Land Rover LR3

[BMWDave]

By DAN CARNEY
Published: June 12, 2005
LANHAM, Md


MOVIEGOERS are sitting through repeated viewings of the final "Star Wars" installment, trying to fathom their hero's unfathomable transformation from Anakin Skywalker, handsome good guy, into Darth Vader, disfigured villain. At Land Rover, an equally extreme mutation has occurred in the other direction: the coarse and disagreeable Discovery has evolved into a gracefully refined new vehicle, the LR3.

The Disco made sense mainly for hard-core off-roaders. As spry as a goat in the mountains and as hardy as a camel in the desert, it was often beastly in civilized surroundings. All the while, it treated its occupants with the delicacy of a police van, inflicting punishment even before charges were leveled or a verdict was rendered.

And the Discovery's abysmal reliability scores - confirmed over years of surveys by Consumer Reports and J. D. Power & Associates - brought to mind another film. In "The Gods Must Be Crazy," the protagonist struggles to counter his Land Rover's faulty parking brake as he tries to open a gate without losing his truck.

Any character that comes over from the Dark Side needs a new name and a new look to confirm its conversion to civility. Casting off the Discovery's armored helmet - its functional high-box design - the LR3 emerges as one of the sharpest-looking S.U.V.'s on or off the road. A box it remains, but it is a classier box. While it bears a distinct resemblance to the more expensive Range Rover, it is not an outright clone, lacking the gill slits in the front fenders, for instance. If the Disco dressed in khakis, the LR3 wears a pressed Armani suit.

The Discovery did not simply fall short in quality, it was saddled with old technology, including a V-8 engine that dated from a General Motors design of the 1960's. But Land Rover, which in 2001 found new a foster parent in Ford after a brief stay in the house of BMW, has benefited from huge investments in its engineering, design and manufacturing facilities, some of which predated World War II. Land Rover insists that the LR3's quality will reflect these improved operations.

That remains to be seen, but I can say that the fit and finish of my test truck seemed excellent. The only flaw I noted was a persistent buzz when the stereo was cranked up.

With so many changes, perhaps the new name was in order. But here's the thing: people who owned Discoverys liked them, and people who were unfamiliar with them didn't know much about their shortcomings. So the Disco didn't carry the strong negative associations of say, the late, unlamented Chevy Cavalier (recently replaced by a new car with a new name, the Cobalt).

The LR3 will still carry the Discovery name elsewhere in the world. For Americans, the new designation hardly seems an improvement. Why not leave those generic, meaningless alphanumerics for robots like C-3PO and R2-D2? Give us adventurous names that evoke Luke Skywalker's X-34 landspeeder zooming over the desert.

The LR3 will zoom, too, thanks to its 300-horsepower Jaguar-derived V-8 (which is itself related to the engines in the Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird) and six-speed automatic transmission. That power will cost you at the pump, though; the LR3's economy rating of 14 m.p.g. in the city, and 18 on the highway, is typical for an S.U.V. like this, but thirsty by any measure.

The 4.4-liter engine is enlarged slightly from its Jaguar specification, and it has special oil and water pumps designed to operate at extreme angles. The water-resistant air intake breathes through a vent in the right front fender. Ostensibly, the LR3 can ford water up to that level.

The technical showcase of the LR3 is its Terrain Response System, an ingenious means of adapting the various electronic systems to suit driving conditions. A knob on the console lets the driver select normal highway driving; slick surfaces like snow or ice; deep mud; sand; or rock-crawling. Each selection adjusts the height of the air suspension, the operation of the locking differentials (center and rear); the traction control and the transmission's shift points.

If you've unexpectedly encountered a challenge in an off-road vehicle, and found yourself puzzling over whether to lock one or more differentials or make other adjustments, you will appreciate the LR3's user-friendly setup.

What's more, the system is idiot-proof, overriding the setting for, say, sand, if you forget to turn back the dial before pulling onto the highway.

The air suspension contributes to the LR3's ability to be all things to all people by providing a truly comfortable highway ride while permitting good off-road performance. The only noticeable downside was the system's tendency to make embarrassing flatulent noises after parking.

I spent a day at Land Rover's off-road course here, which offered plenty of opportunities to get into trouble - traversing muddy ruts, climbing giant rocks and fording ponds - but despite my best efforts I never had to use the optional winch.

Creeping off ledges and down rocky dropoffs offered a glimpse of a future when cars may drive themselves. The Hill Descent Control limits the LR3's speed as it descends, so I lifted my size 12 boot from the brake pedal and just drove off the ledge, trusting the LR3 to do its thing. Which it did - applying the brakes and traction control to maintain a slow, steady crawl.

Removing yourself from the controls as you drive off a precipice requires a leap of faith, quite literally, but this time I had the reassurance of Jim Swett, a Land Rover instructor and off-road expert who came along for the ride. Mr. Swett also provided a tip for improved traction when churning through deep mud: shake the steering wheel back and forth as quickly as possible, he said, to try to shake out some of the mud packed in the tire treads.

Real off-road tires are self-cleaning, and they would have worked much better on the off-road course. The test model's highway-oriented tires are better suited to conquering the suburban streets that LR3's will patrol in the hands of most owners.

Land Rover offers its owners opportunities, for a fee, to test their vehicles and their own skills at off-road schools around the country. A big benefit of these schools is that they provide the vehicles, so you won't spend the next week cleaning muck out of your own.

For its $53,245 sticker price (the base version is $44,995), the LR3 test car had a cabin as comfortable and attractive as the underpinnings were capable. The look is in keeping with the old-world image of British vehicles, with luxurious wood and leather trim; even the vinyl looks soft and expensive.

A sunroof over the front seats, plus fixed skylights over the second and optional third rows, give the interior an open feel that contrasts with the cavelike sensation of many three-row vehicles.

The LR3's independent rear suspension not only works well off-road, it permits an unexpected amount of third-row legroom. This, combined with that seat's own climate control vents, reading lights, cup holders, audio controls and headphone jacks, make the rear fairly accommodating. The second-row seats flip easily forward, supported by gas struts, for access. Everyone gets the limo treatment in the LR3.

When in use, the third-row seat does consume most of the cargo space, so the LR3 is an either-or vehicle - accepting either a full complement of passengers or a full load of cargo, but not both at the same time.

Among the nice details are third-row headrests that slide down low when not in use, making it easier to see out the rear window when backing up. For better visibility you can fold the seat entirely, which opens up the view out of the irregularly shaped rear window.

That window flips up while the rest of the rear folds down like a tailgate. A conventional upward-lifting hatch would be more convenient, since it could be opened with a single action rather than requiring that the window be raised first.

I had one aggravation with the interior: the window switches are so far forward on the door that they are inconvenient even for drivers with orangutan arms.

There are lots of reasons to consider an LR3, though for the way most Americans drive, a vehicle with such off-road prowess amounts to extreme overkill. Face it: lots of Land Rovers are sold on image alone.

The company's rough-and-ready reputation was cemented in the United States by decades of exposure by the Crocodile Hunter's spiritual predecessors, Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler, on "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." Each week Americans would watch as Mr. Fowler ventured out to wrestle a wild beast, aided only by his trusty Land Rover. (Perkins always narrated the encounters from a safe distance.)

Hey, if the Land Rover could keep Jim out of harm's way week in and week out, it must be good.

Even if the Disco turned out to be not so great once it was domesticated into a luxury vehicle, it cleared a path for an LR3 that looks to be more hero than villain. As fans of Star Wars know, the offspring can turn out much better than their forebears.

INSIDE TRACK: The Force is strong with this one.

[TBR]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.  

[BMWDave]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.  

[TBR]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.

I think it would just take the challenge out of it.  

[R33 GT-R]

Good read.

[giant_mtb]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.

I think it would just take the challenge out of it.

I somewhat agree.

[BMWDave]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.

I think it would just take the challenge out of it.

I somewhat agree.

It helps to modulate the suspension and engine settings....in off roading, you just have a massive lift on the suspension before you off road...with the LR3, terrain response just lifts the suspension.  As far as engine braking and throttle input, that is diminished somewhat.

[giant_mtb]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.

I think it would just take the challenge out of it.

I somewhat agree.

It helps to modulate the suspension and engine settings....in off roading, you just have a massive lift on the suspension before you off road...with the LR3, terrain response just lifts the suspension.  As far as engine braking and throttle input, that is diminished somewhat.

Hence it takes out some of the fun.

[BMWDave]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.

I think it would just take the challenge out of it.

I somewhat agree.

It helps to modulate the suspension and engine settings....in off roading, you just have a massive lift on the suspension before you off road...with the LR3, terrain response just lifts the suspension.  As far as engine braking and throttle input, that is diminished somewhat.

Hence it takes out some of the fun.

It doesnt take the challenge out of it...you still have to do stuff.  Its not like its autopilot or anything, it just adjusts the vehicle settings....doing that doesnt take any fun out of it...it just allows the vehicle to operate better under the conditions.

[giant_mtb]

The LR3 is a good vehicle, but it seems to me that the terrain response system would likely make the offroading experience much more boring.

Not at all.  Would it be fun to adjust the vehicles springs and try to modulate the engine every time?  With terrain response, you do the driving, and its plain old fun.

I think it would just take the challenge out of it.

I somewhat agree.

It helps to modulate the suspension and engine settings....in off roading, you just have a massive lift on the suspension before you off road...with the LR3, terrain response just lifts the suspension.  As far as engine braking and throttle input, that is diminished somewhat.

Hence it takes out some of the fun.

It doesnt take the challenge out of it...you still have to do stuff.  Its not like its autopilot or anything, it just adjusts the vehicle settings....doing that doesnt take any fun out of it...it just allows the vehicle to operate better under the conditions.

True.  But for myself I'd rather just have a good suspension and be on my own.  But that's just me.