By Bill on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 05:35 pm: Edit

I have a similar thread going in another bulletin board, and a fellow said ACE allows for better off road performance....in low range. That is because ACE disengages in low range, and the ACE equipped vehicles don't have swaybars. This combo gives better articulation. But then you have those hurkin' 18" wheels to deal with (replace) while 4x4ing. I think I'll still opt for no ACE when I buy mine.

By bert on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 06:33 pm: Edit

your friend is right

By Bill on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 07:54 pm: Edit

I would be interested in it...maybe...if the 18" wheels weren't involved. Do you think the dealer would make a trade straight across for 16" ones? Or would the usefulness of the ACE onroad be significantly diminished with 16" wheels? Then again, it is quite the pricey option....I have plenty of time to mull it over!

By Mike Little on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 08:30 pm: Edit

I have been on trips with the ACE equipped vehicles and they do perform well.
The tires available for the 18" rims all have very weak side walls and are extremely damage prone.
Replacing the stock wheels with 16" ones would seem easy but I have not seen a clear answer from a dealer about warranty when this happens.

By Bill on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 09:25 pm: Edit

Yes, the warranty does seem to be an issue....but just changing the wheels to 16"?? I wouldn't think that should void the warranty, but you never do know...I'll try to contact a dealer tomorrow and see what they say. You think if I called two separate ones I'd get a different answer from each?....LOL!

By gil on Sunday, May 06, 2001 - 09:44 pm: Edit

I currently sell Rovers, and once I sold a customer a 2000 Disco II with ACE for himself and a 2000 Range Rover 4.0 SE for his wife. He wanted to modify the Disco for trail use so we swapped the 18" Prolines off of the ACE Disco for the 16" Lightning wheels on his 4.0. No warranty issues. The Prolines are worth more so I dont see why any dealer wouldnt swap them off for a set of 16"s. By the way, all the 2000 TREK Discos were ACE equipped with 16" Lightning Alloys and they performed quite well. The 18" wheels give the American consumer a visual reason for spending $3000. In Europe you can get ACE trucks from the factory with 16" wheels. Hope that helps

By Bill on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 12:29 am: Edit

Thanks Gil. I'll suggest that to the dealer when I buy mine. Appreciate the info!

By Ron on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 11:25 am: Edit

Don't trade the dealer for 16 for your 18s. On ebay a set of USED 18inchers LR wheels only sell for 1000 and up while you can get used 16inchers for about 350. Assuming you had new 18 tires on them I would say you could get about 1500 for a set of 18s. I would say buy a set of used 16s and either use the 18s for on road or sell them. Definately don't trade as you would be getting the short end on the deal.

Ron

By mrbieler on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 11:39 am: Edit

Or ask for the swap and some other accessories as a package deal. Let him know you know the 18"'s with new tires are worth a pretty penny compared to a 16" set. It still has to make sense for him too. Just ask the sales manager to get creative with his numbers. Everything is negotiable.

By Bill on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 04:31 pm: Edit

Good ideas guys. Thanks for throwing those options out there! I am now leaning towards the ACE, but with the 16"....ooohhh, that extra 3 grand is gonna sting!! I am starting to feel like an educated buyer.

By Bill Gill (Bluegill) on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 04:55 pm: Edit

Uh-oh...educated buyer? The dealer won't like you at all!...no offense, Gil

P.S. Gil - I grabbed the vin # off that Rangie, but my wife has the Disco with my field book in it. I'll email it off to you tomorrow

By Bill on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 06:12 pm: Edit

Speaking of dealers (and I mean no harm to any dealers on this board)....the dealer I spoke with a few days ago on my test drive looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned I may want to install a rear locker....said there was no way I would ever need it, and he had never heard of a Disco owner doing that. I guess that's what happens when you talk 4x4ing in Chicago! The dealership I plan to buy from on the west coast will probably (hopefully?) have more knowledge when it comes to that.

By gil on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 08:11 pm: Edit

That guy is a clown. He has probably drives a Corrolla and has never been on more than a dirt driveway. There are a few of us at the dealers that own Discos and wheel them very hard. I guess maybe we are a rare breed, but I like to think we arent. Lockers are very helpful, thats why I run two of them. Be careful who you listen to.

By Roverine on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 08:46 pm: Edit

Hey there,
Just my .02 cents worth (and that's about all it's worth). I just purchased an SE7 '01. After a lot of mulling it over for the same reasons you mentioned above Bill, I decided (gasp) to h#ll with the ACE, it's just one more thing to go wrong and fix later. - I just felt like I couldn't get a decent comfort level at that point on the offroad performance issue. I like to gauge the "feel" of the road conditions I'm driving in anyway, and wondered about how that may affect what I'm used to offroad. Took my vehicle offroad a couple of weekends ago, and it handled like a dream. However, my dh (bless his heart) wrecked the two right tires (sidewalls - now that was fun 17 miles off road!). I now have BFG ALL TA KO's (255/70/16) on it. It hurt ($$$) like heck, but I got $100.00 for two of my remaining stock GY tires, and a good deal on the BFG's. Glad we went that route; My dh spoke to a friend that has them on his Defender - He said he was out in Death Valley a couple of weekends ago and out of 4 vehicles, he was the only one that didn't get a flat (sorry, I forgot which ones the others were running on theirs, but they all had sidewall problems too ). Well, I'm talking about the Calif. desert here and lots of sharp rocks - Okay, I've strayed off the subject ... For my own uses, I didn't like the ride of those 18" tires either. Best wishes,

K

By Roverine on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 10:53 pm: Edit

(Oops! ... got distracted while I was straying off the subject - what a way to introduce myself!) .. For anyone that cares, ... on the new tires I mentioned above: They're BFG AT T/A KO's (255/70R16-8ply). 8 ply: Adequate to handle the 3 ton Disco. Anyway, back to the ACE, guess how many other ways I was able to use that xtra $2,900.? (*Big blush* - No wisecracks please, about 4 NEW BFG's!) -K

By Bill on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 11:29 pm: Edit

Gil, I thought as much about that guy...

Roverine, did you leave the swaybars on? Just curious since the concensus
here is that swaybars equal not-so-good articulation on the non-ACE DSII's.
BTW, how do you like the new SE7 so far overall? Thanks for sharing your info!

By bertie on Wednesday, May 09, 2001 - 01:27 pm: Edit

My(european)discoII has, so long, given a perfect service with the ACE and is much smoother and articulated than my Defender 110 off road, and light years away on road. Actually the only advantage of the defender off road is the higher diffs and body. This is ... being very honest, although I fancy more the Defender for no objective reasons