Land Rover Discovery and Discovery II

nanuq · March 2002

Ohhhh yeah, Steve... we've had record breaking snowfall over the last 48 hours. I've been out BLASTING thru it in the Rover. In the side streets the snow is lying about 3' deep, pushed up to over 4' deep along the sides. With the diff locked, if I went over about 10mph the snow was blasting up over the hood and windshield, couldn't see a THING, I wound up with snow packed in around my headlights, the grille is packed, the back door won't open... what a hoot! Yesterday I was able to take two stranded women to church, picked up groceries for another, pulled or pushed a nearly infinite number of non-SUVs out of snow banks... and the list goes on!

Oh, and I pushed a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited out too! Those poor "lesser" 4WDS... gotta love that Rover.

marcus15 · March 2002

Since there's no Town Hall for Defenders (that I'm aware of), does anyone have any info on double cab Defenders?
Can they be imported privately?
Thanks,
Miami Marc

stever · March 2002

There is one, but it could use a shot in the arm:

Land Rover Defender 90/110

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

nanuq · March 2002

Steve, take a look here... this is looking out the garage at my brother's house. That's a snowmachine trailer out there.

There's always alternate ways to get to work! It snowed another almost 20 hours after this.

expert1 · March 2002

I don't know what your smog rules are in NYC, but a friend of mine bought a used Tahoe from a dealer here in California and 2 years later went for his smog renewal. Lo and behold it was a Canadian Tahoe and wasn't certified for California. He is now trying to return it to the Chevy dealer (with 50K+ miles on it) and get his money back.

c2sox · March 2002

Try www.discoweb.com and www.d-90.com. Discoweb is mostly for Discoveries, but they also have boards for the Defenders. And the D-90 source is an excellent site for Defenders. Hope this helps!

Al

charlie2k2 · March 2002

Does anyone know when the 2003 Discovery will be available in the U.S.? The few articles I've seen on the subject state it will be available this summer (c. June), but all of these articles are from the U.K., not North America. So far, all I've seen with LRNA is newer models available late in the year, usually November/December. Is this year somehow different?

Charlie

tincup47 · March 2002

The 2003 Discovery will be on sale sometime in July, along with the New Range Rover.

dnscud · March 2002

before you degrade other vehicles remember that most of these people dont know the full capabilities of the vehicles they are driving

expert1 · March 2002

We have already discussed capabilities and most deficencies are in the vehicles themselves not the operator. I have first hand experience here at Donner Lake California. Our snows can get into the 26' range with the pack on the slopes now at 196". Near our cabin is a well used kids tobaggon run. Getting up to it is a real chore. Many a Tahoe, Explorer and Durango has attempted to climb it with no success. What sold me on LR was when I saw two elderly grandparents shuttling their grandchildren up the slope with their DII. The other vehicles just aren't capable.

nanuq · March 2002

Since you haven't been around here for long you cannot know that this is sort of a long-standing joke here. Sorry to come across as abrasive; it was more in jest than anything else.

The TLC was my neighbor, he's been wheeling for maybe 30 years. The JGC was my sister-in-law and she NEEDS a little needling now and then. One of them uppity Alaskan wimmen. You know, the kind that win the Iditarod? A guy's gotta get his digs in where he can.

jynewf · March 2002

I beg to differ. I think anyone is capable of getting themselves into trouble, regardless of what type of vehicle they are driving (including myself). I've seen plenty of people do stupid things in the snow/ice/mud in Vermont and "bank" their vehicles (including jeeps, toyotas, and yes, her majesty's Land Rovers as well).

If you've got road bias tires, or you don't have chains, or you don't carry enough momentum up a snowy incline, then no, you aren't going to make it up that hill, regardless of the type of vehicle you are driving. There are just too many people who think they are invincible because they have four wheel drive.

Now does that mean I think that all four wheelers are the same? No, of course not. We can talk all day about solid axles vs. IFS/IRS, ground clearance, breakover/approach/departure angles, wheel travel/articulation, lockers vs. brake actuated traction control, etc. until we are black and blue. Yes, a lifted Wrangler with front, center and rear lockers will be better than an RX300 with all season radials and some cheapo viscous coupled "4wd" system. But when you see some poor sap stranded in a ditch, I would place most of the fault on the driver, not on the vehicle.

kemmons · March 2002

Hi all-

Nanuq- My husband and I are envious of you and your 'snow adventures'. We have been hoping for some serious snow to play in ourselves, but to no avail. Maybe next year. Loved the pics.

SEast MI Rovers--Got word yesterday that Earhard LR Farmington Hills may be putting on another off road event in May. If they're your dealer and are interested, give them a call. The course is supposed to be bigger than it was in October. We're hoping to go ourselves.

What do you guys think about the new LR trucks being composed of BMW parts? Is the 03 Disco going to feel like a Rover? I'm holding off on my decision until I can see and drive one in person, but I was curious to see what you thought.

We're compiling items for our "off road/long trip" First Aid Disco Kit. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

Glad to see everone's in good form!

Kim

tincup47 · March 2002

The 03 Discovery II will have no more BMW parts than any other Discovery II. The chassis and suspension are identical to the 99-2002 models. The engine used is the 4.6 version of the same engine that powers it now (previously used in the 4.6 Range Rover). This is not a BMW engine, just another version of the pushrod engine used in all the earlier models. The new Range Rover is going to have a lot of BMW content, as it was designed while BMW owned the company. Any future Land Rover products will not have much BMW content, as they no longer own Land Rover.

nanuq · March 2002

I have to agree. No matter how many lockers you have, or how much clearance you have, you *will* get stuck when you get too far out there. In my personal experience, the toys just let me get stuck a lot further out there... and it's a lot of work to get myself recovered. Not many people appreciate the joy in that.

See, there IS value in the RX300... you'll only be 20' offroad when you bog down. (evil wink)

dnscud · March 2002

i do love your responses. i currently own a tlc, but learned to drive , as a 12 year old, in a new 1971 88. my dad bought new. i would love to off-road with you guys, but as of now, free time is not something i get very much of. iam hoping that between bmw and ford, the quality issues of the land rovers will be addressed. then the cost will be well worth it.

dielectric7bb · March 2002

agreed. Those that say they can't get stuck in their rig just haven't tried hard enough

stever · March 2002

It's like canoeing - if you aren't swimming you aren't playing hard enough (or like bikes and headers I suppose, eh, Nanuq?)

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

nanuq · March 2002

I see we're ALL Alaskans here. If you're not crashing or breaking gear, then you're just not having enough fun.

Okay, story time. Who has been the MOST stuck here?? Let's have the details. I'll open with:

I was driving over a set of snowdrifts two winters ago. The wind had been howling for a week, it was way below zero, about 10PM and I was wheeling just like it was in the dunes. I had crawled up over a humongous long drift marvelling at the traction, when suddenly *blam* I broke thru. But only my TIRES broke thru... leaving me resting on my frame rails with a little more than 4' of snow beneath my tires... and perhaps 100' of snowdrift in both directions. Man you talk about a lot of digging, it looked like the Panama Canal before I got down to terra firma. I made a long launch pad behind the Rover, then started going fore and aft to build a tough surface, then I got all the way forward, locked the diffs, and LAUNCHED backward, breaking trail with the hitch receiver and rear bumper. It took many many many attempts at this, and tons of shoveling, before I finally clawed my way back out of there.

Okay... who else has been having fun??

denver8 · March 2002

Met my first high school sweetheart while stuck in a ditch. This story goes back a few years. I just turned 16 and bought an old 73 blazer with 93,000 miles on it. late on friday nite my friends brought some girls along and we were driving around out on the dirt country roads and it was real slick from the rain. I slid sideways off the road into a ditch. While waiting for one friend to run back to town and get help, being the chivalrous person that I am I gave my coat to one of the girls. She was able to see past my poor driving skills and we dated for about 2 years.

dl7265 · March 2002

Carmax has a slew of 01 Disco's guess they were Demos ? or rent cars ? Anyways 9k miles asking 25k...

tincup47 allready answered the question i had if a BMW powerplant might find its way into the Disco , guess wishful thinkin

thanks
DL

norbn · March 2002

In Houston we had the same thing, a bunch of "demo" Discos. I asked the salesman what was up, he said they bought them directly from Land Rover and not from the local guys, they are asking less than the local guys too.

kbonnel · March 2002

Hey Tincup47, you stated: "The 2003 Discovery will be on sale sometime in July, along with the New Range Rover.", is this for July of 2002? or 2003?. I really like the current headlights, and am planning on getting my Disco this year. (don't get me wrong, I like the new version also, I just need to see one up close).

dl7265 · March 2002

So would you be very afraid ? usually i would of any type of demo vehicle. And other than national deals, hows discounting in Houston ?

thanks
DL

mrwhipple · March 2002

They seem to be awfully cheap. Is there anything wrong with them. People seem to beat up demos much like rentals. If you can find one in really good shape, it's a great deal. I noticed most of them were SD's.

tincup47 · March 2002

The 2003 Discovery II will go on sale in July 2002. I am quite sure of this.

charlie2k2 · March 2002

I hope this doesn't seem cynical, but since the 2003 Discovery is to soon be available, does anyone know if there will be a price increase as well? It is my understanding that the Range Rover is to be increased in price. I am concerned this is to be the case with the Discovery likewise. Mr. Tincup47, thank you for shedding light on the availability. Is the approximate price known also?

Sporin · March 2002

Pictures of the 2003 Discovery.... http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=297174

kbonnel · March 2002

Thanks Sporin for the pictures, I am now going to get the 2003 (I just need to see some pictures of it). I love the way it looks.

Kimo (can't wait)

kkone · March 2002

Hey Sporin:

Those are great pictures.

Tincup:

Can you explain why the center lock diff is better? What are HID headlights? Are the wheels/tires the same size?

They say 217HP out of the 4.6. How much tourque?

kbonnel · March 2002

Is the 4.6 going to be standard? or an option (and if so, any ideas how much that is going to add on the price?)

Kimo B.

tincup47 · March 2002

Locking the center differential in off road situations will help in low traction situations. In the current model, the ETC has to not only control torque split side to side, but front to rear also. Tire and wheel sizes are unchanged, but the HSE gets the flat 6 spoke Kryton Wheel.

tincup47 · March 2002

The 4.6 is going to be standard on the 2003 Discovery. Price has not been announced.

tincup47 · March 2002

Demo's from LRNA are probably turn ins from the discontinued employee lease program. These vehicles have not been abused or treated badly.

nanuq · March 2002

A central diff lock is very important in offroading. It gives you the ability to tie the front and back axles together for additional traction. If you have "open" diffs on your axles then you can get in a situation where you have one wheel spinning on ice and you're stuck. Adding a central diff lock means you'll also spin one of the front wheels too... usually the opposite corner. Toss in a couple of axle diff locks (or limited slip diffs) and you get even more wheels hooked up for traction offroad.

Having full-time 4WD on the road means you have to decouple the front axle from the rear. Then to regain full benefit of 4WD in slick conditions, you want to be able to couple them again. Simplest explanation maybe?

As for torque... the peak figure for the Disco is indeed lower than some of those other engines. But it happens well down in the RPM range, where it's truly useful; having a torque peak at 4,000 or 5,000 RPM is basically useless offroad. You want to modulate your traction, not just spin your tires wildly. To be able to idle into and out of situations means a lot... having a torque peak at 5,000 RPMs means you can't do so.

I hope this helps, -Bob

mrwhipple · March 2002

Thanks for the updated info tincup47

dl7265 · March 2002

So the 2003 will have the 4.6 from the Range Rover ? And the buick engine is file 13 ?

Sorry if this has been discussed i havent been around the thread in a while... thanks

DL

tincup47 · March 2002

The 4.6 is from the 96-2002 Range Rover. It is the same basic engine as the Buick based V8 as the 4.0. The BMW engine in the 2003 Range Rover is the first V8 not based on the Buick V8.

kkone · March 2002

Tincup:

Is the BMW V8 that going in the Range the same (block) 4.4 V8 in the X5 and 750I?

KK

tincup47 · March 2002

Yes it is

smarticus · March 2002

I understand that the centre diff locking mechanism has always been featured in the transfer box of Series 2 discos but until now they were not linked to any actuator in the cabin. Land Rover believed that with ETC the diff lock was unnecessary (and potentially a liability as regularly people forget to disengage the diff when the return to tarmac and "wind up" the transmission (can be very expensive !). Having driven the Series 2 offroad in a range of conditions the ETC allows a Series 2 in road tyres to go better in slippy conditions than a Series 1 with centre diff and all terrain tyres. However the perception is that a diff lock is needed (one more off road toy to select) so land rover have bowed to such pressure and reinstalled. the in cab mechanism. Existing Series 2 owners can of course do this mod themselves.

tincup47 · March 2002

There is a rework to the 2003's SLABS ECU to allow the diff lock to work with the ETC. In earlier models you can run into problems if you engage diff lock. On 2002 models the internal and external parts that provided diff lock were actually removed from the Tbox.

mrwhipple · March 2002

The Land Rover home page has quite bit of info on the new '03 Discovery along with photos.

everdi · March 2002

The '03 disco gets reworked cosmetics and the 4.6 engine right? Is this the rework you were talking about tincup? Or is the '04 going to come back with a complete makeover and an engine other than the Buick.

P.S. why do they now release '03 cars in July '02? whats going to happen next '04 in Feb '03?

et

tincup47 · March 2002

Yes, the 03 is the vehicle getting those updates. There has been no info on the 04 model vehicle yet. Manufacturers have been moving away from traditional launch times. The 97 Ford F150 went on sale in Jan 96. The 2002 Freelander went on sale Nov 23, 2001. The release date of the 03 Discovery will have no bearing on the release date of the 04 model.

everdi · March 2002

tincup,

will the '03 disco come with ACE as an option, and 18" wheels standard?

thanks.

tincup47 · March 2002

There will be three trim levels S,SE, and HSE. 16" rims will be on the S model. 18" rims will be standard with 18" rims. Ace option will only be available on SE and HSE trim levels.

kflanary · March 2002

What color do you think looks best on the Discovery? I love the black, but I think it will be a nightmare to keep clean. The silver is nice, but am not usually a fan of silver cars. Wish the white was a little whiter. As for the new interiors, I can't wait to see the black - looks very classy! A little worried the new light beige may be too light. What are your opinions?

I will probably go with the black on tan, but close second is the silver on black.

mrwhipple · March 2002

Black isn't that bad to keep in good shape. Solid colors are a little easier to care for than metallics. They're a little easier to buff out scratches from. I've had a black vehicle for 13 years with no problems. I take it on long trips, camping & 4wheeling. Just make sure you have a good pure carnuba wax, Meguiars Yellow Wax 26 is quite good, and wash it every week or so. You should be fine. If you park the vehicle outside, a car cover will go a long way.

Black interior however does get very hot & tends to make the inside cabin space feel smaller than it really is. It also shows dust too well.

kkone · March 2002

Here is a great link to answer many questions about the 2003 Disco

http://autonet.ca/autoshows/Stories.cfm?StoryID=4914

Land Rover Discovery and Discovery II

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles