Buying a performance luxury car or a full-tilt luxury SUV obviously means high monthly payments. It also means you get to drive a thrilling, sumptuously crafted machine that’s an object of desire for the many people who can’t afford one.

Photo: Matthieu Lambert/Jaguar Land Rover Canada

There are other perks to being a loyal client of certain manufacturers besides receiving a Christmas card every year.

The Jaguar & Land Rover Experience Tour is one shining example. I’ve attended such events before, as several luxury car brands are into this type of promotional tour. However, this one was quite particular because it involved simultaneous high-speed and low-speed action.

The Montreal event I was invited to was held at the Circuit ICAR in Mirabel. Next to the racetrack, an off-road course was set up, consisting of steep up- and downgrades, uneven surfaces and even a basin with a water depth of about three feet.

Besides a handful of journalists, attendees included existing Jaguar and/or Land Rover owners, potential customers or guests through a partnership with American Express.

Each participant gets to drive a few laps around the track in a handful of Jaguar models including, among others, an XJ Supercharged, an XFR, and XKR and a mighty XKR-S. Not bad. They also get to tackle the off-road course aboard a Range Rover, a Range Rover Sport and an LR4. The less capable Evoque could also be driven on a mild and muddy course, not on the real rough stuff.

Those who are hungry for a bigger off-road challenge can pick up a pamphlet on Land Rover’s driving schools, including one in Canada located in Montebello, Quebec.

Obviously, this event is a small yet rousing sample of what these cars and trucks can do in their respective elements. It was actually quite a challenge slicing through an apex aboard an XKR, while trying to keep your concentration as a Range Rover’s underbody was in full view near the side of the track, perched at the top of a mound.

We journalists have had higher levels of track and off-road experience before, but for most in attendance, it was their first time trying out both. Maybe, just maybe, the Jaguar owner has just been convinced to buy a Land Rover for next winter, or to buy the most recent Jag.

And that’s the whole idea behind such an event; sitting potential clients in cars and trucks and letting them drive in the best of situations is the most effective way of getting them hooked. It worked for me, anyway; too bad I can’t afford any of them. For now, a Jaguar & Land Rover Christmas card is a good start.

Photo: Michel Deslauriers