As the Doc said after a bit of form filling + health & safety brief you're in the car. Another bit of a briefing and you're off onto the course.
I was out by myself with the instructor and had at least 3 hours. Sometimes there can be others in the car with you, so the amount of time you actually get is down to how busy they are on the day.

I had a half day at Honiton and was the only person booked in to the Freelander. SWMBO was allowed to sit in the back. If she'd wanted she could've had a go and we'd have paid half price for her but that would've reduced the time I'd have been driving. Obviously a ploy to try and make a little more money and who can blame them. All in all a great morning learning the freelanders capability.

I had a great half day at the Chilterns centre (near Newton Longville - not far from Milton Keynes). It was really snowy (the course had been closed the previous day due to snow!). It was one of the deciding factors for me buying - the off road capability was amazing.

Today Derek and I spent (A Complimentary) Half day in a D4 at North Yorkshire LRE, 45 minutes explaining what all the switches and buttons were for, followed by an half hour drive down some country lanes, another half hour with the instructor driving us over a challanging course, then half hour driving up and down a muddy hill with hdc on. ok for a freebie but learnt nothing really.

LR Experience Honiton is based on the farm that the course runs on so it wasn't even 10 minutes from the classroom to the fields. I probably spent more than 2 hours behind the wheel.

On arrival you should be given the option of:
a. All on road.
b. Half on road/half off road.
c. All off road.

Whichever you choose you will start with a safety brief, introduction to the course, brief introduction to the vehicle you'll be using, followed by a demonstration drive by the instructor and then you'll be in the driving seat and drive for the rest of the time. Standard time for a half day session is 0900 - 1200 or 1300 - 1600 so if you're on your own you'll get 2 hours driving, if you share you'll obviously get less.

If you go for full off road you'll get to do, hill ascent, hill descent, side slopes, ruts and possibly water/mud depending on the weather and ground conditions and explore the full capabilties of your chosen vehicle.

Just had my "Facebook free offer" LR experience at Luton. Having had a freebie in Kent when I bought my last Disco, I was looking forward to this, but must say I was very disappointed.
1) Clearly this was a sales pitch. I got very little off-road driving, and the instructor agreed that if I had paid I would have got "more tuition".
2) Upside was I got to drive a RRS, which gove me the opportunity to decide that I prefer my Freely. RRS despite its refinement was more tractor-like, and if I needed the extra off-road capability I'd get a Defender.
3) I didn't get any choice. Half an hour taking me through the (admittedly complex) features of the RRS, then half an hour of on-road, although this included two fords. Then one hour off road - driven round course once by instructor, stopping a lot to show off features of car, then I did the same, then short drive along short muddy woodland track. And that was it.
4) I actually thought the Luton course was pants. In a field there is a circuit of artificial concrete lumps, including some rocky bits and one steep ascent/descent into water, which I didn't even get to do. Then there's a tame track through a wood, which we did downhill. Doesn't compare to the Kent course I was on a few years ago.

Conclusion? Definitely not worth my while going all the way to Luton for (although I didn't mind, as I went out for dinner with friends there afterwards). Fine for a new owner or someone who's not been off road before, but I had more fun on an ordinary green lane in Northumberland (actually showed on my Satnav!) last week.
Maybe would have been more fun if I had a dealer voucher or had paid, but even so I think the venue is boring.

Hi past master
I was at Dunkeld LR Experience this time last week, with the same Facebook offer, completely different experience from you. We had the same half hour tech stuff, the instructor then asked me what I wanted to do, I told him as much off road as possible with the time we had, we then jumped in the RRS and he drove off after 50 meters or so he stopped the RRS jumped out and I shared the driving with the wife from then on. Top instructor and top site, most of the driving was through woodland areas and we even drove through the lake (the wrong way), never been able to do that at other LR Experiences sites. There were one or two man made obstacles such as the rollers to simulate ice/ snow and the rock garden, which I was allowed to drive by myself with the instructor giving me directions from outside the vehicle.

Whole experience was top notch and even the Mrs enjoyed herself, no hard sell at all and if I get the chance I would visit them again, can’t recommend them enough and a big to Ally our instructor.

Land Rover specify the format of the 1/2 day off road experience which as I explained in my earlier post includes:

a. Introductory brief of the systems found in the vehicle being used, should last no more than 20 minutes
b. Introduction to the vehicle both inside and outside, not more than 10 minutes.
c. Demonstration drive by the instructor to show off the vehicle, not more than 20 minutes
d. Delegate drive for the remainder of the time.

On arrival you should be given the option of all on road, 1/2 on road and 1/2 off road or all off road. Obviously if you own the vehicle being used for the Experience there would be little point in doing any on road driving.

My experience of both Chilterns (now closed and moved to Luton) and East of England are more in line with what toeknee experienced at Dunkeld than Past Masters experience at Luton. Next time i'd recommend the extra drive to the East of England site.

Glad this was not the usual offer then. The obvious answer would be to avoid Luton. That said, I wasn't offered anything else. Perhaps I should have been more insistent when I booked it. I suppose they just assumed as I live in London I never go to other parts of the country (apparently it's full of poor people who keep coal in the bath, and even worse, Yorkshiremen!).
Good that others had a better experience - I probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't had a much better experience last time.

Just re-read that. Thery don't really keep Yorkshiremen in the bath do they?

My Facebook experience at Eastnor wasn't a patch on a paid for half day at Honiton. At Eastnor on the freebee there was no real technical briefing and a good proportion of the time was spent on the road. While we were drinking coffee in the lounge (waiting room) I overheard an instructor explaining to a couple of guys that they were getting the full experience but that the rest of us were on freebee.
On the paid-for half day at at Honiton there was a technical briefing in a "classroom" followed by a the instructor taking us over the car and demonstrating its capabilities. Then I was put in the driving seat and the instructor then took me around the course pointing out the techniques that should be used. Then I was almost left to it.
If I could get the paid-for course for free that would be great but I don't think I'd bother with another Facebook freebee.

I couldn't agree more about Luton.I did mine there a couple of months back just after it opened.I thought the course was almost laughable to be honest,I went around twice then the wife had a go and she was bored so didn't even want to drive around it again so I had another go even though twice was enough for me!.if I had paid I would have been very disappointed.

I did a freebie at Rockingham Castle (East of England) in December 10 just after the snow but ground was still frozen. Turned up in my then new Freelander 2 manual and the instructor said there was no point doing the on road bit as I'd just done it getting to the Centre. Started with a technical briefing followed by the instructor driving to demonstrate the vehicle and then I drove for the rest of the time. Did hill descent, hill ascent, crossing ruts, failed hill climbs, icy tracks, rutted tracks and more. To my mind the freebie I received was no different from the paid for 1/2 day.

I also did a freebie in my original Freelander 2 back in 2007, again I was offered but declined the on-road bit and spent the whole time off-road going round the course at Chilterns/Milton Keynes. Again I believe I received pretty much the same package as on a paid for 1/2 day although the instruction might have been at a slightly lower level.

Last edited by rchrdleigh on 30th Mar 2012 7:39 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I've got to put in a supporting word for LRE North Yorkshire at Consiton Cold near Skipton.
I've done Level 1 (D2) and Level 2 (D2+Defender) there and had the freeby half day in FL2 before deciding definitley to buy.
All LRE centres are run as a franchise with LR setting the rules and content. Coniston is owned and run by "off-road legend" Ronnie Dale and he has a good team of instructors. Gone... 2013 XS TD4 Manual Firenze Red
Gone... 2008 (09MY) XS Td4 Manual Stornaway Grey
Prior... 2003 G4 Discovery 2, 1998 Disco 1 and 1997 Disco 1 Company car before that
Also gone in Nov'13, after 7.5 yrs, to new owners with time for more TLC - 1980 Series III 88
Current 2015 Discovery Sport HSE 2.0

I have done the Level 1 Defender at Milton Keynes the last month before it was closed as LRE and moved to Luton, it was bought for me was promised a certificate at the end but the post is a bit slow.
I also had a freebie from LPR but getting in at Milton Keynes with it was laughable, they never had a free dates it was always "Try again in a few days when we get the new dates through" yet when I had the Saturday with a Defender the FL2 was parked and not used yet yet two days before I had the booked the Defender they were fully booked for the FL2 using the LPR vouicher. They did say in March that they were busy and said that the voucher was valid till the end of June but gave up in the end.