by choosing the harder way, the 999 steps that lead to the site. Until this weekend, no car has ever attempted to climb those steps.
Range ROver Sport PHEV climbs stairs in China 33 photos
Photo: Land Rover
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On Monday, Land Rover announced that is no longer the case, as one of its vehicles managed to go where no other car usually goes: up a very long staircase. In short, a Range Rover made an epic journey: 99 turns, 999 steps on a 45-degree staircase, and an 11.3 km-long (7 miles) Tianmen Mountain Road.

The feat was achieved by a showroom standard Range Rover Sport P400e, driven by Le Mans class-winner and Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Ho-Pin Tung. The car was in no way prepared for the event, apart for the excessive use of the Terrain Response system.

“I’ve experienced Formula E, Formula 1 and won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but this was, without doubt, one of the most demanding driving challenges I’ve ever faced,” said driver Ho-Pin Tung.

“The Range Rover Sport PHEV performed brilliantly as it inspired real confidence on the mountain road and climbed the stairs up to Heaven’s Gate effortlessly.”


A fantastic set of photos has been released by Land Rover to prove the achievement of the car during what the manufacturer calls the world's first Dragon Road challenge. More will probably follow.

The Dragon Challenge is a series of events designed by the British company to showcase the capabilities of the Range Rover Sport. It now includes the PHEV model, the same which made its debut in a race against two-time open-water swimming world champion Keri-anne Payne and endurance athlete Ross Edgley.

You can see how this went down (or up)) in the attached gallery. An amazing video showing the incredible climb is also available below (the fun starts at minute 4:00)

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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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