The new Discovery 3

[Swoxy]

...

[LandRoverGrrl]

I went down to the NY Auto Show with our three salespeople. (I work at a Land Rover dealer. ) The first place we went to was the Land Rover display. They had the Drive Across the World Discovery with the BFG MTs and the Rocket Ships and new Freelanders, and then up on the spinning thing was the new LR3. Two of them. We made friends with one of the dudes and were allowed to get in and look at the LR3. They wouldn't let anyone else on, just us. We're so special. It was definately cool...if you like luxery. I, being an avid wheeler, wasn't too impressed with the air suspension and everything. Land Rover is definately moving away from its heritage of a work vehicle and is moving into the world of luxery vehicles. One of our customers asked me what the LR3 looks like. My response, "It's a mix between a Discovery, a Range Rover, and a Honda Element." I can't wait to get it at the dealer to see how it rides. I may like it a little more after driven it over our rock pile a couple dozen times.

What does everyone else think of this thing?

[BCBlues]

Looks like a Honda. To much electronics. What do you do in the middle of Bum F**K Egypt when one of the computers dies. I had a 1990 Range rover do this to me and I ended up being towed out by a Jeep. Turned out the wireing harness to the spark coil shorted internally. Cost me $500 plus a tow to the Dealer.

I wish I still had my old Series 11. Only had 2 wires to the coil.

Sombody should tell rover to Keep It Simple!!!

[Ping]

One of my favorite things about my disco is being able to lift the hood and at least know what I am looking at. I am not really a "gear head" but its nice to be able to do some simple maintainence and learn as I go. My dad is an computer engineer so I know just enough to stay away from computer problems! Computers are great for hybrid cars and luxury cars but it doesn't do you a lot of good to have an electrical short, malfunction, navigation system or DVD player when your stuck in the mountains and you can't fix your car!

[autodesignerdave]

Hey everyone!

I just bought a Discovery II and to say the least, I'm GLAD I got one before the lease returns start looking like Explorers. I tell ya, Ford has a knack for getting together with a company and changing everything.

I read a couple of the replies on this thread, and my suspicion of the market's reaction to this latest Rover is further reinforced. First of all, people are always drawn to a vehicle based on how it looks. I don't care of you've got an R22 Engine mated to a Ford-9 rear end and you're selling the car with a quarter million mile warranty, if the thing looks like hell, no one's going to want it. On this level, I think Land Rover will find the same bold styling changes that seemed to work so well for the luxury hungy buyers of the latest Range Rovers will quickly turn on them.

I just bought a 3-year old Discovery, and despite returning it to the dealership twice to remind the detailers of missed rock chips and once on a flatbed due to a starter problem, I'm still happy I bought it. The discoveries are probably the last generation of Land Rover off-roaders. Let's be honest here, do you really picture someone taking their 100K Range Rover out to the woods to tangle with the trees? Now, give it a couple years for all the off roaders to walk away from the LR3...when all that's left are Newport Beach trendies, again do you really think these things are going to see anything more challenging than "the rock pile" at the dealership.

Overall, I think it's a bad move what Land Rover is doing. I'm a car designer and after talking to people I work with...I know this much is true...GET A GOOD DEAL ON A DISCOVERY WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!

[p2m2s]

I am about to purchase a new Discovery but it has been delayed in the UK for no concrete reason (suspicious)....
Any news of how they are performing/ teething problems in the USA where they were released 3 Months ago?
Many thanks

[oddsodz]

typical ford bodge! nice inside,having seen one out on the road over here in the uk it looks crap box on wheels no style no image

[57JagXKSS]

Originally Posted by oddsodz

typical ford bodge! nice inside,having seen one out on the road over here in the uk it looks crap box on wheels no style no image

That would be false.

The LR3 has an...

(from edmunds.com)

"Integrated body frame is just a fancy way of saying that the LR3's traditional ladder frame is aided in crash-worthiness by a body that has almost unibodylike strength. In most typical body-on-frame designs, the frame provides all the strength while the bolted-on body simply holds the passengers. The LR3's body, though, has extra strong sills that literally envelope its frame. So closely does it wrap around, in fact, that in the case of an accident, the body is forced into the frame rails greatly adding to its strength. Land Rover says that this significantly increases resistance during offset crashes, the common bugaboo of body-on-frame designs."



The 300 hp 4.4 V-8 used in the LR3 is based on Jaguar's 4.2 V-8 but modified for off-road duty. Jaguar's 4.2 V-8 doesn't have the timing chain tensioner problems of the 1998-2000 XJ8. Jaguar's V-8 is not a Ford V-8.

http://www.jagweb.com/aj6eng/v8_performance.html

[oddsodz]

i used to drive rigs/hgv's around europe collecting engines and gearboxes for landrover and jag,so know that the engine and box come from the same places(or used to before ford took over) .I just dont like the shape of the thing,it's not a landrover to boxy and over the top with all it's gizmo's..once the discovery was the farmers limo up a stage from his series3.The animal is no more

RIP Discovery

[Jaguar D-Type]

BMW helped develop the current Range Rover which some say has gone soft, but it is still a great SUV.

Jaguar's 4.2 liter V-8 is much better than the 4.0 liter V-8 from the 1997 Jaguar XK8.