Discovery 3 Offroad

[gurus5000]

Hi All,

 

After a lot of thinking and asking a lot of people's opinions I have decided that the way forward for me is to buy a Disco 3 I just wanted to ask owners what they are like offroad and what they are like in the snow? Also what tyres do you receommed for use on the road and off road a good all rounder really?

 

Thanks in advance

 

[J@mes]

I have one, fantastic off road.

 

I have General Grabber AT2's on and it performed faultlessly in the snow and all off road situations I have come across, and you are likely to come across outside of "pay to play sites"

 

Yes it's a heavy car, but you only sink when you don't go fast enough! The terrain response system is simply outstanding and having used both my own (limited) ability and the terrain response system while driving the off road course at Rockingham Castle, there is no contest really. Ground clearance is fine in "off road height", there is plenty of traction with the traction control and auto locking diff too. I can't say "its better than the shogun/landcruiser/pathfinder" etc as I haven't tried them. I can tell you that I am very happy with it, and all the owners on the forum are too.

 

have a look on www.disco3.co.uk for more information.

 

 

(awaits comments of "it's nowhere near as good as a defender" but to be honest, if I wanted to be so bloody uncomfortable I'd buy an off road vehicle that had tracks and a barrel on the roof!)

[George1990]

Been in it on the Harwoods off road course, and it is brilliant off road. Some of the inclines I would never have though anything on wheels would get up other than a 90.

 

But then I remembered it's a Land-Rover

[Tank]

I've some experience of the D3 off road and J@mes is spot on. They are stunning, and I do drive a Defender (which are better, but only because people will drive them harder than a nice shiny Disco ). If you want to take it off road in a sensible area where it's not going to get scratched and scraped, let me know as I marshal with a local 4x4 club and I can let you know the next site that's not too hardcore (avoid tight, wooded areas as trees have no respect for class when it comes to paintwork)

 

When it comes to tyres it really depends on what percentage off to on road you're likely to be doing. I'm running 80/20 Mud Terrain tyres on the 90 and road noise is the least of my worries and these give great traction in the mud while being alright on the road. If you're doing 40,000 motorway miles a year and going into a field twice each winter, go for a more road biased tyre. A good 50/50 is the BF Goodrish All Terrain. They're not great in "proper" mud, but good on light mud, grass, snow and tarmac. Having said that, the MTs (Mud Terrains) I'm running were downright stunning in the snow.

 

You'll be able to get away with a more road based tyre as you have more electronic wizardry than I do to transfer torque to where it's needed. I'm running open diffs front and rear so can only lock the centre diff (standard on most Landys since 1983). No traction control or ABS or anything that requires a microchip in the old girl, but you have all of those and more at your finger tips.

 

Don't be scared to get it dirty, and remember, if you're not getting stuck, you're probably not having enough fun.

 

Hope this helps,

[gurus5000]

Thanks for your replies guys they are all glowing reports which is good.

 

Cheers

[Tank]

Thanks for your replies guys they are all glowing reports which is good.

 

Cheers

 

They do use a Volvo wiper motor for the auto handbreak, but they seem to have realised that that might get full of mud so put a manual release on it too.

[ProteuS]

You mention tyres, there are the obvious AT's general, bf etc.

 

As a slightly different suggestion. I'd highly reccomend the vredestein wintrac 4 ex tyres. They are a mud snow tyres, with a decent gap in the treads for traction and are very quiet on the road. That's what I've got on the landcruiser and they are superb.

 

D3s are a great machine when they are working. and really excellent off road. We considered them, but went for a LC5 landcruiser in the end.

[gurus5000]

What are the problems to look for in a Disco 3?

[J@mes]

Mainly that the air suspension is working correctly and that the turbo is too - it shouldn't be "slow" anywhere in the rev range. the turbo works from around 1000RPM. EGR's stick, but can be blanked off.

[reidzer]

(awaits comments of "it's nowhere near as good as a defender" but to be honest, if I wanted to be so bloody uncomfortable I'd buy an off road vehicle that had tracks and a barrel on the roof!)

 

Have to agree with all above. My last on was on Grabber AT2's. They were good off road and in the snow and you could push really hard on the tarmac and they seemed good.

My new new one is on scorpions and haven't had a chance to try it off road yet since I only got it on Saturday! But I think I'll be getting smaller wheels and AT2's!

 

Disco3.co.uk is full of good advise and alot of guy know there stuff.

 

I had a few minor problems with my last one but I would say they were just wear and tear as you'd get with any vehicle over time.

[gixer1]

Disco3.co.uk is full of good advise and alot of guy know there stuff.

 

 

That wouldn't be you using an internet forum for advice would it?? :lol:

Edited March 10, 2010 by gixer1

[nipper]

That wouldn't be you using an internet forum for advice would it?? :blink:

 

Pink Suzy comes to mind :blink:?

:blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink:

[Cushat]

Truly impressed with mine offroad! Was running General AT2's but didn't find them great in the mud (like most AT tyres they clog up too easily) so now running Goodyear MTR's and have another set of wheels with std road tyres I'll use for the summer. Have a look on the Disco3 forum for advice on which tyres you can fit as there are limited options for some wheel sizes. For pure offroad use, I think you'd struggle to beat 17" rims with the new BFG mud terrains (KM2's I think they're called).