The Third Voyage Of Discovery
by Mike Grundon (03 Sep 04)

It’s a bit of a cliché, but true all the same, that the vast majority of Land Rover’s vehicles sold to the public rarely go further off road than into the parking field at the local agricultural show, and only ever need four-wheel drive when slithering home from work in half an inch of snow three days of the year.

I smiled when this thought last came to me. I was sitting in the driver’s seat of a new Discovery 3, literally balancing on two wheels, corner to corner, between a couple of massive boulders. The off-road instructor was smiling too, but for different reasons. He was outside and pulling on the door mirror, gently rocking two and a half tonnes of the most technologically advanced Land Rover ever - 47 grand’s worth of top-of-the-range Discovery, not to mention the two precious souls still indoors, gawping at their predicament. He was having fun - I was being enlightened.

We were at the international product launch in the far north of Scotland, two months ahead of the on-sale date of November 1, and this demonstration of agility and ability was but a fraction of the extensive trials I was being invited to put the vehicles through. The hope is that even if only a fraction of a fraction of a per cent of these cars are ever put through such rigours, they’ll sell on the fact that they can. And before you sneer, ask yourself how close to the technical limit do you ever take your own car, or even your PC, your guitar or your raincoat?

The Discovery 3 is the new trend-setter for Land Rover. Technology found here will be integrated into the rest of the range, beginning in a year’s time with the next Range Rover. And technology there is in abundance. The declared aim of the company is to have created, “a premium SUV with outstanding breadth of capability matched to distinctive and versatile design”. Oh, and it needs to look distinctively like a Land Rover too. In a nutshell, the Discovery 3 has to be all things to all people. But has it succeeded?

Well, more on the technology in a moment but the first thing to say is that the range is simply configured. In the UK there will be two engines available, and four levels of trim. The more popular engine will be the 2.7-litre, V6 diesel unit (TDV6) that’s a single-turbo sister to the engine used in the Jaguar S-Type. It turns out 190bhp of power at 4000rpm and a very useful 325lb/ft of torque at 1900rpm.

This engine will heave the beast up to 62mph in 11.5 seconds (12.8 auto) which doesn’t stuff you back into the upholstery but gives a satisfying surge. It’s very refined and quiet at all engine speeds. Automatic gear changes come and go with barely a sign other than a twitch of the rev-counter. The manual box is secure and quick enough, but a bit clunky and heavy.

The other UK-market engine is a 4.4-litre V8 petrol unit derived from Jaguar’s AJ-V8 4.2. This is the most powerful Land Rover engine ever, turning out 295bhp of power at 5500rpm and 315lb/ft of torque at 4000rpm. It’s available only with the auto box, and makes a great throaty burble as it starts reaching for the horizon. On paper it’ll get to 62mph a satisfying 8.6 seconds after take-off and, again, does so very smoothly.

More . . .

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