255 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
255 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
motoring
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carreviews
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5978302
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# Land Rover Discovery 4 review
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## The latest in an illustrious line of real-world 4x4s still amazes when the
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going gets tough.
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![Land Rover Discovery 4: reviewed August 8, 2009][1]
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Image 1 of 2
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Photo: Derek Blair
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![Land Rover Discovery 4: reviewed August 8, 2009][2]
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Image 1 of 2
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Photo: Derek Blair
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By Erin Baker 7:00AM BST 07 Aug 2009
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[Comments][3]
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_"I'm now arrived-thanks to the gods!/Thro' pathways rough and muddy, /A
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certain sign that makin roads/ Is no this people's study_".
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Poor Robert Burns, Scotland's national bard. What he needed in the Highlands
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back in 1786 was a Land Rover Discovery, which positively embraces pathways
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rough and muddy.
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The Disco is the shire horse of the 4x4 world, a large, sturdy, family-
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friendly, load-lugging dray. Up Burns' "snow-cover'd mountains", down the
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"straths and green vallies", through the "torrents and loud-pouring floods",
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the Discovery moves with utilitarian but graceful purpose, slowly shrugging
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off the clamouring landscape.
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We drove it for two days through muddy, rocky, boggy, watery terrain on vast
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Scottish estates in whisky country (a subject much closer to Burns' heart than
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rough roads, given the 22 verses of "Scotch drink") and it never wavereed from
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the task.
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The landscape of the Cawdor, Macallan and Glenfiddich estates, which stretch
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between Inverness and Aberdeen, provided the perfect testbed for the new
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Disco. Under glowering northern skies, crags and boulders rose to the clouds,
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the space between them a dark morass of peaty bog and slick grass. It's not
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terrain over which you would wish to pass in anything other than an aeroplane.
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## Related Articles
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* [Range Rover: on sale now][4]
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28 Oct 2009
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Yet there we were, me and a nice bloke called Graham from Land Rover
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Experience, in a 2.7-tonne car which, he assured me, could easily cope with
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what lay ahead. Normally I'm a big girl's blouse when it comes to off-roading.
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"Trust the car, trust the car" I mutter as I edge over rocks and slide down
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rubbly screes in various SUVs. I'm always terrified that the vehicle is going
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to stall, slide, tip, or plunge and sudden death will be upon me.
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If any off-roader quells my disquiet, however, it's a Land Rover. Ever since I
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rotated the magical silver knob to Hill Descent Control in a Range Rover on an
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impossibly steep descent a few years ago, let the car tip over the edge and
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lifted my foot off the brake pedal, only to feel the car individually brake
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its wheels all the way down, I've had faith, rightly or wrongly, in the
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brand's off-road systems, collectively called Terrain Response, and operated
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via that magic silver knob.
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So here I am again, holding my breath, keeping my thumbs outside the steering
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wheel less a tyre get caught and whip the wheel through my hands, letting
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technology do the rest as we scrabble up a wincingly steep incline on a loose
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surface of large rocks and deep ruts.
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Owners of the current Discovery and Range Rover will be familiar with the
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different Terrain Response settings, which do any number of things from
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raising the ride height, locking the differentials, and acting to limit slip
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and enhance grip on individual wheels. It's a truly amazing system, even if
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only a handful of owners will ever experience the range of capabilities (shame
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on you all, and get ye down to a local Land Rover Experience centre).
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New for this model, however, is something called "sand launch control" which
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limits further the amount of wheel slip to prevent the car bogging down. The
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"rock crawl" program now applies low-level brake pressure when the vehicle is
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moving in first or reverse gear below 3mph to stop the wheels rolling in the
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wrong direction when severely articulated. The magic Hill Descent Control now
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maintains brake pressure briefly after the driver releases the brake pedal to
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stop the vehicle initially accelerating when it tips down a slope; it then
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continues to limit the car to 2mph on severe declines.
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Impressive tinkering, but the biggest change is the addition of a new
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3.0-litre V6 diesel engine, also in the Jaguar XF, which will eventually
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replace the current 2.7 unit, although at the moment you can choose either. It
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has 29 per cent more power and 36 per cent more torque than the 2.7 version
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and, crucially for such a big, heavy car, 83 per cent of the torque is
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available 500 milliseconds after you start to move off. Yet fuel economy and
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CO2 emissions are nine per cent better.
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Mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox, the engine has two turbochargers - one
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kicks in at low revs followed by the other at higher engine speeds. It's
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quieter than the 2.7 version and is quicker to respond to throttle input.
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Changes to the Disco's looks are minimal: it still has the boxy rear end but
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jazzier taillights. A redesigned bumper improves aerodynamics and new
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headlights add a touch of glamour to the utilitarian appearance. Inside,
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there's a subtle shift upmarket with softer materials, better finishes and
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smatterings of leather and wood, although the overriding plastics tell you
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it's not a Range Rover, which starts at £64,695.
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Technology inside the car has moved on in leaps. There are minimal buttons on
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the console as most features are controlled via a touchscreen display. Cameras
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around the car transform the Disco into a CCTV operation room: the screen
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shows five views for you to select from, including a view of your wheels and a
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wide angle that assists at junctions. You can zoom in -- handy for towing and
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parking.
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Land Rover has also updated its iPod connection and shares Jaguar's brilliant
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system that charges the iPod when it's connected and allows you to skip
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through songs via the touchscreen or steering-wheel mounted controls. The
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radio has DAB, which will be handy when they switch off analogue in 2015...
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And handy just about sums up the new Discovery. If you want Surrey plush, go
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for a Range Rover. If you want Manchester bling, it's the Range Rover Sport.
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But if it's a seven-seat, do-anything vehicle, it's time to Disco.
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**THE FACTS **
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**Price/availabilty:** from £31,995. On sale September 1
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**Tested:** Land Rover Discovery 3.0 TDV6 HSE
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**Power/Torque:** 242bhp/442lb ft
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**Top speed:** 112mph
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**Acceleration:** 9sec
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**Fuel economy (Urban): **25mpg
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**CO2 emissions:** 244g/km
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**VED band:** L (£405)
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**Alternatives:** Audi A6 Allroad, from £37,275. Volvo XC90, from £29,995. No
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alternatives for off-road capability
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**Verdict:** Small changes have made this the perfect 4x4 workhorse
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**On the stereo:** _D.I.S.C.O_ by Ottawan
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**Telegraph rating:** Five out of five
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[What are these?][6]
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* Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8]
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[Tweet][9]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/carreviews/5978302/Land-Rover-
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Discovery-4-review.html
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Telegraph
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## [Car Reviews][10]
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* ### [Motoring »][11]
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* ### [Off-roaders and SUVs »][12]
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* ### [Land Rover »][13]
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Related Partners
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* [Telegraph Car Insurance][14]
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External Links
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* ### [Charles Hurst Land Rover, London][15]
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][6]
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Share:
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* [ ][5]
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* [ ][7]
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* [ ][8]
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* [Tweet][9]
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* Advertisement
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![][16]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][17] [blog
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