RE: Land Rover Discovery vs. mud
Discussion
Cotic said:
ChemicalChaos said:
Suprise surprise, Disco performs well at Eastnor Castle. Like all LR experience places, this is specifically and very carefully engineered to flatter their vehicles and make them seem impossibly capable.
Get on on a proper off road course with claggy mud, and the potential to get stuck or slither into something, and then see what happens
You know of a more capable production alternative to a Disco? Please tell! If you're really keen on mud-plugging, then a set of Malatestas and the optional locking diff are generally all you need. I've run many old Discos, two Disco 4's from new, and have a 5 on order - I make a point of taking each one on a proper off-road run during ownership, and I think the 5 will be the most capable yet.Get on on a proper off road course with claggy mud, and the potential to get stuck or slither into something, and then see what happens
Vocht said:
I saw my first one on the road this weekend. It's an absolute monster and I love it for it.
Did you see the back end? I think it looks decent side-on, but the rear really is a mess and photos don't fully capture how awkward it looks. (Source: have seen two on the roads in the last couple of weeks.)popeyewhite said:
In my view there are a whole lot of different reasons why people buy cars of any type and Land Rover products are no different. To narrow it down to "the badge" seems remarkably fatuous to me.
Limpet said:
I colleague has put 200k on a RRS TDV8 with near perfect reliability. There was a minor issue with the autobox which a flush and new fluid solved ('sealed for shortened life') and that's been pretty much it. Drives it all over Europe still with no bother at all, and it drives well too.
I've had a couple of Vogues that were pretty good reliability wise, one needed a new air suspension compressor, one needed a coolant hose, other than routine servicing.My current RRS has been terrible so far, lower arms, recon gearbox and a propshaft and hasn't done much more than 100k.
They certainly aren't consistent with their reliability, still lovely cars though.
I love the befuddled mumblings of those who don't get this car. The need for every vehicle to fit perfectly into a box defined in the middle decades of the last century is some form of middle age motoring OCD.
I'm going to buy the wife one and she will use it on the school run. It may cross a paddock once or twice a year. The offset rear plate does me no harm. Smoke that mother floggers!
I'm going to buy the wife one and she will use it on the school run. It may cross a paddock once or twice a year. The offset rear plate does me no harm. Smoke that mother floggers!
Walter Sobchak said:
I've had a couple of Vogues that were pretty good reliability wise, one needed a new air suspension compressor, one needed a coolant hose, other than routine servicing.
My current RRS has been terrible so far, lower arms, recon gearbox and a propshaft and hasn't done much more than 100k.
They certainly aren't consistent with their reliability, still lovely cars though.
To be fair the RRS and the D3 it is based on both require lower suspension arms at that age. It's a heavy car and these are considered consumables, same with gearbox oil which is knackered by 100k. My old D3 had these, a 105k cam belt service and new brakes at the same time, I think the bill was almost 2 grand but it was good until I sold it at 150k miles. You certainly cannot run these things on buttons!My current RRS has been terrible so far, lower arms, recon gearbox and a propshaft and hasn't done much more than 100k.
They certainly aren't consistent with their reliability, still lovely cars though.
wormus said:
To be fair the RRS and the D3 it is based on both require lower suspension arms at that age. It's a heavy car and these are considered consumables, same with gearbox oil which is knackered by 100k. My old D3 had these, a 105k cam belt service and new brakes at the same time, I think the bill was almost 2 grand but it was good until I sold it at 150k miles. You certainly cannot run these things on buttons!
I'd have been happy enough if it was just the oil that needed doing, unfortunately it was the whole gearbox, you certainly can't run them on the cheap, I worked out I've spent over £4k on mine in a year of ownership-cambelt service,Turbo hose,lower arms, discs and pads all round, recon gearbox,rear propshaft- still it should be good for a while now, I can't help the feeling that the L322 was better built though.To go on topic I really like the new Discovery, hopefully it means the D4 takes a hit though as I'd like one.
Edited by Walter Sobchak on Tuesday 28th March 17:42
Andehh said:
Cotic said:
ChemicalChaos said:
Suprise surprise, Disco performs well at Eastnor Castle. Like all LR experience places, this is specifically and very carefully engineered to flatter their vehicles and make them seem impossibly capable.
Get on on a proper off road course with claggy mud, and the potential to get stuck or slither into something, and then see what happens
You know of a more capable production alternative to a Disco? Please tell! If you're really keen on mud-plugging, then a set of Malatestas and the optional locking diff are generally all you need. I've run many old Discos, two Disco 4's from new, and have a 5 on order - I make a point of taking each one on a proper off-road run during ownership, and I think the 5 will be the most capable yet.Get on on a proper off road course with claggy mud, and the potential to get stuck or slither into something, and then see what happens
See also how their fat, stiff low profile tyres perform on a wet grassy field compared to something that presses onto the floor with skinny wheels.
wormus said:
Not on your life, the D5 monstrosity means those of us with D4s will hang onto them longer! If you do get one, make sure it's an 8 speed. 
Fair enough!, I'd also thought of going for a late L322 with the 4.4 TDV8, I did also consider a 3-4 year old ML, I can't explain it but despite how much they can sometimes annoy me I'd still pick an LR product over one!.What year did the D4 go to the 8 speed box?.
ChemicalChaos said:
You only have to look at one on the terrapod course to see how modern Land Rovers all rely on fancy traction control to brake dangling wheels from comedically poor suspension droop, rather than good old fashioned axle articulation to actually keep them on the ground. This is OK on a high-grip surface, but not so great when the wheels in ground contact are on something slippery and the TC is fooled.
See also how their fat, stiff low profile tyres perform on a wet grassy field compared to something that presses onto the floor with skinny wheels.
Have you actually tried one ?See also how their fat, stiff low profile tyres perform on a wet grassy field compared to something that presses onto the floor with skinny wheels.
Been to Eastnor ?
Ever experienced the various terrain response modes ?
Seen a Disco or RR in hyper-extension mode ?
Considered that a ladder chassis and " good old fashioned wheel articulation" might not be quite the right thing for a £70k multi-purpose all rounder ?
It's not a Defender, it's not trying to be a Defender, it's not supposed to be like a Defender !
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 28th March 18:32
RSK21 said:
Have you actually tried one ?
Been to Eastnor ?
Ever experienced the various terrain response modes ?
Seen a Disco or RR in hyper-extension mode ?
Considered that a ladder chassis and " good old fashioned wheel articulation" might not be quite the right thing for a £70k multi-purpose all rounder ?
It's not a Defender, it's not trying to be a Defender, it's not supposed to be like a Defender !
Exactly! People compare it to a Defender or old Disco that has been modified to only be good off road. What those people forget is that the D5 (L462), L405, L494 can all drive from Solihull to the Alps at 90+mph, drive up said mountains off road and then drive back to the UK in total comfort. Try doing that with a 25 year old portal axle Defender. If these cars aren't a reasonable definition of "do anything" I don't know what is.Been to Eastnor ?
Ever experienced the various terrain response modes ?
Seen a Disco or RR in hyper-extension mode ?
Considered that a ladder chassis and " good old fashioned wheel articulation" might not be quite the right thing for a £70k multi-purpose all rounder ?
It's not a Defender, it's not trying to be a Defender, it's not supposed to be like a Defender !
Edited by RSK21 on Tuesday 28th March 18:32
wormus said:
andysgriff said:
Perhaps 1% of these will go off road, so whats the point of people buying them?
They are very comfortable, extremely practical with a massive load space and with a comfortable cruising speed of about 85 mph, good for the license. Contrary to popular belief, they are reliable too. In 10 years of D3 and D4 ownership I've had one failed height sensor and a failed compressor. Neither left me stranded.
ChemicalChaos said:
You only have to look at one on the terrapod course to see how modern Land Rovers all rely on fancy traction control to brake dangling wheels from comedically poor suspension droop, rather than good old fashioned axle articulation to actually keep them on the ground. This is OK on a high-grip surface, but not so great when the wheels in ground contact are on something slippery and the TC is fooled.
See also how their fat, stiff low profile tyres perform on a wet grassy field compared to something that presses onto the floor with skinny wheels.
You are being a bit daft. It's not an off-road car. It is a road car that can go off-road. You absolutely don't want massive articulation do you? That would be stupid. What's clever about the tech is it manages to take required road orientated set ups and with clever electronics gets them to synthesise off-road set ups that are good enough for almost any requirement such a car could ever find itself in. See also how their fat, stiff low profile tyres perform on a wet grassy field compared to something that presses onto the floor with skinny wheels.
andysgriff said:
No doubt they are but my comment was about the percentage of people who actually use them offroad, ie what they were designed to do.
Except it's not what they were designed to do. They were designed to be a multi-function road car with a broad spectrum of capabilities. Walter Sobchak said:
wormus said:
Not on your life, the D5 monstrosity means those of us with D4s will hang onto them longer! If you do get one, make sure it's an 8 speed.
Fair enough!, I'd also thought of going for a late L322 with the 4.4 TDV8, I did also consider a 3-4 year old ML, I can't explain it but despite how much they can sometimes annoy me I'd still pick an LR product over one!.What year did the D4 go to the 8 speed box?.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 28th March 20:54
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