Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE

[Storer]

NickColl89 said:

How much did the Phantom III weigh out of interest? I have done a quick google search and it suggested 3500kg with body on. The towing limit of a discovery is 3500kg so you've got that without the weight of a trailer.

Shhhhhh.

I was well overweight and the car is long so hung over the rear of the trailer by a metre.

At 50mph it started to wag the trailer so the journey back was at 45mph. Quite relaxing really with cruise control. I got to look at the French countryside!

The Police didn't give me a second look.

[anomaly]

Just returned from a three week road trip in the car to Greece and have been delighted with it. It was a pleasure to drive, comfortable, relaxing and has a cracking sound system! Oh, and totally reliable also. Overall we covered 4600 miles in three weeks and returned 30mpg according to the car which I'm very impressed with. Tended to set the cruise at 136kph on the motorways which was very comfortable. It did feel a bit out of it's depth in the outside lane of the autobahn though compared to previous cars I've had. Interestingly I think I only spotted two other Disco 4s on the whole trip, guess they're not so popular outside the UK.

The route and some pictures follow:



In Chamonix:


Half way up mount Vesuvius:


At the beach in Mykonos:


Romanian traffic:

[S100HP]

Sweet roadtrip

[Straff99]

What was the problem with the Vantage?

[anomaly]

Straff99 said:

What was the problem with the Vantage?

There was nothing particularly wrong with it, it just wasn't as amazing as I expected. Previously I had a BMW 1M which I absolutely loved however I'd always wanted a Vantage and was in a position finally to afford a brand new one. I was expecting great things as it was by far the most expensive car I'd bought. It was certainly beautiful and sounded great but was not a patch on the BMW to drive. It was slower, handled poorly in my opinion (standard suspension), felt decidedly hand built (not in a good way) and was a bit of a pain to drive daily: obstructive clutch and gearbox, difficult to get in and out of in parking spaces, hopeless technology and ergonomics, boot filled with water when opened in the rain etc etc. Overall, a disappointment for what it cost me.

[LDN]

anomaly said:

Just returned from a three week road trip in the car to Greece and have been delighted with it. It was a pleasure to drive, comfortable, relaxing and has a cracking sound system! Oh, and totally reliable also. Overall we covered 4600 miles in three weeks and returned 30mpg according to the car which I'm very impressed with. Tended to set the cruise at 136kph on the motorways which was very comfortable. It did feel a bit out of it's depth in the outside lane of the autobahn though compared to previous cars I've had. Interestingly I think I only spotted two other Disco 4s on the whole trip, guess they're not so popular outside the UK.

The route and some pictures follow:



In Chamonix:


Half way up mount Vesuvius:


At the beach in Mykonos:


Romanian traffic:

Great pics; I think you've helped me take the plunge!

[Barchettaman]

LDN said:

Great pics; I think you've helped me take the plunge!

What, are you going to buy a pony and trap?

[anomaly]

LDN said:

Great pics; I think you've helped me take the plunge!

Thanks. Enjoy your new one, they're great all rounders. I can't think of anything that would do so many things so well.

[LDN]

It's all happened rather quick; I pick her up tomorrow!

Great pics and an epic road trip you had. Mine will be going over to Morzine and surrounding areas for a few months. Winter tyres and an eBay set of alloys on the horizon now!

[anomaly]

LDN said:

It's all happened rather quick; I pick her up tomorrow!

Great pics and an epic road trip you had. Mine will be going over to Morzine and surrounding areas for a few months. Winter tyres and an eBay set of alloys on the horizon now!

A D4 sounds perfect for such a trip. What year/spec have you gone for?

[anomaly]

A update on the D4. It's now on 95,000 miles and not a single fault so far. So much for Land Rover's unreliability reputation! I've recently had it remapped. After some research I went with Alive Tuning and it is now putting out 305bhp compared to the original 255. Not only is it quicker, it's also a lot smoother with less throttle lag when pulling away. No negative effect on economy either so I'm really please.

I still love the car and can't think what I'd replace it with as an all-rounder for the same money. It just does everything I need it to, so well.

Here it is on the north coast of Scotland:

[ECG1000]

I have a D4 commercial so naturally have a soft spot. Awesome cars, especially at this time of year. Have to admit, yours does look great in silver!

How do you rate the Scorpion ATRs? I've got the OEM fitment Scorpion Zeros which are great for most normal pursuits. However, they do struggle when it gets slimy - going up a slick muddy bank for example. Can be a problem during the shooting season!
Tempted to go for ATRs but I'm wondering if they would be a step down in cornering grip on the road? I know Discos aren't really meant for it, but I do enjoy hustling along at a fair lick on a twisty, bumpy road.

A remap is also something I've been looking at. Was going to go with a piggy type from DTUK but am open to other options. Do you mind elaborating a bit more on the Alive map?


Here's mine dealing with the early stages of the Beast From The East last year:

[anomaly]

ECG1000 said:

I have a D4 commercial so naturally have a soft spot. Awesome cars, especially at this time of year. Have to admit, yours does look great in silver!

How do you rate the Scorpion ATRs? I've got the OEM fitment Scorpion Zeros which are great for most normal pursuits. However, they do struggle when it gets slimy - going up a slick muddy bank for example. Can be a problem during the shooting season!
Tempted to go for ATRs but I'm wondering if they would be a step down in cornering grip on the road? I know Discos aren't really meant for it, but I do enjoy hustling along at a fair lick on a twisty, bumpy road.

A remap is also something I've been looking at. Was going to go with a piggy type from DTUK but am open to other options. Do you mind elaborating a bit more on the Alive map?


Here's mine dealing with the early stages of the Beast From The East last year:

Yours looks great, the facelift D4s have really grown on me: they look more modern.

I really like the ATRs though I have little to compare them to, I replaced the worn Hankooks that were on it shortly after I got it. The ATRs are not an aggressive AT tyre: the tread looks quite road biased. I haven't done much off road but they seemed pretty competent. On road they do grip well and cornering in the D4 is more limited by roll than tyre grip!

Regarding the remap, my main motivation was in overcoming the throttle lag that all D4s apparently suffer when pulling away from a standstill. You see a gap in traffic and put your foot down. Nothing happens for what seems like an eternity then it lurches forward. Although this hasn't been totally eliminated it is a LOT better. The acceleration now is properly rapid too! Big difference and smoother generally. It will easily accelerate hard now at motorway speeds. I don't tow but I imagine that if you did the extra power would be useful. It is expensive but depending how you drive I think it is worth it.

[Storer]

I had my Discovery 3 tweeked by JE Engineering in Coventry 10 years ago. It was the second Disco that they tweeked for me.
It drastically improves motorway performance and reduces kick down on hills. I tow quite a bit and it improved fuel consumption when doing so.

They are worth a chat if you want to upgrade.

[anomaly]

Update on the Disco and the first big expense. Part of this was expected as the year 7 service includes the timing belt. Part of it wasn't: new front lower suspension arms (there was a clunking), corroded brake lines, new passenger door lock mechanism and tyres. Total cost £4k at the dealer. I probably could have had it done elsewhere cheaper but I was happy with the service and it was convenient. I also don't know of any local specialists. It is going great now though, especially since the remap.

In happier news it has just taken us to France where it is performing brilliantly:

[S100HP]

Looks classy outside the chalet.

[sc0tt]

Great car, I just looked at the cost of them, then I saw the 4k bill.

That is what, 30% of the value.

[anomaly]

sc0tt said:

Great car, I just looked at the cost of them, then I saw the 4k bill.

That is what, 30% of the value.

It's hopefully worth [a little] more than that! The cost of the work is worth it in my opinion as the car means more to me than it's book value.

[Steviesam]

Do you know if they took the body off to do the belts?

[Alfahorn]

anomaly said:

sc0tt said:

Great car, I just looked at the cost of them, then I saw the 4k bill.

That is what, 30% of the value.

It's hopefully worth [a little] more than that! The cost of the work is worth it in my opinion as the car means more to me than it's book value.

This is the important point.

You've had the car more than 3 years would have saved quite a chunk when the car was new and it's given you great service and you're happy with the car.

It'd cost more than 4k to swap the D4 for something else so it's cheap really.

Nice car and nice read. Thanks for sharing.