Story & Photos by: Josh Williams | Land Rover Experience

[Josh Williams, Manchester, VT, calls serving as the Location Manager for the Land Rover Experience at the Equinox – in other words, going off road in new Land Rovers all day – “work.” He provides an update on the newest Land Rovers for us  ed.]

Let me say right off, there was a time when I favored the Discovery. After graduating from Montreat College in North Carolina in 2004, I started working for The Land Rover Experience at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. There my vehicle of choice was the Discovery. We also used Range Rovers and Freelanders – but I preferred the Discovery.

The Discovery proved itself a great vehicle to learn the “ins” and “outs” of Land Rover. It taught me how to bleed green in more ways than one! At tremendous driving locations like the Greenbrier [VA] and Biltmore Estate I learned to hear and to feel the vehicle. From the driver’s seat of the Discovery I feel like I’m on top of the world and there is nothing like the sound of the V8 – to this day I hear a Discovery well before I see it.

At our school in Quebec, Land Rover launched the LR3, an all-new vehicle from the ground up. At first sight of the LR3 I thought, “This thing is nowhere near as capable or as rugged as the Discovery.” Man, was I wrong! The LR3 incorporates many styling elements of the Discovery and brings them into the future. The product of an obvious evolution, the silhouette of the Discovery remains recognizable in the LR3. Inside the LR3 has all the best features of the Discovery: The tall, upright seating, stadium view for the passengers and the ability to look down the hood and see the corners of the vehicle. But, the LR3 does more than just pay homage to the Discovery; it fixes all those details we wanted to change about the Discovery.
For example, I always felt like I had to crawl to get into a Discovery, especially in the middle seats. With the LR3, it’s easy in and easy out. The rear doors open wider and you don’t feel wedged getting into the back. The new tailgate, replacing the 5th door, is much easier to access with stuff in your hands. [It also provides a great place to sit while putting on your mud boots! – ed.] It might seem petty, but the 11 cup holders and 2 gloves boxes are needed touches. Indeed they fill up quickly. The LR3 also has many other finer touches that make a big difference.

The tailgate of the LR3 offers a good example of one such upgrade. “Jeep,” my beagle, loves to ride in the back of my ’91 Range Rover Classic. Every morning my workout starts early when I load him in the back. The tailgate of the Classic has no hydraulic assist and feels like it’s filled with cement. While great for building biceps it’s not so good on the back. Land Rover removed this inconvenience in the LR3 by adding a cable to a spring-loaded roller, which equalizes much of the tailgate weight for gentle lowering and easy lifting. If only my Classic had such an amenity!

The best improvements of the LR3 are where it counts most, in the drive train and off-road capabilities! Let’s start with the transmission. The LR3 features an automatic transmission with Adaptive Shift Strategy that uses sensors to calculate the way the vehicle is being driven and then adapts the gear change points accordingly. The system is programmed to give the driver maximum response when driving aggressively, but maximum economy when driving at a more leisurely pace. Sensors calculate driving style by reading acceleration, engine speed, engine torque, pedal position and wheel speeds. Using these signals, the system selects the most appropriate shift pattern to match the current driving style.

This transmission also helps protect the engine. In high range, it will automatically shift up or down to prevent overrevving or stalling. In low range, this feature is overridden to allow the vehicle to move off in higher gear, which can be useful in slippery conditions.

The driver-selectable modes within the transmission are: Normal, Sport and CommandShift. The rest are automatically selected as a response to driving conditions: Hill Decent Control Mode, Cruise, Hill, Reverse lock-out, Cooling strategy, Curve recognition, fast off recognition, Emergency “Limp Home” and Terrain Response Mode (which adapts vehicle performance to deliver optimum performance for driver-selected terrain).

Driving in more extreme off-road conditions traditionally requires more intervention by the driver (for example, locking the differential). If you lack knowledge and experience, offroading can be stressful. With Terrain Response, it’s “like having and expert alongside the driver,” helping get the best performance for the conditions. A few of the systems that Terrain Response controls include: Engine Management, Transmission, Electronic Differentials, Hill Decent Control, Gear Range, Electronic Traction Control, Dynamic Stability Control, and the Air Suspension. Terrain Response optimizes the electronic systems to suit the conditions, allowing the driver to concentrate on controlling the vehicle. As long as the driver selects the right terrain setting, the vehicle will enhance the off road experience.

And… if you were thinking about it… Don’t cut any wires! Most of the LR3’s wiring is fiber optic.

As a V-8 lover, I welcome the new 4.4-liter engine. It delivers smooth and responsive performance. The power train also demonstrates good environmental performance in CO2 output and other emissions. Equally important is the ability to run on a variety of lubricants with long distances between oil changes. The 4.4-liter V8 engine also improves low end torque over the preceding 4.2 engine. This new engine features a greater use of lightweight components, variable valve timing, multi-hole fuel injectors, exhaust gas recirculation and electronic throttle control.

To achieve improved on-road performance, the LR3 has an electronically controlled air suspension system similar to that of the Range Rover. The all-independent suspension on LR3 results in lower unsprung weight, providing a smoother ride and better handling. Off-road the air suspension lifts the vehicle, providing greater ground clearance and better approach, departure and ramp break-over angles. Off-roading in a stock LR3 you can lift more than 4 inches above normal ride height. In low range the air suspension will mimic a solid axle using cross-link, which enables the air spring pressure to be balanced, maximizing off-road agility while maintaining onroad handling, precision and response.

My favorite feature of the LR3 has to be the infinitely variable electronic locking center and rear differentials. The infinitely variable electronic locking center differential comes standard (a rear system is optional) and gives LR3 impressive off-road abilities. What’s the advantage over the familiar manual locking system? More conventional limited slip and torquesensing, differentials always try to transfer torque from one wheel to another on the same axle whenever there is a difference in wheel speed. In most situations this is exactly what is required, but there are some circumstances where this is unhelpful.

An electronically controlled differential can behave in whichever manner is most appropriate for the individual circumstances and allow the differential to be ‘open’, ‘locked’ or any degree of ‘limited slip’ in between. For example: Imagine that one rear wheel loses traction while climbing a hill. With a conventional limited Slip or Torsen differential, traction control would operate to brake the spinning wheel and transfer more torque to the opposite wheel. If that wheel then loses traction, more braking force will be applied to transfer drive to the front axle. However, the driver is now trying to drive uphill with the brakes on – slowing the vehicle down, losing momentum and possibly failing to complete the hill climb. With the LR3’s infinitely variable electronic locking center and rear differential, the ABS sensors detect the spinning wheel, trigger the differential control system to transfer torque to the wheels with traction – but do not apply the brakes; traction is regained and full engine torque remains available to climb the hill.

Or, imagine that you are descending a steep, slippery hill. With a Limited Slip differential or Torsen differential, braking one wheel will cause some braking force to be transferred to the opposite wheel, which in turn may need to be braked further if it is trying to lock. The electronic differential are switched to ‘open’ when Hill Descent Control is in operation, so braking forces applied to an individual wheel do not affect any others.

The new Land Rovers make it possible to control your offroading pace more than ever. In many conditions with the older Land Rovers, “putting some wellie to it” was proper offroading technique. While the Wellie on the accelerator helps get through obstacles, it also increases the likelihood of vehicle damage. With the LR3 I more often use the “point and squirt” technique, using left foot on the brake and the right on the gas. The computer sorts out the inputs providing proper torque and the slow speeds to conquer the obstacle without vehicle damage.

The LR3 makes off-roading or trailering easier with improved transfer case operation. The LR3’s transfer box can go from high range to low range without bringing the vehicle to a stop. We’re not talking about walking pace but speeds in excess of 30 MPH!

Whether you drive the flagship Range Rover, the Range Rover Sport, the LR3 or the most advanced Land Rover, the LR2, the Land Rover core values of marque we all love remain the same. Land Rover is as off-road-centric as ever, only today we see computers and fiber optics behind the green (and sometimes black) oval. And because this technology is designed for off-road it’s durable. I would not ask you to dunk your new Mac Book Pro into a mud hole, but I will ask you to do that to your new Land Rover. Land Rover likes to say that it leads in iconic design, environmental innovation, and the breadth of capability; the current Land Rover lineup certainly backs up these claims off-road.

Visit any of the Land Rover Experience Driving Schools across North America; we love to help new enthusiasts enter the world of off road exploration in their Land Rovers or share experiences with the seasoned off-roader. Join the 6,000 enthusiasts annually who participate in the Land Rover Experience programs held at the Equinox, Manchester VT, the Biltmore, Asheville, NC , the Quail Lodge, Carmel, CA, or the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, Montebello, QC, Canada. We’d enjoy sharing off-road adventures with you.

[For more information on the Land Rover Experience, visit www.landroverschool.com]

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