Range Rover lands in Sardinia. If you have ever been to Gallura, you will certainly have noticed the dual soul of this region of Sardinia. On the one hand, there is the marine soul, with its emerald-green coastline, its villas from a thousand and one nights, and its bays that in the summer months fill with yachts and sailing boats, synonymous with luxury and exclusivity.
On the other, there is the terrestrial one, with its mountains of granite rocks, smoothed by the wind, and its forests of oaks and cork oaks, a rugged and wild place, hardly accessible and full of adventure. Two souls that represent the quintessence of the two brands of the Jaguar Land Rover group, Range Rover and Defender, which find their natural home in this territory. (All our posts about Range Rover, here)
Range Rover: luxury and exclusivity at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda
The first because for five years it has been the sponsor of one of the most prestigious and exclusive yacht clubs in the world, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. Range Rover, as well as being the yacht club’s official ‘tender’, offering its members and guests a courtesy car and test drive service, this year is also the official title sponsor of the J/24 European Championship, one of the most eagerly awaited regattas of the 2024 class season, in which almost 50 entrants from 21 nations took part, for a total of around 200 sailors at sea.
And it was right in front of the entrance to the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda that a Range Rover Sport SV, the most powerful Range ever, found its place. This supersuv has a twin turbo V8 mild-hybrid engine with 635 hp and 750 Nm of torque that enables it to do 0-100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. If externally its aggressive look, carbon-fibre detailing and the sound of the exhaust immediately denote the car’s sporty soul, once on board the experience is truly unique.
Performance, luxury and English class come together in a car that could be described as definitive. Among other on-board goodies, Range Rover Sport SV is the first production car to incorporate a tactile audio system. Inside the front seats are devices that allow occupants to physically feel the sound, with vibrations that, data in hand, could influence the passengers’ heart rate variability (HRV), helping to reduce anxiety or improve cognitive response.
Defender House is an oasis of Modern Luxury and Sustainability for Defender customers
Just off the coast and up the winding streets of Porto Cervo you reach a truly magnificent place. For the second year, Defender House is the villa overlooking the Maddalena Archipelago that houses the second brand of the JLR Group. An oasis of modern luxury, modernist design and sustainability, perfectly embedded in a natural setting of wind-sculpted rocks and Mediterranean maquis. Access is reserved for owners of the group’s cars.
Defender Club is an exclusive club that provides access to a rich programme of curated experiences, both indoor and outdoor, in Sardinia and beyond. Here at the Defender House, activities range from yoga sessions by the pool in partnership with Technogym, to cooking classes where one learns the art of Sebadas Mucadores, accompanied by the Nuoro master Luca Floris. Luca is one of the few people still able to make Filindeu (Fili di Dio), an ancient Nuoro pasta. His seadas are not a simple sweet, but true works of art, fan-shaped and entirely decorated and embroidered. Today, Luca teaches the technique to star chefs all over the world, also appearing on national and foreign TV.
Range Rover: adrenaline-pumping adventures and extreme challenges at Defender Park
Speaking of Defender, it is impossible not to involve fans in adrenaline-fuelled off-road driving experiences, on adventurous routes through the forests of the Gallura hinterland, tackling rivers to be forded and dirt tracks. This is where Defender’s sustainability comes into play. In addition to investing in the electrification of its cars (coming in 2025) and promoting the use of materials that have less impact on the environment, such as natural fibres made from wool and linen instead of leather, Defender is restoring off-road routes that had literally been closed off by vegetation.
This work ensures passage along dirt roads useful not only to hikers and cyclists, but also to emergency vehicles and local residents. The real challenge, however, which best represents the motto ‘embrace the impossible’, is in Luogosanto. It is here that Defender, together with its team of Land Rover Experience instructors, has designed and built, inside a disused granite quarry, a dynamic technical driving area where it is possible to test and learn how to overcome any obstacle. Inside the Defender Park there is a suspension bridge that allows you to tackle a 15-metre ascent and descent with a 35° gradient.
A pure adrenaline rush, at the end of which you can relax in a refined lounge cantilevered over a natural pond, created between the hulls of the quarry, where an unfailing picnic is waiting to complete this Defender outdoor experience.
Giacomo Barbaro
