By Clint on Friday, March 16, 2001 - 02:42 pm: Edit

the results were:
4)disco - suspension was under sprung and under damped over fast sections. Traction control was ok but not great.
3)hummer - worked well some some situations, but struggled in others. Same thing with traction control.
2)jeep TJ - small and agile. Suspension good and pretty flexy.
1)tacoma TRD - suspension worked well in all situations. good engine power and brakes. and a FACTORY ELECTRIC REAR LOCKER.

That gives the tacoma a huge advantage! I guess all the disco needs is new springs shocks and a locker... Which can all be done easily. Maybe what LR needs is a disco sport option...

By ktm on Friday, March 16, 2001 - 02:44 pm: Edit

Clint, what Discovery needs is to get LRNA to pay FourWheeler some money so that it can get better reviews.

By Bill Gill (Bluegill) on Friday, March 16, 2001 - 02:52 pm: Edit

How about a Land Rover Discovery "Non-Soccer-Mom-Mall-Rover" Edition? Out with the wood trim, 18" street wheels, auto-hydraulic leveling, fancy trac control electronics, painted plastic air dam with fogs; and in with the HD front/rear springs & shocks, fat knobby's on 15" or 16" rims, front/rear lockers, roof rack with hella's and second fat spare, and high-approach-angle front bumper with hellas. All original and all warrantied...they could even get it dirty for you before you take dealer delivery. Of course, what we all do with our time if they took care of the fun stuff for us?

By Milan on Friday, March 16, 2001 - 07:14 pm: Edit

I don't think neither my TJ nor the Disco are second to Tacoma. I agree that both need minimal mods (like Clint said - springs, shocks and some traction diffs).

I, too, think the tests are too biased. And no matter what they claim, sponsor money talks. I'm especially sick of all magazines trying to tell me how the new "4x4's" with independent suspension and no low range are quite capable dues to their electronic traction control, etc. What a crock of shite!

By ESnyder on Friday, March 16, 2001 - 09:23 pm: Edit

I agree with most of what was said here, have owned a 95 Disco (as well as several Series trucks) for some time, and am a dedicated Rover owner. But I have a friend with a 95 Toyota Landcruiser. Dual factory electric lockers ain't shabby. (Although it doesn't have the gearing range that the Disco does, such as center diff lock, 4WD high). Bigger wheel wells (easier to mount larger tires), similar luxuries, reliable wiring? I have a hard time saying the Disco is a better truck to wheel in, "straight out of the box". What we really need is to import Defenders (without Americanizing them to death) as well as 75 series landcruisers, and then we'll have REAL trucks to off-road in "out of the box". Write your congressman.

By Milan on Friday, March 16, 2001 - 10:23 pm: Edit

Yeah, but Tacoma is no Land Cruiser. One thing Toyota used to do right was overbuilding the components. These days it's only done on the LC.

By Rich on Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 09:53 am: Edit

Results are in:

Consumer Magazine states that typing on a natural keyboard was easier than dead lifting 500 pounds.

I mean honestly look at the trucks they are comparing. A feather weight truck, a midsize luxury, a house, and a small barbie car.

Exactly what is the point??

Rich

By Glenn on Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 10:30 am: Edit

That article is complete bull-shit, I took on my friend off-road(with my 95 Disco w/a stock suspension, but no sway-bars and a lot of skid-plates and a DR in the rear)who just purchased a 2000 Hummer fully-loaded. My Disco went EVERYWHERE his Hummer went with more comfort. We climbed the same hills, went through the same gumbo-thick mud and guess who got stuck first, the Hummer, I had to tow-strap him out of a ditch(which was easy once on low-range). The Hummer had close to no wheel travel and had a lot more wheel spin then the Disco when climbing really steep and slick hills (also the Hummer has front and rear lockers). My almost stock Disco kicked his big butt easily, just imagine if I had a front locker, RT suspension and big 33" on it. There would be no competition there!

By alhang on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 12:32 am: Edit

I agree with the mag, fourwheeler is a little jeep biased but stock discos aren't that good. Testing in the California desert where they usually go, it's going to be biased towards vehicles which can go fairly fast over varying terrain with little worry in hitting trees. Here on the east coast, the disco probably would have placed in the middle of the pack. A stock disco weighs in at 4500lbs and with the other trucks having a better power to weight ratio, the votes are going to go with the faster truck. It's all a matter of terrain, for the most part the disco is the easiest to live with because it's a blend of a lot of different things. Rovers were the first to blend luxury while keeping good off road ability, and that's something no magazine would argue.