Drove an LR3...I'll keep my D2, thanks

[EDL]

I saw a couple of LR3's at the local LR dealer off-road event this past weekend. The conditions were muddy and I think most people struggled a bit throughout the tour.

However, I followed this fellow with a one-year old LR3 through the course. He buried it a bog once (that required about 6 guys to push him out) and got high-centered on a small hill (that took another 5).

I immediately began to think, "This is not a good way for a dealer to show off one of their new rigs". There were two more in our group, and fortunately, they faired much better than the first guy.

What I learned was that 33% of the problem was driver inexperience, 33% conditions, but more importantly 33% was lack of a good AT or MT tire. This guy was running the stock tires and they were crap. I don't think it was the vehicle's fault.

I would love to see an LR3 with good tires make a run like that again and see how it compares.

 

[Jamo]

I've had my D3 along some very sandy tracks and beaches and cannot fault it for a factory 4x4; except for the tyres. I agree, the Wranglers are crap. If a D3 can't get traction then turn off the DSC. The first time I went onto the beach, I got stuck pretty fast as the DSC brakes any wheel that's spinning. As soon as I switched it off, the Disco kept on moving. The extra 2" of 'extended mode' also came in handy! THe D3 is a very capable machine, but you still nedd to know how to drive the conditions.

I drove a freelander in Europe and consider it to be a piece of junk! My Subaru Forester can go further, and without anything falling off! IT's interesting to note that BMW's engineers wanted to kill it off, but the accountants said no as too much money had been invested in it's development by the previous owners. BMW didn't want landrover to go under before they had milked sufficient 4x4 knowhow to put into their own cars.

I couldn't be happier with my TDV6 HSE. I fitted my own second battery to power the fridge and as time goes by, there will be more and more aftermarket accessories available. ARB is about to release the winch bullbar, Safari is working on a snorkel and Longranger are working on a larger fuel tank.

(Sorry, I take that back. The Freelander is not junk. It's probably a good base for a project machine. It's just that it needs something more (including quality control!)).