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Jaggy Cars - November 2009
Land Rover Discovery 4
Capable, Cosseting, Comfortable And Commanding
There is something completely surreal about a vehicle that on the one hand is a luxuriously comfortable and competent motorway cruiser, and yet off-road can be as happy as a pig in a puddle of muck.
Neither is there a magical transition. The new Land Rover Discovery 4 can swap roles quicker than a woman can change her mind in a shoe shop. One minute you can be waffling along a perfectly normal B road in the Scottish borders listening to old Terry doing his bit on Radio 2, and the next, driving along a boulder strewn stream bed startling fishes, frogs, furry and feathery things to the soundtrack of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Neither can it be compared to the Land Rover Defender. Whereas you would expect the brick like Defender to batter all before it into submission, somehow the aerodynamically contoured, smooth and shiny flanked Discovery with its metallic paint job and jewel encrusted headlights look like a banker in a bingo hall, i.e. completely out of place. And yet, the engineers at Land Rover have such faith in their product that they not only allow you to do this in their 30 grand machine, they positively encourage you to try harder.
Did I get stuck? Not once. Should I have? In anything else, probably.
Having been on previous Land Rover product launches I now know that it takes a special kind of sadistic perversion to become a Land Rover test route designer. These guys go beyond geekiness. They are serial, mechanical, cruel practitioners of the art of automotive perversions. For instance, a long, tall, spindly disused railway viaduct over the River Tweed might be scary to any driver who dislikes heights. That could be down to the stone balustrades lining the viaduct which those on foot can barely see over and therefore can't see the drop to certain death below!
To a Land Rover test route designer - piffle. Too easy, let's make it worse.
The 80 foot high viaduct was considered not sufficiently challenging so they built a ten foot high, Discovery-wide ramp over which the vehicles had to be driven. When I say Discovery-wide, I mean exactly that. Little rails along the edge of the ramp ensured that the wheels stayed within the ramps limits. The only trouble was, these could not be seen from the driving position.
This allowed Discovery to show off its latest trick, an array of front, rear and side mounted cameras which displayed a multiple complexity of camera angles and views on the dashboard screen. Inching forward watching the screen rather than the road was bad enough, but clambering up the steep climb and rolling over the top was quite another. Especially if you happened to look out the window at the fabulously green and rich scenery - awfy far down below!
Trouble was, my media colleague who was driving at the time, looked out the window and in the absence of viaduct balustrades, all he could see was sky and the River Tweed 90 feet below - and he suffered a mild panic attack!
Once we got over the viaduct he was OK, but I got the wheel when heights were involved from then on!
Which was just as well, as the next section included a fabulously flowing stretch of B road where the vehicle's impeccable road manners could be experienced at speed and in comfort. All too soon we were stopped by one of the engineers who pointed us over the edge of the road.
In one of those 'why do parachutists jump out of perfectly good aeroplane moments' I wondered why I should leave the safety and security of a flat stretch of well laid tarmac and plunge over the edge of a precipice. On the basic principle (and one I always follow) when driving someone else's vehicle, I do what I'm told. After all, it's not my vehicle and not my repair bill when it's wrecked.
After selecting the Rock Crawl mode on the five position dial, I was guided over the edge by the grinning maniac. I couldn't see where I was going because the ground fell away so abruptly that the nose was swinging over the precipice for ages before a flowing stream came into view - some 60 feet below! And as advised, both feet were off both pedals and the Hill Descent Control took over.
What followed was completely undramatic despite the fact that my body was suspended on the seat belts and the rocky stream at the bottom was slowly inching towards us. Somehow, the Discovery found grip where there was none. All I had to do was steer as straight a course as I could down the uneven slope, negotiating wheel sized boulders on the way till I arrived at the safety of the water!
Then it was a simple matter of turning right in the mud and driving along a narrow, rocky stream bed with boggy holes for the next half mile. I wouldn'y have walked it, let alone driven along, but for my golden rule - 'the man, he say go, and I went'.
We had two days of that, driving across the River Tweed, with and without bridges, through a boggy morass, without crawler tracks, and up slopes that would normally require climbing ropes, crampons and hard hats.
It was ludicrous. It was stupid. It was completely unnatural - but I'd do it again like a shot.
Which brings me to the practical side of such a beast.
Like the previous model, the new Disco 4 can tow up to 3500 kgs. That would make mincemeat of any rally car on a trailer towing job.
The real trouble is the kerb weight of the machine which is 2718 kgs (that's only 10 kgs heavier than the outgoing model though). Even without a trailer it is seriously close to the limit whereby new drivers will have to qualify for an upgraded licence to tow anything.
Any youngster passing his or her test post-1997 will have to sit another test (minimum age 18) to upgrade his or her B grade licence to C1. And if towing is part of a business, rather than towing for personal pleasure pursuits, then a tachograph will have to be fitted which raises the issue of an Operator's Licence.
Apart from the electronics, the big difference is the new 3 litre engine, a big improvement over the original 2.7 litre V6. The figures tell their own story. At 242 bhp it generates almost 30% more power than the previous engine and 33% more torque, and all the while using less fuel. In fact Land Rover claims a 9% improvement in fuel economy. Another fact, they also claim this engine with 600 Nm has the highest torque output of any 6-cylinder, production diesel, passenger vehicle engine in the world.
The revised six speed automatic shift is well suited to the new engine and the existing Terrain Response dial allows the driver to select the most suitable mode for the terrain to be tackled. This system has been refettled and improved too. For instance, there is a new 'sand launch control' handy if you need to tow a beached whale back to the sea, while the new rock-crawl improvements will enable geologists and entomologists to get even closer to nature.
Perhaps the biggest advance is in the new camera technology. Using the touch screen display on the dashboard, not only can you see what lies ahead but you can see under deeper water and pick a line over the riverbed. Side mounted cameras cover wheel positions and side views, while the rear camera is ideal for reversing, and it has another trick up its lens. You can set the width of the space you are reversing into or the width of the trailer you are lining up and then follow the arrows and lines on the screen to hitch up first time, every time. No more hit and miss then, and no more dents in the bumpers!
There is also a new 'Tow Assist' programme which helps to prevent trailer-sway, and if you do get a wiggle on, the system damps it out, probably before you've even noticed.
The new Disco is certainly an impressive bit of kit, but at what cost? Prices have yet to be announced, but I can't help feeling all this new technology sounds rather expensive. The previous model range started with a basic Discovery at around 25 grand, this one looks as though it has taken the whole range upmarket.
The argument could be made that the Discovery has lost its spirit of adventure. It has taken the excitement and the dread out of some of its ability so that virtually anyone could become a Raider seeking the Lost Ark. On the other there is no doubt that it is a heckuva lot more capable and safer because of it. And here's another thing. Select cruise control and just dawdle along at between 50 and 60 mph and you'll be getting over 40 miles to the gallon!
Would I spend my own money on one? Nope. Much as I like it, it really is awfy big. If I park one at the side of my house I can't get the door open sufficiently far enough between the wall and the fence to get out - even if I went on an Amy Winehouse diet. That also means it is murder to park in a shopping centre car park. And because of the shininess I would be scared to take it off road which would be a complete waste of its ability. And it's that physical bulk more than any other thing that puts me off what is otherwise a superb and superbly capable machine. Now, if they could just make it a wee bit narrower and the Defender a wee bit wider, then that would give me a dilemma!
In Short:
Price: TBA
Engine: 2720 cc, V6 cyl. Turbo-diesel with 187 bhp
Performance: 0 - 60 mph in 11.7 seconds, flat out at 112 mph
Economy: 27.7 mpg combined
CO2 emissions: 270 g/km
Insurance Group: TBC
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