babyRR.com - The Range Rover Evoque Forum

(20-10-2011 03:58pm)SW6RR Wrote: [ -> ]I hope there aren't any missing sections of track.

...oh wait.

Well that's not very nice now, is it?

If you do one in 2013 Im interested (if I get my LRE by then !!)

I'm in for the 2018 edition!

It will be for forum members regardless of whether or not their Evoque has arrived in time - it won't involve any mud plugging and all will be on tarred roads but I might be able to find a few grassy bits for those intent on testing out HDC on wet grass!

I'm up for a trip out!

Off topic somewhat, but just wondering. Having not had a LR before, does HDC work going down a snow covered hill. Maybe a stupid question......

Had no problem hast year in the snow getting traction, but a bit of an issue crawling down a hill to stop. Just wondering how the HDC works.

HDC is very clever! Yes it will work in snow but it isn't traction control and it won't work on a icy/ slippery hill ! Basically it works like ABS but in reverse. If it senses wheels rotating faster than the others then it brakes those wheels very carefully to maintain the set speed. You can vary the speed that the system allows the car to descend a slope, either forwards or backwards, using the + and - keys of the cruise control. If you are using the any of the Terrain Response programmes then check if the HDC is on - a small green car icon on the dash - if you do not need to have it manually switch it off (it comes to life again very very quickly after switching it back on) because using it a lot will devour your brake discs and pads - really really quickly! If you have switched it on then you know straight away as you can feel it pulsing and can hear it working. Best place to try it is on an Experience course. This was one of the techy things that BMW stole from Land Rover's patent box when they sold LR to Ford - the BMW X's would have been even more useless without it as having it makes reduces the need for a low ratio gear box to active engine braking. If you search in You-Tube you may find a Land Rover video that explains it better

great, thanks for this. So is it safe to trust HDC on an actual road in winter? Presumably it will do a better job than me on a snowy hill!

It is designed to get you safely to the bottom of a wet grassy slope with the car still pointing in the right direction - it isn't a winter braking aid and I usually disable it in snow until I really really need it - never drive anywhere with it on all the time because as soon as you take your foot off the gas it will try to slow the car and you don't always want that in snow or sand. It will do a better job than your foot on the pedal as your foot usually ends up locking wheels, HDC won't allow locked wheels. If you want to see it working on a steep dry slope watch the 5th gear road test video of the Evoque.

Aye, 5th gear test looked good.....was just wondering if it worked in the snow.

Cheers

HDC is an aid, albeit a pretty good one. HDC will work in snow. If you select Grass, Gravel, Snow in Terrain Response you will have to manually select HDC. However, it is only an aid and as Tim mentioned it may try and slow you down too much although you can overcome that by pressing the + button on cruise control. HDC will not lock your brakes which you could do applying brakes normally.

I've always found the best method of descending a hill in snow is to do so slowly using the appropriate gear - HDC is a useful aid but I would caution against relying on it 100% without trying it out in a safe environment first. If I were you I'd get a LR Experience voucher from my dealer and wait until the ground is either snow covered or wet and see what Terrain Response and HDC can do for you.