This past Saturday evening I had the chance to ride in an LR3 off-road here in AZ. During an AZLRO (Arizona Land Rover Owners) club run last weekend, we unexpectedly had 2 brand-spanking new LR3's driven by Land Rover Factory personnel show up for the run. Apparently they were in town to visit the Desert Proving grounds and had heard from the dealer in Scottsdale that we were having a run. They let those of us on the run crawl all over the cars and took anyone who wanted for a test-ride off-road.
My impressions - well, this thing is certainly cushy! People who have been looking forward to a new ultra high tech disco will be thrilled - better than expected. People who have been dreading the end of the Land Rover as a sturdy rig, easily modified, and simple will have their worst fears confirmed.
The trail was moderate (actually easy to moderate) but very rocky. The ride in the LR3 was smooth as silk. Also all the whiz-bang electronics really are fascinating in a kind of Sci -Fi techie way. It was very cool to look at the console display and see the directional position of the front tires and the articulation of all the tires. The drive-by-wire throttle is kind off interesting, compensating for the adrenalin mistakes that can be made in a hairy situation by giving you a longer pedal travel in the various off-road modes. The electronic center and rear diff locks work - and, by the way, work without you deciding when to use them. The myriad of other electronics combine to make a Disco II look like a Series in comparison. I hate to think, however, what would happen on the trail when the electronics all decide to take a s**t. You are going to be stuck well indeed.
The test cars were wearing street-bias tires, but the electronic center and rear diff lock made climbing pretty easy. The terrain-response settings are interesting, and I suppose will be very comforting to the vast majority of soccer moms who end driving these things, but for me really dull the off-road driving experience.
From my view, it was very nearly like not driving at all. For me, a large part of 4 wheeling is the combination of the cerebral and visceral. The terrain response and assorted gizmos really removes the thinking part of off-roading - but I suppose that is the intent. With all the electronics in this thing, nearly anyone will get through a moderate off-road trip without event. The 4 wheeling equivalent of a point-and-shoot camera.
So, there will be no LR3 in my future - but I hope LR does well with with this new product - Well enough to attract more dealers ( only 1 in my state) and well enough to invest the money in a new NA Defender.
cheers,
Ted
My impressions - well, this thing is certainly cushy! People who have been looking forward to a new ultra high tech disco will be thrilled - better than expected. People who have been dreading the end of the Land Rover as a sturdy rig, easily modified, and simple will have their worst fears confirmed.
The trail was moderate (actually easy to moderate) but very rocky. The ride in the LR3 was smooth as silk. Also all the whiz-bang electronics really are fascinating in a kind of Sci -Fi techie way. It was very cool to look at the console display and see the directional position of the front tires and the articulation of all the tires. The drive-by-wire throttle is kind off interesting, compensating for the adrenalin mistakes that can be made in a hairy situation by giving you a longer pedal travel in the various off-road modes. The electronic center and rear diff locks work - and, by the way, work without you deciding when to use them. The myriad of other electronics combine to make a Disco II look like a Series in comparison. I hate to think, however, what would happen on the trail when the electronics all decide to take a s**t. You are going to be stuck well indeed.
The test cars were wearing street-bias tires, but the electronic center and rear diff lock made climbing pretty easy. The terrain-response settings are interesting, and I suppose will be very comforting to the vast majority of soccer moms who end driving these things, but for me really dull the off-road driving experience.
From my view, it was very nearly like not driving at all. For me, a large part of 4 wheeling is the combination of the cerebral and visceral. The terrain response and assorted gizmos really removes the thinking part of off-roading - but I suppose that is the intent. With all the electronics in this thing, nearly anyone will get through a moderate off-road trip without event. The 4 wheeling equivalent of a point-and-shoot camera.
So, there will be no LR3 in my future - but I hope LR does well with with this new product - Well enough to attract more dealers ( only 1 in my state) and well enough to invest the money in a new NA Defender.
cheers,
Ted
