By Lee AB.CANADA on Tuesday, August 07, 2001 - 03:20 pm: Edit

Would like to know from owners of the 2001 disco c/w ACE if you are impressed or not with the vehicle as a whole, and if the ACE system has any problems I should know about. Also how are the vehicles in other areas ie.anyone have a weird warranty issue, overall maint. etc. any problems or info I should know about? Just bought mine about a week ago and all is well but from the sounds of it people seem to have some interesting stories, have had rovers in the past (old series i and II) this was a lot of coin to drop but it seems to be worth it, if you have any cool stories or facts and info please drop a line thanx a bundle it would help a lot

By David on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 04:45 am: Edit

Lee,
I have a 2K Disco with ACE. I have not yet switched tires and rims but plan to do so soon. Overall, I'm very pleased both with the vehicle and the ACE system. Any service issues have been taken care of, and I have had NO troubles. The only service issue

I believe the vehicle handles very well, given it's weight. Off road, I get better articulation than anyone I know (except the real mod rigs). I bought the truck second hand with only a few miles on it. I did my research, and felt it was worth the buy at the time.

The biggest things I could say are that you should never attempt any work on the system yourself. From what I hear, contaminating the system is very easy. Secondly don't go larger than a 2" lift, if you ever end up lifting the vehicle.


Beyond that, that's about all I know.

By Lee AB CANADA on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 06:18 am: Edit

David thanks a lot for the reassuring thoughts after having read on this site about all the problems for the past couple of days, I was confused and rather worried that I made a mistake in purchasing this vehicle , not that I dont want to maintain this truck because i have lots of experience in repairs and ground of restoration on both landrovers and cruisers but to spend this amount of coin and have it continually in the shop would really piss me off.

thanxs for all the good experience and

By David on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 06:30 am: Edit

No problem Lee. I too was a little "vexed" by the amount of negativity around ACE. It definitely did not do well when the vehicle came out in 99'. But I think they've ironed out a lot of problems. Obviously depending on the use and abuse of your vehicle, parts will break and things will happen. But I've put mine through some paces already and it seems to handle the "light" off-roading well...

By L_Tilly on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 06:45 am: Edit

Lee,
Most of the problems you have been reading about lately seem to fall into the category of "someone elses's problem". Many of us with issues are second owners of the vehicle and previous owner did not maintain it and / or use it as it was designed.

I know you're a prior-LR owner, but as far as your new Disco, here are some tips from the point-of-view of a pre-owned Disco owner:

1. You have a serious 4x4 vehicle. Use it as such. I don't know about ACE, but the 4H/4L AND Center Diff *MUST* be used or you will loose them. I don't mean weekly, but I'd suggest at least once a month take it to some place appropriate, lock up the diff and drive it a little. Mine was owned by a mall-crawler and I still don't have a fully working center diff.

2. Make sure you take it in for its service checks. If you take it to a LR dealer for those checks, be POSSITIVE they log that they did the corrosion inspection...and get a copy in WRITING each time. If you have the service work done elsewhere or do it yourself, keep detailed records (with receipts) but still take it to a LR dealer for corrosion checks at whatever their required intervals are...again get a copy of it in writting! The only people having problems w/ LR covering their rust issues are the ones w/ no record of these inspections. Lucky me, I'm one of them.

3. Wave to other LR owners you see on the road. If your area is like New England, you will find the following:
100% of Series owners will wave back.
100% of Defender owners will wave.
About 70% of the Disco I owners will wave.
About 70% of the RR owners will wave.
Only about 25% of the Disco II owners wave.
Everyone else is a snob with the status of their LR so far up their @$$ they won't even look at you. BTW, those are usally the same owners who pass on LRs to us with frozen diffs and poor maintenance. ;-)

Most of all, ENJOY!

L_Tilly lnctilly@mediaone.net
96 Disco "Beowulf" - NH, USA

By Carl E. Cederholm on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 07:29 am: Edit

Lee,
I have a 99 Disco 2 with ACE. Although I have had minor problems with the truck, (all fixed under warranty) the ACE system was not one of them. I live in NYC so on road handling is important, and I love to leave the city and take my truck "home" off road often. I find the ACE system to give great articulation off road, and a good solid feeling on road.
I love my Rover!
Status and waving....Disco owners in NYC try hard to look the other way when you pass, (I'm ashamed of all of them), glad my folks live in New England for that 25%

Anyway, just my 2 cents on ACE
Happy Rovering
Carl
99 D2 Kinversand
Give us a wave!

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 08:07 am: Edit

There might be misconceptions regarding negativity towards ACE - I think most of us are saying "don't get it" because it's so expensive; the money can be spent on other more important things. Also, it's one more electronic gizmo that could potentially lead to repair costs. If you have the money, and on-road handling is important to you, then more power to you! In my opinion, ACE is a pretty damn cool application of technology, and it certainly does improve the on-road manners of these beasts. I would personally dedicate the $2-3k towards more off-road extras or extended warranty. A Disco II for my wife and baby would certainly have ACE, though (provided I get to keep the off-road Disco I ).

my two cents.

By chuanchen on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 10:54 am: Edit

Just my personal opinion. If you want to make serious mods and do off-road, you might want to get a non-ACE disco. If you prefer not to do serious mods on suspensions and tyres but still want to do off-road also still have a good on-road manner, an ACE disco can be good for you. basically, for articulation with no mods, ACE Disco II > non-ACE Disco II > Disco I.

Money is still a big issue, though.

chuanchen

By Lee AB CANADA on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 03:06 pm: Edit

DAVID,L TILLY, CARL,BLUE QUILL,CHUAUNCHEN,
Thanks a lot for replying,
feeling a lot better about the purchase I made especially since I do, a lot of driving. Living here in ALBERTA EDMONTON it gets really cold I mean real cold for aprox. 5 months (-20 to-35 celcius) with about 2 feet of snow on good days so I really need to have a reliable vehicle to drive agressive and have the handeling to boot.
As for waving I wave to all rover and cruiser owners having owned both and they do wave back, though some people do have the attitude that they are related to the QUEEN, (ya sure) true rover owners are close to each other because of the difficult situations not the easy go lucky ones, they have dealt with tough off-road trails and have had the rovers perform in very difficult, sometimes impossible times & tasks and survived(at least I have in the past with my series I and II 1st generation old boys) This is why the rover has a following of cult proportions.

A foot note to the rust problem I contacted the dealership and they said that in the disco2 they made 1800 changes is that true or a bunch of *#$@
when asked about the skin on the doors he stated
"they have new technology to fold the door better with steel than they do with aluminium"
also when asked why the disco came with a steel top he replied "that North America requires a steel roof rather than a aluminium door"

Is this true? or a cost saving measure?
Again thanks for the cool info and advice.
LOYAL ALWAYS!!!

By Karen Jones on Wednesday, August 08, 2001 - 04:02 pm: Edit

Hi Lee,

Geez, as the originator of the thread here that seemed to be putting a damper on the ACE, I feel badly that it put any pall on your new vehicle good vibe. I think everyone should have what they want and as with so many things in life, it's all about individual choices and finding one's proper balance (no performance pun intended). I think you should revel in your new truck and have a wonderful feeling about your purchase. Everything has an up and down side and drawing absolutes is a dangerous business. Enjoy, play and have a stoned cold groove in your new Discovery! Best to you and a wave from America!

Karen