Land Rover land grab

Technology versus tradition

Occasionally a landmark vehicle comes along and, more often than not, it emerges from the British town of Solihull.

Some of us are old enough to remember the impact the first Range Rover made on the Australian 4X4 scene in 1972. With its all-coil suspension, smooth V8 and full-time 4X4 drivetrain the Rangie took a quantum leap over its leaf-sprung, part-time 4X4 Japanese and North American rivals. But its $7475 retail ask was around twice the going rate of an ordinary 4X4.

Since 1972 there have been only a few landmark 4X4 wagons that have introduced new technology and Land Rover has been responsible for most innovations: direct-injection turbo-diesels, variable-height air suspension, electronic traction control and hill descent control are the stand-outs.

The 2002 Range Rover stacked these and other innovations into an independently-suspended body to become undoubtedly the most advanced 4X4 wagon in the world, but at a price upwards of 120 grand.

What then, of the brand-new Discovery 3 that puts all these technological advances - and more besides - into a package priced from around $60,000? Little wonder Disco 3 picked up 4X4 Of the Year 2005.

But 4X4OTY is not a direct comparison: it's an award for what is deemed to be the best new release in a calendar year. So, we were keen to find out how the Discovery 3 stacked up against the opposition.

We chose a mid-spec Disco 3 SE - turbo-diesel with air suspension - and put it up against its turbo-diesel, auto-transmission competitors: Prado Grande, LandCruiser 100 Series and the price-leading Patrol ST-L.

The Disco is powered by a 2.7-litre V6 turbo-intercooled diesel. Variable geometry turbocharging and common-rail, high-pressure injection combine to give the bent six very respectable figures of 140kW at 4000rpm and 440Nm at 1900rpm - that's only 11kW less power than the 4.2-litre LandCruiser turbo-diesel and with 10Nm more torque.

This engine is matched to a six-speed adaptive-shift, Tiptronic-style automatic box.

The standard Discovery SE fare is comprehensive: electronically controlled, independent air suspension; 18-inch alloy wheels; cruise control; xenon headlights; park distance control; seven cloth-covered seats; manual height-adjustable driver's seat; tilting-telescopic steering column; climate control; single-CD, six-speaker sound system; EBD/ABS brakes; dynamic stability and roll control; traction and hill descent control; on- and off-road programming; electric park brake; and multiple airbags.

Our test vehicle had optional locking rear diff ($1000), cornering headlights ($1000), satnav ($6100), front park distance control ($850), metallic paint ($1500) and a 'Hi Ice' Pack with eight speakers, passive sub-woofer, in-dash six-CD stacker and steering wheel audio controls ($3650). Added to the SE base price of $73,650 that list took the total ask to $86,900.

We'd let Land Rover keep all options except the diff and the literally brilliant cornering lights, dropping the evaluation SE's price to $75,650.

ALSO RANS...
The Prado Grande is an obvious competitor at $73,710. Grande features include a four-speed auto box, rear air-suspension with height-adjustment, variable-rate dampers, Driver Assist Technology (DAT) that incorporates traction control, swerve control and hill holding and descent control, EBD/ABS brakes, multiple airbags, eight leather-covered seats, a navigation system, sunroof, climate control with rear outlets, cruise control, power-adjustable front seats, tilt-telescopic steering column, metallic paint and 17-inch aluminium wheels.

Next in the numbers game is the LandCruiser 100 Series and the most popular spec level is the GXL. Our comparison vehicle was a stock GXL turbo-diesel, priced at $74,200.

You get little in the way of frills with the GXL: five-speed auto box, manual air-conditioning, seven cloth seats without height or lumbar adjustment, steel 16-inch wheels, a tilt-only steering column, no traction aids other than a limited-slip rear differential (despite a window sticker proclaiming the vehicle is fitted with DAT) and cheap-looking aluminium side-steps.

The Nissan competitor for the Discovery 3 is the newly announced ST-L turbo-diesel Patrol. A more appropriate spec level would be the Ti, but Nissan makes that model only with 4.8-litre petrol power.

Our evaluation Patrol was a 3.0-litre auto model that retails for $61,240. The ST-L spec includes seven leather seats, power-adjustable front seats, front and rear manual airconditioning, 17-inch aluminium wheels, a tilt-only steering column, a powerful limited-slip rear diff and part-time 4X4 operation. If we'd opted for the ST-L 4.2 model, we'd have picked up cruise control, but the auto box disappears and the retail jumps to $65,240.

TO THE TEST
We loaded each vehicle with typical bush-touring freight and headed off for three days of widely different driving conditions. For all but one of the test team it was a first encounter with the new Discovery.

Over the bitumen and gravel on-road sections of the test the Discovery was by far the best performing, riding and handling vehicle of the quartet. Early Range Rover air-suspensions were somewhat harsh-riding, but that characteristic has been eradicated. The Discovery 3's air-suspension was sufficiently supple to absorb bumps, but cross-linked air springs kept the big wagon flat through high-speed manoeuvres. We drove it on bitumen in the Terrain Response System's 'general driving' mode, then switched to 'grass/gravel/snow' on dirt roads. The change in engine and transmission response was immediately noticeable, with a 'softening' of power delivery and shifting action, to reduce the chance of traction loss.

With the 'grass/gravel/snow' program working it was difficult to provoke out-of-shape behaviour from the Disco 3.

Punting the new Discovery on any formed surface is like driving a luxury sedan, with none of the expected compromises a 4X4 should impose. It also had the easiest cruise control operation. The 100 Series turbo-diesel has been the benchmark for big wagon performance and handling, but the Cruiser has well and truly met its match in the new Discovery. The British machine easily out handled and outgunned the grunty 100 Series.

The Prado also failed to match the Discovery's bar height, with far less power and torque available, and with its live rear axle unable to match the handling precision of the Land Rover's independently sprung design.

The 2005 Patrol's 1988 GQ heritage showed positively in flat handling, but with lively suspension action that provided ample evidence of the unsprung axle weight reciprocating beneath. Sadly, the change to 17-inch, lower-profile tyres with less cushioning action than the previous 16-inchers has made the Patrol's ride-quality worse.

THE ROUGH STUFF
Nissan doesn't fit cruise control to the 3.0-litre diesel models, which we reckon is silly.

All four vehicles ran our off-road course without drama. The Discovery's Terrain Response System took all the guess-work out of mode selection and the automatically-locking rear diff took much of the grip-assurance work away from the traction control system. The Land Rover climbed steep, loose slopes with some traction-control slip and grip at the front end, but was never fazed.

In 'rock crawl' and 'mud and ruts' positions the Terrain Response System activated a higher ride height, effectively increasing underbody and under-axle clearance.

The Prado's traction control and height-controlled rear axle combined to give it very good rock-climbing ability. We liked the manual control over the centre diff lock in both high and low ranges that allowed easy manoeuvring in tight situations.

The 100 Series made up for its lack of traction aids with excellent rear-suspension travel that kept both rear wheels in contact with the ground almost all the time.

The Patrol performed the rock-shelf climbing trick without much wheelspin, thanks to the excellent travel of front and rear live axles and its strong rear LSD. Beam axles may reduce on-road handling and ride quality but they sure work in the rough stuff!

Oddly, though, the Patrol's engine braking was the worst of the four vehicles and needed considerable wheel-braking effort as a supplement. The big Cruiser's engine braking was the best, so the fact it didn't have hill descent control wasn't a problem.

The Discovery and the Prado both had very effective hill descent control and we liked the way the Disco's could be adjusted for descent speed via the cruise control buttons.

In soft sand the LandCruiser 100 Series' baggy 16-inch tyres gave it superior flotation over the other three vehicles and it could be almost idled around our sand circuit.

We expected the 18-inch low profile rubber on the Disco to nobble it on the sand, but the V6s diesel's free-revving ability in concert with the brilliant six-speed transmission's shift quality overcame the tyre drag to a large extent. The 2.7-litre V6 felt more like a petrol engine than a diesel, able to rev at will and never 'bogged down' by the wrong gear ratio.

We're still not happy about the 18-inch tyre fitment and we'd opt for the 'S' model's 235/70R17 wheel and tyre package. Seventeens that can handle bush work are becoming more readily available in the marketplace.

The Patrol auto-3.0-litre combination was much sweeter to drive in sand than the manual we last evaluated. The box allowed the engine to rev well and sand performance was impressive. However, the low-profile tyre move is a backward step for sand gropers.

The Prado was the least comfortable of the quartet in soft sand, lacking directional stability and understeering when asked to corner. We still reckon the Prado works better on the GX model's 225/70R17 rubber than it does on the GXL and Grande models' 265/65R17s.

There wasn't a huge fuel-consumption difference across our test foursome, with the LandCruiser 100 Series averaging 13.8L/100km, the Discovery 14.3L/100km, the Patrol 14.7L/100km and the Prado 15.4L/100km. All four offer considerable fuel cost-savings over equivalent-performance petrol engines.

The Prado's relatively poor economy showing can be put down to the fact it's powered by an old-generation pre-chamber diesel that also had to work harder than the more modern engines.

The Prado is the touring range leader thanks to its 180-litre tank capacity. Next best is the 100 Series, with 141 litres, then the Patrol on 125 litres and a poor last is the Land Rover's inadequate 82 litres.

Another aspect of economy is running expense and here the Discovery has some saving potential, thanks to much longer servicing intervals than the Japanese trio, with their 5000km oil drain requirements. Land Rover allows oil drains out to 15,000km.

REPUTATION PRECEDES...
The only doubt hanging over the new Land Rover Discovery 3 is its heritage of less than consistent build quality and the marque's historical quirkiness and unreliability.

As with all post-Ford-ownership Solihull products (except the incurable Defender) the build quality question seems to have been answered in the affirmative. Our recent test Discoverys have been well built and this evaluation Discovery 3 was faultless on test.

If we judge the Land Rover Discovery 3 without prejudice it stands beside the original 1970 Range Rover as a true landmark 4X4. It's also by far the best vehicle in its class and is today's best value-for-money large luxury wagon.