I am surprised at the way the Discovery holds the road in turns.

I took a drive today up a twisting turning back road and was coming back when I got behind a new Land Rover.
I thought to myself OK time to settle down and not push the corners cause normally when I get behind a SUV they do at or below the corner suggested speed rates.
This guy however was clipping along pretty good taking U curves rated at 40K at 60 and 70k. I got to thinking well maybe he thinks I am pushing him so I will back off a bit, so I slowed right down and put some space between him and me. Next thing I know he is still taking the curves like they are straight lines.

So I catch up to him and decide to follow him down the hill and see what he does, next thing I know we are going around a pretty decent curve that had a slow to 50K at 80k the normal road limit and he is not backing off at all.

Never knew that a SUV could hug it that well. Surprised the hell out of me.

A day on the skidpan is a god send for most drivers. Nothing annoys me more than people who brake into corners that just dont need it. Albeit the people inside may flop around, even in the wifes CX-7 take and holds corners at speed!

It works when you know how to drive.

I have driven the Disco 3 and they are great car.

My Kluger rolls a bit but will corner like a Accord Euro does, I follow one around bands at legal speed (I think it was a 80kmh). No problem.

Tyres and suspension are much improved on the SUV this days. No lowsy drive like the X Trail model just before the current one.

My wifes Kluger handles horrible, I hate driving it. Rolls in all the corners too much for me.

rolling is one thing, I guarantee you the car still sticks to the road. This is what I was getting at. most people underestimate a cars holding ability by about half.

rolling is one thing, I guarantee you the car still sticks to the road. This is what I was getting at. most people underestimate a cars holding ability by about half.

I am sure it'll stick.

I am not going to push the Kluger to the edge though, it is a nice 7 seater, great for long trips and to pile all the kids in, but to take corners I am sticking with the 8. :)

My Kluger rolls a bit but will corner like a Accord Euro does
Really? Having driven both, I know which I'd prefer to push through any series of decent curves at speed.

Discos are a good thing, if that's what you are into....tough off-road, too

You just have to get pass the feeling of roll and sense the tyre underneath.... roll is deceiving.

The front wheel drive Kluger may struggle though. Did you test drove the front wheel drive Kluger by any chance?

Give me our 6 anyday - cheaper to run, less environmental impact, fits in the mini-terrorists and will out-corner the Disco or the Kluger. The longer we've owned it, the more I've liked it - a genuinely fun to drive family truckster.

Didn't know they made a front wheel drive Kluger?
Thought all the ones in OZ were AWD.

Crap 4WD discussion on the forum???

To the Lounge with the rest of the inane guff.

Adding my 2 cents: If I bought a 4WD (which will probably be an option in the next 10 years), I'd only buy a Land Rover because they're the best allround. The Range Rovers of the 1980-90s were fantastic on the road, and kicked the balls off a Landcruiser ...
... reliability wise they're pretty shithouse in comparison though.

My brother in law had a ML500 Mercedes.
I borrowed it for a week once and although it had the driving position of a 4WD it drove as well as a lot of cars.

I like the Discos.
If the day comes and my wife no longer gets a 4wd as a company car I will be looking at them for sure.

I regularly drive 4WD diesel utes and at regular road speeds there is little cornering difference between sedans. sure you have a lot more weight to shift round and I wouldn't say they are nice to drive, but they can corner at a good pace. it is normally a corolla sedan or caravans driven at under the speed limit that hold people up where I drive.

As you may or may not know - I traded my RX8 for a Discovery 3. To compare the two is a difficult task because as far as cars go they couldn't be more different. The 8 is a well balanced, lightweight, well powered sports car and the D3 is a massive heavy lump of metal with a big, fat, petrol loving V8.

Driving home after I had made the exchange, the D3 could not have felt more alien to me. It was like driving a train. The engine had to work so hard to get it up to speed and the brakes had to work even harder getting it to stop (I was driving it like I did the 8). After a few days of this I noted that my fuel consumption was about 22l/100km - this was not cool!!

Over the past couple of months I have refined my driving style and am now very comfortable in the D3. It is smooth, responsive, corners well (little bit of roll) and with the airbag suspension bumps in the road can hardly be felt. It takes a little longer to hit the speed limit and you need to brake a bit further away from things for a smooth stop, but I can still hit the round about at the end of my street at 45kph (50kph in the 8). It is now averaging 18l/100kph combined - a lot more city than h/way.
Have only been offroad with it once so far. It handled it A+ uneven rutted rocky tracks and creek beds no worries. I am taking it camping and fishing on the beach next weekend so we'll see how it goes there.

I still miss the 8 and am looking for a house with a 3 car garage so I can get another fun car, an FD maybe?

Oh and the Land Rover forums are generally boring as batshit - you guys are heaps more interesting still, even though I don't have an 8 anymore.

In a nutshell - I highly reccommend the Discovery 3 but would get the TDV6 if you don't like spending $110 on petrol for about 400ish k's (city).

Cheers
FURY

ps sorry this post is so long and probably boring to most

That's alright Fury, lol. You come here for a fix any time you need it mate.

BTW, seeing how most of Qld is under water atm, having a truck might be a good thing. :)

Maybe they should have got a hummer instead :o

Umm, Kluger fans might like to buy the latest Wheels mag. I think they'll find pages 54-55 especially interesting... :uhh: :eyetwitch

By the way, the Furai and the series II RX8 get a mention on page 22.....

Hmm...that article makes some good points -- about DSC/ESP in general, and on SUVs in particular (esp the Kluger, which must be mis-calibrated :dunno: )

Anyone who has tracked their RX-8 will know and have felt the intervention of the 8's DSC. IMO, the 8's is a very good system, pulling the car back into line but not spoiling too much fun. Speaking from experience (the first Nats :o: ) it is all too easy to get used to what the DSC is doing and overdrive, as Bulmer admits was the case with the Kluger. In my case, it was simply deciding to turn DSC off....and still overdriving...lesson quickly learnt:banghead:

Having previously owned a number of big 4WDs, none of which had DSC/ESP, I'm not sure that if I was to buy another (and I won't :icon_no2: ) I'd like the overdriving encouragement DSC can give. 4WDs have mass and a high centre of gravity; they tell you pretty quickly what is happening, and most people (should) soon learn to drive within their limits. I've certainly had a Rangie in a drift through a corner on a wet road, and it tightens the sphincter, let me tell you :squint:

Perhaps with ESP/DSC people can hunt them along through corners as fast as a Honda Accord Euro. Having driven both, I think not, and anyone who does so regularly should read the "Wheels" article carefully :eyetwitch

Wow they roll the car! Great stuff :eek:!

Point taken Timbo. You need talent to drive the car.
I do notice the short fall of the ESP, and someone with some sense should know that one should not drive an SUV at 100kmh around a longer sweeper gravel track!?!?!

Thanks for the pointer. I will show that to my wife!

By the way, the Toyota response is very aggressive; basically they are saying that the Wheel magazine provided the ECU and there is data saying that what they have said was wrong.... "A download of the onboard ECU of the vehicle involved in the incident indicates a set of circumestances substantially different to those described by wheels"... hmmm

They are a challenge in the wet.
My wife's company car is a 2006 Hilux. In 2WD in the wet it has more tail than an EF Falcon with bald tyres. I love the screeching noise it makes at roundabouts.

Cars like the X5 and ML500 have BIG road tyres not multi purpose tyres so they have much more grip. Nearly all rollovers are a result of a too fast change in direction aka the moose test.

Nearly all rollovers are a result of a too fast change in direction aka the moose test.

Which is precisely what happens when a soccer mum (running late to drop little Jimmy off) comes around a blind corner too fast and has to swerve to miss an obstacle because there's no way something so big and heavy will brake in time. And you can bet not many of them have done a defensive drive course in that kind of car, so such an incident is the first time they have had to manage it in extremis.

I can understand why certain lifestyles and employment requirements mandate buying an SUV to also double as the family car and driven within their dynamic limits, they are fine. However, when people opt for them over a station wagon with equivalent cargo capacity (and often much better active safety as a result of lower centre of gravity and reduced braking distances) simply for vanity reasons (i.e. "I'm not buying a taxi!"), I tend to shake my head and wonder if they've thought it through. And that's before you even consider issues such as economy and comparative environmental footprints.

Yes it's a tired old debate and I appreciate manufacturers have improved the active safety of the 'softroader' variety of SUV but I worry when they market 'sports' versions, which encourage the mug lair to demonstrate how fast he can hustle it through some corners, etc. All the DSC programs and sticky rubber in the world aren't a failsafe against the combination of physics and stupidity.

I wonder if the new Commodore wagon will tempt more families out of their trucks? It's a marked improvement styling-wise and Euro 'estates' seem to sell okay.

SUV's are ingrained to the Aussie lifestyle, in the US down south it is pick up trucks better known as utes to you lot. But here in OZ I notice it is SUV's.

We have one for 2 reasons people mover, 3 kids my wife and I and it seats 7. AWD drive so we can hook trailer loaded with camping gear up and go camping.

What I don't understand the is 2 wheel drive only SUV's, kind of waste of space and energy if you can't take it off the road.
The wife is wanting a hybrid probably a Toyota so once we trade the Kluger in for that will probably still buy some older model SUV for camping, since neither the prius or the 8 are suitable to pull a trailer.

Which is precisely what happens when a soccer mum (running late to drop little Jimmy off) comes around a blind corner too fast and has to swerve to miss an obstacle because there's no way something so big and heavy will brake in time. And you can bet not many of them have done a defensive drive course in that kind of car, so such an incident is the first time they have had to manage it in extremis.


It is funny but the majority of 2 car families I know would be in the situation where the woman has the 4WD. They like them.
Must be the "Oh what a feeeeelinggg" syndrome .

It is funny but the majority of 2 car families I know would be in the situation where the woman has the 4WD. They like them.
Must be the "Oh what a feeeeelinggg" syndrome .

Agreed. They like the height and sense of security that comes with something big around them. Unfortunately, they rarely accquire the skills to handle them in an emergency situation.

Guys go out and do driving courses but then forget who is driving their offspring around. For example, how many of the guys in here have had their partners do a defensive driving course? 'Er Indoors was sceptical at first when I suggested she do one but came back from the course with a very different mindset.

Guys go out and do driving courses but then forget who is driving their offspring around.

And driving us home when we have had a few.

My daughter is on her red P plates and she is off to one in a fortnight. AAMI provide them for free if you have a policy with them.

I learnt my defensive driving skills the hard way, driving a taxi around Sydney while I was studying. :banghead:
For a while I was doing up to 30 hours driving over a weekend.
Many did more.
I am sure some still do.

That's alright Fury, lol. You come here for a fix any time you need it mate.

BTW, seeing how most of Qld is under water atm, having a truck might be a good thing. :)



FLOODS + Airbag suspension in "super extended" mode = No worries !!

(Just gotta watch the current though)


Cheers
FURY

I am sure some people from the north are VERY INTERESTED to have a button to get them up... ;)

I am sure some people from the north are VERY INTERESTED to have a button to get them up... ;)

Are you saying there's some people up north who are worried there's not much happening down south?? :lol:

:hahano: that is another way to put it

Hi folks, just visiting from a Land Rover site.

In all fairness comparing an 8 to a D3 is a tad unfair but if you ever get the urge to try something different, go to a Land Rover dealers and take a D3 for a test drive, your in for a surprise. :)

My wife drives a V6 D3 SE, that a petrol V6, and she averages a little over 14Lt / 100Kms and thats not bad for a 2.7T vehicle.

I drive a Twin Turbo V8 Diesel RR Lux and I get around 11Lt around town and a tad over 9Lt on trips, which is not bad for a 3.2T 4x4.

Now tell me how much fuel do you lot burn up when your having a fang. :evil_laug

BTW my daughter drives a Mazda2, not quite the same league as an 8 but the thought is there.

As for handling, my RR develops only a little more body roll than your 8s do but I can assure you thats not at the same speed around a corner that yours can do.

Out on the open road, on a long trip, my RR would probably be heaps more comfortable than your short wheel based 8s and I could get from A to B just about as quick is your 8s. I’ve only had the RR up to 180 so far and have no idea what the top end is nor do I want to find out.

So there are some pluses and minuses for both types of vehicles, you can have as much fun driving a D3 or RR as you can driving your cars, theres just a little difference in the way they handle, even so, as I posted above, go take a D3 for a test drive, or if you can, take an RR for one. :)

Cheers and Happy Motoring. :)

theres just a little difference in the way they handle,

I was brought up not to argue with guests and I appreciate the sincerity behind your post but you have obviously never driven an 8, or you would never have been able to spit out an understatement as gross as that quoted above. :eyetwitch

Glad you and your wife are happy with your 6 tonnes of motor vehicles. :uhh:

Thanks for the balance review.

I seriously dreaming of having a Range Rover Sport with a blown engine.... :hahano: my bank manager will hate me.

averages a little over 14Lt / 100Kms and thats not bad for a 2.7T vehicle.

I had a girlfriend once who used to order 5 Big Mac's when we'd visit Macca's and I used to think, "Hey, that's not bad for a girl who weighs 120kgs."




















(sorry, the temptation is just overwhelming :lol: )

I was brought up not to argue with guests and I appreciate the sincerity behind your post but you have obviously never driven an 8, or you would never have been able to spit out an understatement as gross as that quoted above. :eyetwitch

Hi Revolver, I think you missed the tongue in cheek exaggeration.

Cheers.

Thanks for the balance review.

I seriously dreaming of having a Range Rover Sport with a blown engine.... :hahano: my bank manager will hate me.

Hi takahashi, before you buy an RRS, try the D3 and full size Range Rover.

The Range Rover Sports is a fun machine to drive but if you’ve been driving either a D3 or a real RR, the fun of the RRS soon turns to inconvenience.

The RRS is much small inside than either D3 or RR and the D3 is actually the best all rounder out of the three 4x4s.

Hi Revolver, I think you missed the tongue in cheek exaggeration.

Cheers.

A bloody big cheek you've got there drivesafe. ;)

We'll have to agree to disagree on the issue but thanks for dropping in. :)

A bloody big cheek you've got there drivesafe. ;)

Very FUNNY :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

Revolver, we’ll have to catch up at some time and I’ll show you what one of these things can do.

In MOST cases, you are obviously going to thrash the daylights out of me but given the right situation, I bet I can line up with you at any set of traffic lights and once they go green, the next time you CATCH UP with me will be at the next set of lights.

I pull this stunt regularly with those wankers in their Ford and Holden utes and they don’t like it.

Cheers.

Good to see you keeping the knuckledraggers honest but you won't find too many TLGP heroes in here. We bought our cars for the corners, not the boring straight bits. :p:

Revolver, we’ll have to catch up at some time and I’ll show you what one of these things can do.

In MOST cases, you are obviously going to thrash the daylights out of me but given the right situation, I bet I can line up with you at any set of traffic lights and once they go green, the next time you CATCH UP with me will be at the next set of lights.

I pull this stunt regularly with those wankers in their Ford and Holden utes and they don’t like it.

Cheers.

You wouldn't happen to be the RR I saw road raging with an AMG Merc GL500 on the M1 a couple of months ago would you? Both cars had kids in them.

We bought our cars for the corners, not the boring straight bits. :p:

And so did I, the wet whether dragging is just a side benefit.

Cheers

You wouldn't happen to be the RR I saw road raging with an AMG Merc GL500 on the M1 a couple of months ago would you? Both cars had kids in them.

Not I, I don't have any kids ( not that I know of anyway ) besides, you tend to piss people off more when you don't respond to their stupidity.

Cheers

Revolver, we’ll have to catch up at some time and I’ll show you what one of these things can do.

In MOST cases, you are obviously going to thrash the daylights out of me but given the right situation, I bet I can line up with you at any set of traffic lights and once they go green, the next time you CATCH UP with me will be at the next set of lights.

I pull this stunt regularly with those wankers in their Ford and Holden utes and they don’t like it.

Cheers.

I just thought of another "right situation" drivesafe . You would probably be able to proceed faster along a dry creek bed than an RX 8 driver..........

I just thought of another "right situation" drivesafe . You would probably be able to proceed faster along a dry creek bed than an RX 8 driver..........

Yes but there’s not too many traffic lights that we can line up at. :naughty: