I was dying to get back to the fun stuff, and Xbox obliged. We were heading to the next event in a 60-year-old Land Rover Discovery (the other vehicle on the front of the Forza Horizon 4 box), and I would be behind the wheel. Yes! This was more like it.
It only had four gears but I barely used first: “This vehicle’s got so much torque you should be pulling away in second,” my co-driver, who worked for Goodwood House, said. A plaque on the dashboard said the Land Rover could reach 122mph, but the engine sounded like it was going to explode at 60mph. I had a hard time slowing it down at that speed, as the brakes are as “classic” as the steering, and I nearly hit the car in front a couple of times (sorry to whomever was driving that red Fiat Punto).
We soon headed off-road and took a chalk track that used to be the main route from Chichester to London for horse-drawn carriages. Keeping the Land Rover in a low gear was essential here, as was concentration, as the ride was bumpy, to say the least.
“Take your foot off the clutch and brake and let it go on its own, it won’t stall,” my co-driver said. I was used to driving a modern car with the constant fear that I would stall it. No such problems in the Land Rover – it effortlessly rolled downhill without even thinking about stalling.