Land Rover Discovery
The Discoveryrn(now known in North America as the LR3) is a comfortable 4x4 vehiclern(SUV in American-English) from Land Rover which is now owned by Ford.rnThere have been three generations of the vehicle, which is somewhatrnless expensive than the company's top Range Rover model. The Discoveryrnwas introduced in the late 1980s and is the most popular model of LandrnRover. It is not as utilitarian as the Defender, but it is veryrncompetent off road.
On 2 April 2004, owners Ford Motor Company introduced a new Discovery 3 (or LR3 in the US) for the 2005 model year.
ThernSeries II Discovery was long over-due for replacement. Although still arncapable and popular vehicle, its chassis, coil-spring suspension andrnbeam-axle layout had changed very little since the launch of thernoriginal Discovery in 1989. In turn, that vehicle used essentially thernsame underpinnings as the original Range Rover, launched in 1970. ThernDiscovery II was beginning to lose sales to more sophisticatedrn'working' 4x4 vehicles from Japan (such as the Toyota Land Cruiser andrnMitsubishi Shogun) and 'sports' 4x4s from Europe (such as the BMW X5rnand Mercedes-Benz M-Class). A replacement vehicle had been planned forrnmany years, but the project had been delayed many times due to thernbreak up of the Rover Group in 2000 and the need to replace the RangernRover in 2001.
The Discovery 3 (LR3 in North America) was anrnentirely new design, sharing not a single component with the outgoingrnmodel. Its styling is still traditional Land Rover, with functionrndictating the look, rather than fashion, and with lots of horizontalrnand vertical lines. It retains the key features of the Discovery, suchrnas the stepped roofline and steeply-raked windscreen.
Construction-wise,rnLand Rover developed an all-new method which they called 'IntegratedrnBody Frame'. The previous Discovery models had used a traditional,rnstrong ladder-frame chassis. Whilst tough in off-road use, these arernheavy and detract from the on-road handling of the vehicle. Monocoquernvehicles are more rigid, giving improved high-speed handling, but canrnbe damaged by the stresses involved in heavy off-road use. In the IBFrnthe body, engine bay and passenger compartment is built as a monocoque,rnwhich is mated to a basic ladder-chassis holding the gearbox andrnsuspension. It claimed to combine the virtues of both systems, but doesrnmake the Discovery 3 uncommonly heavy for its size stunting on-roadrnperformance and off-road agility.
Another big change was thernfitting of Fully independent suspension. Like the Series III RangernRover, this was an air suspension system, which allowed the ride-heightrnof the vehicle to be altered by simply pumping up or deflating the airrnbags. The vehicle can be raised to provide ground clearance whenrnoff-road, but lowered at high speeds to improve handling. FIS has beenrnseen as inferior to the older beam-axle when off-road due to itsrntendency to make the vehicle ground out. Land Rover developedrn'cross-linked' air suspension to solve this problem- when needed, thernsuspension mimics the action of a beam axle (as one wheel drops, thernother rises). In the UK and European markets, a coil-spring independentrnsuspension system was offered on the base model. This model was uniquernin the range by having only 5 seats and only being available with thern2.7-litre diesel engine. This model lacked the Terrain Response systemrn(see below).
All this was designed to make the new vehiclernsuitable for a changing 4x4 market. Ultimate off-road ability wasrnbecoming less important compared to refined on-road manners. Land Roverrnwas determined that the Discovery 3 would retain the brand's reputationrnas a top-performing off-road vehicle, whilst also being a good roadrncar. Whilst the Discovery 3 was not as good in the handling stakes asrnsome of the competition, it was much improved over the previous modelsrnand its off-road credentials remained intact.
The engines used inrnthe Discovery 3 were all taken from Land Rover's sister company,rnJaguar. A 2.7-litre, 195 horsepower (145 kW) V6 diesel engine (thernTdV6) was intended to be the biggest seller in Europe. For thernUS-market and as the high-performance option elsewhere, a 4.4 litrernpetrol V8 of 280 horsepower (209 kW) was chosen. A 4.0-litre V6 petrolrnengine taken from the Ford stable was available in the USA andrnAustralia. Before launch, there were rumours that Land Rover mayrnintroduce the diesel unit to the American market, but the use ofrnhigh-sulphur diesel fuel, for which the TdV6 is not designed in thatrnmarket made this fitment unlikely.
The gearboxes on the Discoveryrn3 were also all-new. For the diesel engine, a 6-speed manual gearboxrnwas standard. As an option, and as standard on the V8 engine, a 6-speedrnautomatic transmission was available. Both came with a 2-speed transferrnbox and permanent 4-wheel-drive. A computer controlled progressivelyrnlocking central differential ensured traction was retained in toughrnconditions. A similar differential was available on the rear axle tornaid traction.
The Discovery 3 was fitted with Land Rover's fullrnarmoury of electronic traction control systems. Hill Descent Controlrn(HDC) prevented vehicle 'runaways' when descending steep gradients andrn4-wheel Electronic Traction Control (4ETC) prevented wheel spin inrnlow-traction conditions. An on-road system, Dynamic Stability Controlrn(DSC) prevented skidding when steering and braking at speed.
Arguablyrnthe biggest feature of the new vehicle was the innovative 'TerrainrnResponse' system (this system won a US Scientist award in 2005).rnPreviously, off-road driving had been a skill that many drivers foundrndaunting. A wide-ranging knowledge of the vehicle was needed to be ablernto select the correct gear, transfer ratio, various differentialrnsystems and master various techniques required for tackling steeprnhills, deep water and other tough terrain. Terrain Response attemptedrnto take away as many of the difficulties as possible. The driverrnselected a terrain type on a dial in the cab of the vehicle (thernoptions are 'Sand', 'Ice/Grass/Snow', 'Mud/Ruts' and 'Rock Crawl'.) Thernon-board computer systems then select the correct gearbox settings,rnadjust the suspension height, adjust the differential lock settings andrneven alter the throttle response of the engine suitable for thernterrain. For example, in 'Rock Crawl', the suspension is raised to itsrnmaximum height, the differentials are locked, Low Ratio is engaged andrnthe throttle response is altered to provide low-speed control. Therndriver retained some manual control over the off-road systems, beingrnable to select the Transfer Box ratio and the suspension heightrnmanually, although use of the Terrain Response system is needed tornallow full use of the vehicles capabilities.
As well as newrnmechanical and electronic systems, the Discovery 3 introduced much morernadvanced and modern design to the interior and exterior of the vehicle.rnThe original 1989 Discovery's looks had been determined by limitedrnfunds and the consequent use of first-generation Range Roverrncomponents. These continued to influence the Series II. The Discovery 3rnwas able to have a fresh, minimalist style. The interior was muchrnimproved, with a highly flexible 7-seat layout. Unlike the olderrnmodels, adults could comfortably use all 7 seats. Passengers in thernrearmost row now entered through the rear side doors, instead of therntailgate as in previous versions. The driver benefited from a modernrnsatellite on- and off-road GPS. When in off-road modes, the screenrnshowed a schematic of the vehicle, displaying the amount of suspensionrnmovement, angle the front wheels were steering, the status of thernlocking differentials and icons showing which mode the Terrain Responsernwas in, and what gear was selected on automatic versions.
Thernvehicle was very well received by the press on its launch, with thernTerrain Response system, vastly improved on-road dynamics and cleverrninterior design being selected for wide praise. The new look wasrndisliked by some (descriptions such as 'van-like' were used), and thernlarge, blank rear panel, now devoid of the spare wheel, was arncontroversial point. Others pointed out that the diesel engine stillrnlagged behind the competition in power (especially given the weight ofrnthe vehicle), but overall the vehicle scored highly. A high-point inrnthe new Discovery's launch season came when Jeremy Clarkson of thernBBC's Top Gear motoring show drove one to the top of a Scottishrnmountain, where no vehicle had previously reached.
In Australia,rnthe vehicle managed to be awarded '4WD of the Year' by virtually all ofrnthe 4WD press, impressing the often conservative journalists of thern'hard-core' magazines when it effortlessly ambled where therntraditionally highly-rated Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol had tornscramble. It was widely hailed as the first time that electonicsrnactually out-performed trusted mechanical systems, although mostrnsounded a note of caution about long-term reliability andrnserviceability. Despite these reviews, and a price tag very similar tornthe LandCruiser, it did not set the market alight.
Amongst thernoff-road driving and Land Rover enthusiast community, the all-newrnDiscovery has gradually gained acceptance. Given the improvedrnroad-going qualities of the vehicle, many were worried that thernvehicle's off-road abilities would be comprimised, and others expressedrndoubts about relying on electronic systems in extreme conditions.rnHowever, by 2006, 2 years after the vehicle's launch, the vehicle'srnabilities and reliability have been proved both by the press andrnprivate owners. Land Rover and many aftermarket companies haverndeveloped off-road equipment such as winch, bull-bars, under-bodyrnprotection kits, snorkels and roof-racks for the new Discovery, tornoptimise its off-road use.
In 2006 Land Rover will use thernDiscovery 3 in its G4 Challenge, alongside the Range Rover Sport. Thernvehicles used are all in standard mechanical form, and are fitted withrnequipment from the standard Land Rover brochures.
The LR3 wasrnnominated for the North American Truck of the Year award and won MotorrnTrend magazine's Sport/Utility of the Year for 2005.
The firstrnall-new model placement since the Freelander, the Range Rover Sport isrnbased on the Discovery 3 platform, rather than on the larger RangernRover.
