The Stories Thread

[DiscoSaffa]

This is the Stories Thread. Post here any story you like, as long as it involves a Discovery 3, 4 or Rangie Sport in some way.

Don't post responses to stories here, please start a new thread in the discussion section.

Thanks to DiscoSaffa for the idea and most of the initial stories. We may cull stories after a period of time, but enjoy and feel free to contribute.

The first one begins below:


Why I love my D3…….

Well. I love the fact that it is a Land Rover, but more on that later, but it is the V6 Petrol which I love, it has to be one of the nicest sounding engines around…… I hazard to say it sounds nicer than my DII V8, and is just such a lovely motor to drive :burnrubber:……. I love the way the vehicle looks, black plastic trim and all, I am still not sold on the colour coded wheel arches and bumpers of the late D3s and D4s. I especially love the way it looks with it’s ARB bar now……. I could go on and on but I will now get to the point…….

Last week I had the chore of moving house, from Sydney to Ballina a trip of about 750km. I put Safari Barbie and my two little girls on a plane, packed up the house and filled the car with what Safari Barbie had deemed necessary to survive the interim time without all our stuff. This meant that with the seats folded the D3 was packed to the roof with no space left bar a spot for me to sit and drive the vehicle.

Thursday morning I set off…… a total of 753km, just shy of ten hours driving time (at an average speed of 78.9km/h) and an average fuel consumption of 11.6l/100km. So far nothing special. But the D3, despite the load, just ate the kilometres, no hassles sticking to the speed limits, in fact I struggled to notice it was there unless I looked in the rear view mirror…… I would challenge the driver of any other make to find a better long distance cruiser! BUT there is something special about this long distance cruiser…… after arriving at my destination and unloading, it was straight onto site, and that in the Northern Rivers means that it is steep, muddy, slippery and great and fun. Find me another long distance cruiser that can shed it’s sheep’s clothing and do that! I have had the vehicle for two years now and the perma grin is still well and truly attached! :D

So why do I love my Landy? Well I pulled up behind another D3 in Kempsey, parked at a traffic light the driver waved at me. Shock of horrors….. a D3 waved, could it be a real Land Rover driver in a D3!?! Anyway we followed each other for about 40km until I pulled over in a rest stop, and low and behold the other D3 stopped…… At this point I had the pleasure of meeting Jim. It was a wonderful break to the long trip. I met a new friend, we traded Land Rover stories and contact details and I know we will meet again in the future, all thanks to my Land Rover….. (does that happen in Toyota?)…….

So forgive my indulgence, but that is why I love my D3…… and in particular why I drive a Land Rover!

[DiscoSaffa]

Right…… after side tracking (not entirely on my own :wasntme: ) a few technical threads I thought maybe I should revive this topic….. this way we can stay focused the lighter side of Land Rovers….. and in this case D3s……. and not interrupt the very useful technical content out there….. for those of you that aren’t sure what I am talking about…… go and have a look at:

I broke it - should I replace it? (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-zone/97255-i-broke-should-i-replace.html)

and

Sand driving in a D3, what am I doing wrong? (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-zone/97108-sand-driving-d3-what-am-i-doing-wrong.html)</SPAN>

So to kick off, over the course of late last week and the weekend there were a few occasions where I found myself saying “Dang, I love this car”. So here goes…….

More of why I love my D3:

The vehicle is well and truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing…… I often find myself puttering very comfortably and casually around town and Audrey (my D3) just loves that, but when you need to (a P plater gets cocky on his little scooby, or you just need to get yourself out of trouble) simply plant your right foot and the vehicle becomes a different animal, surprisingly quick and agile for not only what it is, but just about any vehicle…… not too many others are as good as both……. When done…… insert “Dang I love my car” here……

Last week I was walking up to the vehicle on site, and got to thinking…… This car is about the best looking vehicle on the market whether covered in mud (as Audrey was at the time) or sparkling clean sitting in the driveway…… What other vehicle goes from being able to crash it’s way around a construction site during the week, and with a little baby wash (Thanks Jonesfam ;) ) and the addition of two child seats, becomes the most comfortable family car that can run the four of us (plus Granny and Grandpa if needed) around in air conditioned comfort? insert another “Dang I love my car” here…….

Last for today……. I know not of any other brand on the market that inspires the sort of banter that resulted in the two threads above……. insert the last “Dang I love my car” for the day here……

As an aside……

Fifi, if you are reading this…… more of Police Girl and less of the tooth fairy please……

WhiteD3, based on your pic in the Sand Driving thread…… you looked awfully familiar, and that was when I realised we must have met each other before…… I am the guy on the right…..

22114

[DiscoSaffa]

Today’s instalment……..

Why I love my D3……

I love the fact that when you get behind the wheel, you feel about two inches taller and the only things bigger are F250s and Trucks…… I dare say driving a Land Rover becomes part of yoru identity...... Brad Pitt and George Clooney can only dream of feeling this good (insert permagrin here) :D

I love the fact that my D3 is the only local one in the small town I now live in….. (holidaying Queenslanders excluded)

I love the fact that it is the only Land Rover on site in amongst a sea of Prados and HiLuxes……. :clap2:

Cheers for today

DS

[DiscoSaffa]

For today’s instalment on why I love my D3/Land Rover I am going to borrow a post from another thread:

Is it true that D3 TDV6 can catch fire? (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-zone/97540-true-d3-tdv6-can-catch-fire.html)

Thanks Nomad9!

“For me this incident was a one off, I wouldn't have said this was a regular thing. All vehicles have their problems some more serious than others. I had a 200 Nissan Patrol for about five years living under the cloud that the 2000 ZD30 engine was going to blow up. I maintained my Patrol with regular preventative maintenance, I chipped it , I towed with it, had bigger tyres etc plus it was close to it's load limit with all the gadgets and gizmos, never missed a beat from the day I bought it until I sold it, great vehicle. My D3 is the same, great vehicle, when mine toasted itself I searched forums, I made contact with LR in the UK trying to find out if this was a regular thing. Nothing alarming came back from anywhere, to be honest this is the first time I've heard about the fuel pump issue, will I be selling mine tomorrow because of this? No I won't, the pros far out weigh the cons. Didn't get to be 4WD of the year for eva by being overpriced and unreliable did it.
On forums you will find the majority of people have got problems or who have had problems, you will also find people who've got a genuine interest in helping people. Some forums I've been on look at suspension and tyres and lift kits and how far you can push something until it breaks. This LR forum for me has been great, the majority of assistance and comments have been of a constructive nature which sits well with me, the comaradary (spelling) is 100% fits with the marque.
If you update buy wisely, look to the forum for assistance, if you do get into strife I'm sure someone out there in Land Rover land can and will help you.”

There are a few points made in this post (you need to read the entire thread above for context) that are some key reasons as to why I love my Landy

The first being that the D3 (and the D4 is fast following) is the most awarded 4x4 on the market, and there is a certain ownership pride that comes with that…. But the key issue here is that it took some serious balls on the part of Land Rover to take the D2, and the years of, call it what you will, under the skin that made it a true Land Rover and start with a clean slate. What they came up with was the D3, which not only changed the minds of the motoring fraternity with respect to Land Rover, but kept all of us skeptics (in our D2s at the time, and shaking our heads at the independently sprung, computerised, behemoth that was presented to us) true to the marque, at the same time winning over countless new converts. All of this in addition to producing one of the best 4x4s of all time. I dare say, they managed to please all the people….. I love my D3!

Another point Nomad makes is about the people that drive Land Rovers, both here in the forum, and out there on and off the road. I have not met a true Land Rover driver (RRS pimp mobiles excluded) that wouldn’t drop everything to help another. Land Rover drivers are special people, why I am not sure…. Perhaps brought together by adversity J, but they are! I love the fact that Safari Barbie considers us Land Rover people, and I love what that makes us…… I love my Landy!

And last for today, the point about buying wisely….. I have said this before, but dollar for dollar, rand for rand, pound for pound, wherever you are spending your money, you can’t beat a Land Rover for value, you just get so much more vehicle for your money…. A few years ago in South Africa, a mate of mine bought a 2nd hand Prado, at about the same time I bought my 2nd hand D2. He paid a 25% premium for an older, higher mileage vehicle. A year later he sold it because he couldn’t live with it. I had my D2 until we left a year later and could not have been happier with it. The point here is, if you remove the “only buy Toyota or you will have trouble” blinkers, do a bit of research, make use of these forums and the countless people out there who are willing to help, and as a result buy wisely, you will not go wrong with a Land Rover and will have years of happy motoring and 4x4ing with it. Not to mention the smug permagrin every time you overtake a Prado…….. :D I love my Landy.

That’s it for today folks, let me know when you get sick of my ramblings and I will stop.

DS

[trobbo]

DS I love your installments and if you keep this up LR may put you on their pr payroll. :D

The funniest thing I have ever seen from a land rover driver was about 11 years ago when I was driving on the beach at Robe. I had left my beloved range rover classic at home because it had broken down and I wasn't interested in fixing it and be faced with the fuel bill generated by the 350 I had under the bonnet. So I hired a rav 4 soft top and had a wonderfull time blasting on top of the sand. Anyway we were driving along the beach and an unfortunate LR driver had managed to get himself bogged in the semi soft sand (as many were doing in their new computer controlled cars). I drove around him a couple of times to see what was going on and stopped to lend a hand and assistance by shovelling some sand away from his axles and sills because he had managed to bury it that much. The hapless LR driver was using one of the little fold up shovels whilst his barbie doll sat on the foot mat on the sand waiting patiently for her man to sort out the problem. With a long handled shovel and tires aired down we quickly had him freed. Barbie doll hops back in the car and lol and behold 10 meters on, he has bogged himself just as bad again by not knowing when to stop using the right foot. We dug him out and got him going again. He was determined not to get bogged again and continued on up the beach and out of sight.... leaving his barbie doll behind. She sure did have a long walk up the beach to where ever they had come from carrying that floor mat.


I might also add that at least when the D3 went up in smoke it was covered by insurance not like that time bomb ticking under the nissan bonnet where you are left high and dry by everyone and importantly Nissan.
:wasntme:

[DiscoSaffa]

Right, today’s instalment….. (gonna take advantage of a few spare minutes in my morning)

Why I love my Land Rover. I love it’s ability to make friends…… :ehand: towards the end of last week I had a training session at work…. You know the kind….. at the beginning you all have to introduce yourself, name, where you from, what are your interests blah blah blah….. offcourse Land Rovers came up under the interest section when I introduced myself. Come the morning tea break, this kicked off two conversations and resulted in making contact with two people I would otherwise never have met….. my favourite was a young guy who has just started work with us and his opening remark was something like, “So mate, you got any other Land Rovers or just the shiny one you drive every day?” made me chuckle……. Love my D3!

As mentioned earlier, we had the pleasure of moving house last week……. Somehow while in transit our goods seem to have expanded, and we had a surplus of furniture etc etc…… no problem, there is a local place that offers storage, and they even have a trailer you can borrow for free, bonus. Friday morning I went along, signed up and picked up the trailer…… not the little box trailer I was expected, but a two ton horsebox type thing…… “no worries” I thought, I drive a D3. That said I was a bit concerned, in that I only drive the V6 petrol……. Anyway I hitched it up (thanks for all the advice from all of you out there!) and off I went…… the vehicle didn’t even feel it, at one point I had to negotiate a right turn across traffic on the Pacific highway, a manoeuvre that requires lightning quick reflexes on the part of the driver and the vehicle, forgot about trailer, saw a gap, took it….. :burnrubber: no drama…… I love my D3!

I love the fact that my eldest daughter (all of 2 years and 4 months old) has a relationship with my Land Rover. You should know by now that my Land Rover’s name is Audrey….. My daughter after commenting that Audrey looked funny with a bright orange trailer, was helping me unpack……. At which point she turns to the car and says. “look at me Audrey, I am carrying boxes”. Later in the day, she was paddling in her pool in the garden, and turned to the driveway and said, “look at me Audrey, I’m swimming”…… My family loves my D3!

That's it for today.....

DS

[DiscoSaffa]

A quiet day on the job for a change, so time for another post me thinks……….

What do I love about my Landy today?

As you know by now, I work on a construction site…… it is 12.5km of major earthworks and structures that in 2 years time will be a highway……… in short (at the moment anyway) a muddy mess….. I have noticed over the past few weeks that whenever we get visitors to site….. I get asked to take them round, in short I love the way that my D3 is the (VIP:cool:[tonguewink]) vehicle of choice on site…… I love my D3

Engines……. Now I have said before that I love the 4.0 petrol V6 in the D3. It drives nicely, it sounds awesome, and when considering that it is asked to move a 3 ton 4x4, with the aerodynamics of a brick, around…. it is actually pretty good in the fuel consumption stakes….. all that said there is nothing to beat a Land Rover V8………. Safari Barbie and I tend to sit on our veranda in the evenings and have a drink. There is a D2 V8 that lives across the road from us, and when he turns into the top of the street, you can hear it. I love the sound, I love the fact that amongst all the Holden and Ford V6 and V8s around the Land Rover V8 stands out. It is such a distinctive sound. I love that despite having had my D3 for near enough two years now, I still miss my D2 V8. I love a Land Rover V8!

Last for today, and we have the D3 alone to thank for this. I love the fact that there appear to be more and more Land Rover converts around (you just have to look at this forum). This I believe is as a result of the number of 2nd hand D3s on the market increasing. With the arrival of the D4, this is only going to increase. I love the fact that previous Toyota and Pajero owners are converting to Land Rover as they realise that the D3 has so much to offer and that the vehicle has gone a long way to dealing with the reliability issues that have plagued Land Rover for so long. I love the D3!

That’s it for today folks……

DS

[jonesfam]

This about Discoveries in general, not just mine.

The local police sergeant (Boss) who has always been a "Toyota Man" saw us roll back into town last October in the D3, asked for a look & also asked how we liked it. So we sung the D3's praises & his only comment was that we were asking for trouble with all the electronics.
Now I have know this bloke many years & we do like taking the mickey regarding cars, driving skill & our dogs. He has Belgian Shepards we have a Belgian Melenos, mines meaner

So the Sargent went off on leave a few weeks ago with the comment he might buy a new car, my comment was when he got bogged in the 200 series coming back to give me a call.

Well, he got back from leave & came in to sing the D3/D4's praises.
Seems he test drove every different 4WD while he was on leave & after driving a D4 everything else seemed ordinary, very ordinary. He could not afford a D4 so he also drove a 2nd hand D3 V6. Still better than anything else though he liked the D4 interior a bit better.
So now he is trying to figure a way to buy a 2nd hand TDV6 with a few options.
I suggested graft & corruption but he reckoned there wasn't any point in Doomadgee, besides he wants to drive it, not see it from a cell window.

So I love the D3 because it has another convert.

BTW The sarg was chasing some kids around the school grounds (Vandals) in his new Toyota Troopie V8TD police car when she sank in the mud to the side steps. Had to get an exivator in to pull it out.:p
I told him that the police should invest in some D4's.
Jonesfam

[jonesfam]

Another reaso I love my D3 - because it makes my wife SOoo jealous.

We are going on leave next month & while we were having a coffee together today the wife asked "What are you buying your number 1 love while we are away?" I replied "I don'y know, tyres are a bit expensive at the moment so I guess I will just put A UHF in her."

The coffee cup just missed.:D

A bit later I was out washing the Disco & had the grill out for cleaning, the wife wanders out & says "Oh, you've stripped her?" "Nah, just taken her bra off." says I.

That bucket of soapy water was nice & cool but the bucket hurt when it hit me.:p

So tonight I was re reading the manual to see if I could adjust the low beam lights up a bit, wife says "I'm going to bed - you can sit here & read your porn." "Nah, think I'll jump on the 'puter & read about it there."

Bloody strange woman, my wife. & now I have another bruise.

Jonesfam
PS She loves the car too, I think.;)

[bbyer]

This thread got me to thinking about the purchase of my LR3 vs the alternatives.

Here in Canada, about the only practical alternative would be a Chev Tahoe / GMC Yukon or Escalade. Toyota/Lexus and the like to my mind have the disadvantages of any import, and nothing really to speak of in terms of advantages, and I mean advantages over something from GM.

The D3/LR3 is just plain unique - it really does not have any equals, just alternatives.

I would say that about once a month, a complete stranger, (male always), comes up to me and asks how I like my Land Rover.

At first, I did not really know what to say other than "OK". With time however, I have now developed a better answer.

The first thing of note is that strangers actually recognize the LR3, first as a Land Rover, and second, as something special and worth asking about.

That in in itself reminds me that I know a couple of guys with G Wagons, and no one even approaches them. I am not really certain why, as the Canadian Army now has camo oufitted G-Wagons running around the City, so the mark is not totally strange to the Province, or Canada. I however, regard the fact that I am even approached as reflecting something positive about the D3.

My short answer to the "How do I like it question?" is that well, I drive the vehicle daily and that 29 days of the month, it is just transportation. That other day can however, be interesting.

It may be just that I hauled some purchase home from a store that would not have fit into a Tahoe. It may come as a surprise, but the LR3, while narrower, has better rear access to the cargo area, a flatter floor, and a higher door height. Since about model year 2000, something happened to the interior room inside the Chevs - they just got tighter for some reason.

Another day, it just may be that the roads became unpleasant. I find that I feel quite confident driving in adverse conditions with the LR3. I do not know if it is the weight, the steering, the full time all wheel drive, the traction controls, the anti skid programs, or just what. The vehicle feels roadworthy be the track, wet, slippery, rough, or dark.

With reference to dark, I credit the low beam head lights for giving me a feeling that I can see what is there, (and not there), under the snowiness or most miserable of conditions. Also that pair of brighter red "fog" lights at the back gives me the feeling that the guy following just might not plow into me.

Also the tail light red plastic is so big, it is just about impossible for the tail lights to become completely covered with sticking snow. That is a real problem with transport trucks here: 4" (100mm) tail lights, (any number of them), and all covered in snow - hence effectively, no tail lights - just the appearance of a heavy snow storm with something to slide under.

I note that I am also telling the people that while the LR3 looks small, everthing on it is big. I point out the wheel lugs and say they are that way as the vehicle weighs 3 tons and is designed to balance on one or two wheels at a near 45 degree angle. That sort of thing then puts a bit of a load on the rims, but that nothing twists for if it did the glass roof would pop out. What glass roof they ask? Then I point out the three skylights.

Speaking of glass, the size of the side windows is just larger than most vehicles. It gives a bright open and I think inviting look to the car.

I also show them my two batteries (Traxide kit), and that impresses them. Here, two batteries are sometimes seen on diesel pickups, (but that is not too common), and is considered big truck stuff at any rate.

While the bonnet is up, I pull the grill out - they have never seen that before on anything - they now are starting to show some real interest, I might add.

At that time I usually start the LR3 and raise it to off road height. That is something normal to us, but very unusual to most, and comes as a surprise. Lifted trucks here are common, but the lift is fixed, not variable at the whim of the driver so actually seeing it is an experience.

Off road height gives a pretty good view of the air springs and also the frame. I talk about the weight and say that weighing 3 tons means it does not float when wading. What do you mean floating and wading they ask? Well, driving thru creeks etc - Oh, is the puzzled response. (A Tahoe is about a thousand pounds less and looses traction and either floats away, or stalls and sinks.)

I mention that the air springs are similar to those rubber things on the back of semi trailer tractor units - again, an Oh.

Anyway, when the interested party departs, they know the 3 is something special.

Another reason I like my LR3 is knowing that it will hold its new look for at least another five years. With the D4 retaining the body shape of the D3, my LR3 will remain current looking - kind of a good feeling as I tend to keep my cars a long time.

With the help of the Board here, I am beginning to understand how the 3 is put together. This gives me more confidence as the closest Land Rover dealer North of me is in either Iceland or Greenland. South is not so extreme - there is one 400 km South, another 800 km East, and West, 1,200 km on the Pacific Coast.

While this may seem not so good, Toyota is not much better. (Numerically more dealers, but only concentrated in major Cities). I must however concede the Tahoe is superior when it comes to finding fix it places.

In summary, I find that the interest, or perhaps even awe, that my 3 generates when I show it off, has made me realize how special and unique it is.

It therefore comes not as a suprise that the vehicle at times suffers from problems no other vehicle will ever have - three computer buses, four corner air supension that raises and lowers everything but the tyres, a "radio" that sounds like you brought the orchestra with you; autobaun speeds for the Bemmers to give chase, and alternatively, so slow a snail would get bored - now that is unique.

All that, and one other rather interesting characteristic - the 3 fits right in at the Club or on the job site. One can park right in front of the Client and not worry about the image - you tend to get respect rather than distain - a very versatile ride it is.

[sniegy]

I thought i would move this from the middle of a post to here. Gives another view of these wonderful vehicles.

Well,
This last week & a bit for me has been one big blurr.
Wednesday last week i was sent to Sydney for a course & was originally told it "may" happen, didnt receive any official notes saying this is your flight details & this is where you will be staying & assumed (possibly wrong) that this was not going to happen.:eek:
So i started to think about what bits & pieces i can add to the Discovery while i was at home on the weekend coming, So i had prepared some wiring & a few little components to fit (RedArc Remote trailer brake unit, GME 3340 CB, Engel Fridge Lead-will follow up on these with photo's & install details later) to start with, BUT my wife wanted to go away;), So..Barb had booked a Caravan Park in NSW:eek::eek: (by the way Narrabeen is a wonderful spot).

I left for my course on Wednesday night, to receive a phone call from my wife to say get home Friday night as soon as possible as we are heading off Friday to Sydney, We did chat about this & again didnt think this was going to happen as nothing was booked (again possibly wrong).
Did the course for the 2 days to return home Friday night, sleep & then get up again & drive to Sydney at 06:00Hrs.:o

BUT..

This this time was different I was behind the wheel of a nice shiny new Discovery 4..hehe..Mine. I still go out in the mornings & touch it, just to make sure that it isnt a dream...My wife has caught me a couple of times & now passes with the comment "Another Colorbond Moment I See":eek:

So off we go all bags packed the night before, I love my wife:angel:, Drive up the Hume to Wangarratta for breakfast at yes the M word. At least the coffee is worthwhile. Things i firstly noticed is yes the D4 rides firmer on 19"s, But for me i liked it especially at 110Km/hr, tyres at 33/36 pressures, Pre-delivery setup pressures, The vehicle tracks extremely well for 2.5T+ vehicle, I had no issues with wondering steering in truck ruts or any thing like that at all.

Across the Border & hello concrete:eek::eek: highway heaven..
The good thing now for those that have not driven to Sydney for a while is that 98% of the highway is dual lane except for Hollbrook & Tarcutta & the speed limit is 110Km/hr all the way except for those 2 towns & 2 slow down points from existing towns(cant remember the names tho').
A real easy drive.

I happen to find a rock floating through the air from behind a truck, which "starred" the w/screen, but apart from that all was good.
Will get this fixed when i get back to work.

We heading into Sydney & up the M5 (which was probably the longer way, but good for the kids to see the Harbour, Opera hose etc) under the airport & across the Cahill Expressway & across the bridge, then towards Manly & across the Spit Bridge, then up Pittwater Rd to Narrabeen to the Holiday park.
I was very suprised as was told the raffic in Sydney can be a huge pain, but from the start of the M5 to The Park was an Hour!:eek:
I had to check my watch 2 or 3 times to make sure.:p

Once we had set up & did some shopping, swimming & some more swimming(love that rock pool in Narrabeen), the next day we headed off into Manly via the bus, Purchased a Family Day Tripper ticket & got into Manly & then caught the Ferry into Sydney(Circular Quay) & then from there we dropped into the city & then caught a train to Milsons point & the Kids had a ball at Luna park.
We later caught a Ferry back to Circular Quay & then the Ferry to Manly & then the bus back to the park.

I showed the kids around Sydney as much as i could & had a lot of fun in the short time we were there..

The weather was brilliant, all the days were very warm & even on the day that it rained all day, was still warm & muggy, it didnt stop us from going out. It was very pleasant.

We then packed up & headed out & this was where patience was a good thing, took 2.5 hrs to go from the Park to the end of the M5/Hume highway connection. Ah well....Life goes on..

The vehicle was superb, no issues whatsoever, apart from one..
Grame the Headlights also point upwards, but mainly my left one, but this will be sorted as i did find out more info while i was in Sydney prior to my holiday, There is a section in SDD to set up & adjust your headlights.
Will play when i return & advise the outcome also after carrying out Q093, when released.
Fuel Consumtion was extremely good, Gauge says 8.8L/100 k's, but in reality was 9.1L/100k's, this was mainly highway driving at 110Km/hr & then Sydney stop start traffic & then home again. This will probably stay at that figure as the vehicle will go to Barb & i will have a Co. Car to drive. The engine will return better figures as time goes by, something i have taken notice of at work on clients vehicles.
It was a pleasure to drive, the seating was excellent, everything just worked.
Something i am not used to is the key..Next time i would order the keyless entry, as everytime you wish to lock/unlock the vehcle you need to remove the key from your person, then again try to find where you placed the key prior to entering the vehicle.
If i had the "Keyless" entry this would make it a lot easier when approaching the vehicle, as long as you have the key on/with you & your hand breaks the beam in the door lock handle the vehicle opens, this way you dont need to look for the key & vise versa, when you close the door you touch the black button on the door habdle & your away.
Again just little things you notice after the fact.
The Auto lights are just fantastic, Set & forget, The Auto wipers again excellent, But this depends on how you set it up, i found on the max setting was way to sensative, so mine is now on the midway between the Min/Max settings, you also have to make sure that the sensor is clean otherwise you will have the wiper going at weird times, (make sure there are no dead bugs:eek:)as this was happening to me, after a good clean & bug gutts gone it was excellent, even driving home on Wednesda when it was raining I did not have to touch the headlights & wipers at all, Just had to concentrate on the traffic around me & where i was going.

I didnt get a chance to do any offroad, but in time it will happen, the trip was to(for me anyway) iron out any problems & in reality i have none, I am extremely happy with the vehicle & so is my wife, The kids love it & they know i love it too.

For those wondering about doing it, Go sit your bum in one & go for a drive, a descent drive, play with the buttons ask questions to your dealer, if he cant help ask the forum &/or me, we/I will gladly help.
Seriously the competition wont come close.

Cheers all.

p.s. My wife wants to go back to Narrabeen with some friends, so all that are close next time we are up, we should catch up & have a drink.

[DiscoSaffa]

Been far too long...... and this is probably more a “Why I love my Landy” story that a pukka story, hence the reason for posting here, and not the “Stories Thread”…..

Week before last Audrey, my beloved D3, was due a service. On the advice of those here, I headed for Southport and dropped her off in Bruce Lynton’s capable hands for the day and picked up my loan car for the day. A lovely little diesel FL2, but more on that in a bit.

I had just parked my vehicle, and was heading for service reception when the boys were clearing the garage of all the vehicles that had been parked up for the night. Out of the garage comes a Stornoway Grey 3.0SE D4, with almond leather…… It was love at first sight…. Hells bells I want one!! I would love a D4! :BigThumb:

Anyway, I digress…… I dropped off my keys and hopped into the Flandy….. I imagine that the feeling is akin to a 747 pilot jumping into a 737….. although there are slight differences, you can start it up and head off, without having to familiarise yourself with all the controls, because to all intents and purposes the important stuff is all in the same place, you are definitely in a Land Rover. Now the Flandy I had been given is the TD4, and what a little motor, pulls like train and (especially for someone who is not a huge fan of diesels) drives very nicely. I would hate to know what the new 3.0 TDV6 is like!?! :eek: The fuel consumption was also pretty incredible…… didn’t get into double figures all day, and I drove it most of the day, in fact ended up at averaging 9.1l/100km over 350km. On the subject of fuel consumption, the computer on the Flandy has one extra option that my D3 doesn’t have, that being instantaneous fuel consumption, a figure that I always find amusing to watch. I got to thinking about it, and figured it is a function that they probably remove from the Petrol V6 computers to save the owners undue stress……. I do love Land Rovers

So come to the end of the day, drop of the loaner, and hop back into Audrey. Now the Free Lander is a lovely vehicle, but it is no D3, it was like coming home after staying in a hotel for a few days. One sits that little bit higher, the seat and steering wheel are adjusted just right, hit the starter and that V6 jumps to life. I have said it before, and I will say it again, if it was possible to improve on the sound of a D2 V8, they did it with the D3 V6. I just love driving my D3, I will take a drive, just for the sake of taking the vehicle for a drive, but it is always that little bit better when you have been in something else all day. In short, I love my D3, and it was good to have her back!! :)

[brad72]

Well, I have finally lost my 4x4 off road virginity and I must say the D4 is an amazing car. The slope was not all that bad by your standards. 25º slope at the bottom ramping to 35º at the top with 40º section 3/4 the way up. It was slippery loose dirt with tree roots and protruding rocks.

I have been procrastinating over this for a few days now since I could barely get up the hill on foot. The bottom section looked easy but the 40º part with a deep hole either side that would put the car on 2 wheels just didn't look possible with stock street tires at road pressures.

Anyway, off I went in rock crawl....this is easy i thought, hit the steep section, could only see sky, traction control clanking away but up she went over then crest of the hill. Woohoo I thought. My heart was beating like a jack rabbit. Just to make sure i didn't fluke it i tried again. She slipped a bit more this time and lost all traction at the 40º big holes but a few seconds later, off she went.

What a fantastic 4x4. Just getting to know what she can do is so much fun. The last guys i saw going up this track has huge tires an lifted suspension. who would of thought a stock vehicle was so capable. I did discover however that hill descent in reverse can be a little fast compared to 1st gear. Did get a scratch down one side however that SWMBO frowned at. Stupid lantana.

Added a few photo's to share my excitement

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/6202/20100502153442.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/7392/c20100502154014.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6710/c20100502153414.jpg

[jonesfam]

I haven't been around for a while due to computer cash (major) & an extra high work load.
But, just wanted to say I still love my D3, because it can surprise me.
Like just the other night, got home from work & the Missus had left her in the drive way after the school run. Jumped in to put her away, just started up when our truck driver called me on the UHF, talked to him while I "selected" access mode while talking to him & driving forward into the car port.
Finished the conversation, turned off, opened door, stepped out, fell hard to ground!:p
Had selected Off Road hight instead of accsess hight.
Lay there laughing for being such an idiot, but it sure was a surprise
Jonesfam
PS Didn't hurt much.

[Celtoid]

Went camping with my wife and kids over the long weekend to Benarkin State Forest which is NW of Brisbane...nice chilly -1 Saturday morning :(.

I had no intention of doing anything crazy in the D4 as I was by myself (4WD wise) and am still getting a feel for it's capabilities. Most of the driving that I found was rough forest trails but I believe there are some pretty interesting drives in the area.

Anyway, was on one of the marked forest trails and found a road called Mine Road (?). I figured that this sounded inviting so turned down it to have a look. Came to a pretty steep, wash-out strewn gravel/rocky hill leading down into a cleared valley paddock. I've had the D4 over some pretty steep gravel before so felt pretty confident...didn't even bother selecting anything, just the off-road height. I get to the bottom of the valley and look up the other side....looks very inviting....pretty steep, narrow, mud, gravel, rocks and some serious wash-outs. The kids are egging me on but I chicken out as I was alone, had no idea if it was blocked beyond my sight, etc. It would have been pretty tough/scary to reverse back down.

I'm just about to start the climb back out the way I came in when three other 4WDs come trundling down. I move off the road, make my selections for the climb and have a quick chat to the others. In the lead there is a new stock Hi-lux or Triton, didn't look too close (diesel), a late model Patrol and a pretty old Patrol at the rear (both had lift kits and big wheels). They were going to have a bash at the hill but had never done it before so had no idea what they were in for. I was temped to tag along but by then hunger had overtaken my kid's priorities.

I head back to camp and a short while later the new 4WD returns also. They had got half way up and choose not to continue as it looked too hard and scary (had to reverse back down :(). As they were leaving the valley they bumped into some locals who offered to guide them. The guy with the new truck chickened out ;) but the others had a crack. The two older vehicles made it but said it was pretty scary.

As we were chatting in the campsite they made polite but mocking comments about the standard tyres and clearance of my D4 (it was sitting at normal ;)). "you'll never make it in that", "not enough clearance for those wash-outs" "those tyres will just spin". One of them had the smarts to comment that he'd heard the new Discoveries had some smart gear on board....I just smiled :).

The gaunlet had been thrown on the ground and the laughs didn't last too long when the D4 effortlessly....and I mean, yawn time effortlessly negotiated the hill. Well the truth be told....the D4 might have been yawning but I was pretty scared LOL!!!! However, it was made easy by the fact that it was just so sure footed....hardly any wheel spin or slide, so this allowed me to just steer through and around the problems. I was seriously impressed.

BTW....I noticed the others scratching their heads on my return...as my D4 had mysteriously 'grown' taller.....;)

[Normthe1]

I know this is the stories thread but my story is way to embarrassing. In the interest of talking up the car though, I will give you a brief summary...


Preston Beach (WA) long open beach of about 25 kms of soft to very soft sand:)



D3 with idiot driver without a tyre pressure gauge who guesstimated when lowering tyre pressure:o
About 5 or 6 kms of really difficult sand driving culminating in a series of boggings:eek:
1 bogging too far, rear end of car downhill about 12 inches from a sand dropoff of about 18 inches:eek:
Incoming tide propelled by reasonable swell slowly eradicating dropoff:eek:
Any further movement almost certainly ending in a D3 tipped on its side and being swamped by waves:eek:
Frantic calls on radio without response:(
Despatching of SWMBO and tin lids with instructions to "FIND HELP":twisted:
Finally reaching a really good bloke on the CB who called the cavalry:o
Having a bloke in a 100 series take one look at the situation, get tyre gauge and lower pressures to 15:(
Drive out of the ****** and blinding sand like it was my driveway...:mad:
Saved by a dirty stinking Toyota driver who admitted he had always wanted an LR:mad:

In the true meaning of always seeing the bright side of life, I am talking myself up for lasting so long on soft sand with marginally below road pressures in the tyres and finally being able to justify the cost of the radio to SWMBO...

There you have it, just another example of the D3's ability being way beyond mine.

Here endeth the lesson (well mine anyway). We shall never speak of this again.;)

[DiscoSaffa]

Well...... it has been a while..... too long in fact, but with the winter sniffles wreaking havoc with my little family, and work being ridiculously hectic I have just not had time to sit down and write a post, anyway, without further ado….. a story for today…….

More about Land Rovers that D3s really, but when I started this lot it was about both so here goes……. As you all by now know, I work on a construction site, which being a typical Australian construction site is a working advert for Toyota…… :( consequently a Land Rover sticks out like a sore thumb and fast becomes a talking point……. Today, that is what I love about Land Rovers.

Yesterday I wandered out into the parking lot to discover a small crowd congregated around a very neat D1. The D1 in question has recently been bought by one of our paving foremen. The conversation centred around the fact that no one could believe how little he paid for so much vehicle, how clean it was and generally what a bargain he got. I always love these conversations, because this is nothing that those of here don’t already know, and the almost total surprise in others always makes me chuckle. There were, of course, the usual Land Rover jibes, but that is part of the appeal isn’t it. Gotta love a Land Rover.

This morning I parked in the parking lot and walking into the office noticed a brand new Defender 130, complete with canvas back and snorkel parked in the parking lot. Walked into the office, grabbed a coffee and stepped outside to take in what is a beautiful morning, and within 2 minutes I was part of a crowd that had congregated around the 130. We were kicking tyres, peering into the windows and on our knees looking underneath. Turns out, another of the paving foremen has just bought this Land Rover. He has kitted it beautifully, under body protection, changed the standard rubber to some very nice Michelins…… nice bit of kit!

Couple of points to this story really. First our paving crew has great taste in vehicles. Second, we must have had half a dozen new Prados on site and none have generated anywhere near as much conversation as an 11 year old Disco and a new 130….. in fact no conversation really. Last, but not least……. Gotta love a Land Rover!

Till next time :)

DS

[DiscoSaffa]

Let me tell you a story…… about a Saffa, DiscoSaffa, on a recent trip to Sydney, a vuvuzela, a Ford Focus, a D3 and tailgating Sydney Cabbie…….. :)

Last week I had the pleasure of heading to Sydney for a few days on business, something I don’t mind doing as it serves as reminder of my family’s reasons for moving North……

Anyway, I arrived and I was given a Ford Focus as my hire car…… I generally don’t hire cars when travelling to Sydney, but this time I had a lot of travelling around to do so thought I would save the large corporate entity that I work for a few dollars on cabs….. herewith my first mistake, but that is another story….. the point for this part of the story is how on earth does the general public driving normal cars not kill themselves daily sitting down at that level, you can see sweet blow all! So…… Love the driving position on my D3!

The rest of the trip was uneventful….. until it came time to drive myself to the airport on Friday afternoon…… I left early with plenty of time and traffic was being kind, until I hit the Eastern Distributor. At this point I need to digress and let you know about a bug bear of mine….. Cabbies the world over, but Sydney cabbies in particular, seem to love tailgating……. I don’t know what it is, but the physics of following distances seem to not apply to a Ford Falcon with a few lights and a sign on the top of it…….. so back to the story, suddenly I encounter stationary traffic on the Eastern Distributor, unusual given the clear run so far and the time of day. Turns out there has been a minor incident involving, you guessed it, a taxi. It would seem that on this rare occasion the planets had aligned, or some stellar subscription went unpaid and the laws of physics applied to this cabbie and he rear ended someone. So why, you ask, am I telling you this? This unlucky soul, on this unlucky day had rear ended a D3……. But not just any D3, a D3 with a Mitch Hitch fitted…… Ouch doesn’t begin to describe the damage done to the luckless Flacon, his bonnet had popped, and the poor car had ****ed itself all over the tarmac……. As best I could tell driving past, very little if any, damage had been done to the D3. gotta love a D3, especially one with a Mitch Hitch!

The last point to be made in this story is when I finally landed in Ballina after what was a long week, waiting for me was not Safari Barbie, nor my two beautiful little girls (the time of day simply did not permit), but Audrey, my trusty D3. She gleamed in the twilight having been washed and polished for me while I was away, and she was waiting eagerly to take me home. Now I have mentioned this before, there is no feeling like getting into your own vehicle (any vehicle will do, but I reckon the feeling is unmeasurably better in a D3) and feeling like you have just come home…… everything falls to hand without thinking about it, the indicators are on the right, well left, but correct side…. Stress just falls away and all is suddenly right with the world……. Here ends this story as DS heads home in his beloved D3…….. Love my D3! :D *Permagrin*

DS

[Celtoid]

Hi All, after reading AGRO's brief post I thought that I'd add my tale of woe to the Stories Thread....though my tale is nowhere near as tragic as AGRO's sounds. Feel real sorry for you mate, I'd hate to loose my D4.

However, I may have the dubious honour of being among the first to break a D4.:o

I originally posted this in D4 Beach Work but now I can add to it with the latest developments.

After the incident below in green, I took my car into a tyre place for a balance as I had the slight vibration that I mentioned below. Oops.....both front wheels buckled was the report. They stuck my spare on and moved the less buckled one to the back, allowing me continue using the car. Pooh....ring insurance company and fortunately they were fine with the fact that I'd been on a beach.

My car is now booked into a BMW dealership (can you believe that?)....as LR wouldn't help at all...to get the couple of plastic bits underneath the bumper bar fixed and to get the wheels replaced. They are also going to stick the D4 on their rack and conduct a full mechanical inspection....which is a good thing as I now have delveloped more noise through the steering wheel and there are definately things not quite right in the steering and suspension. It's still tight and now that the wheels have been moved around it's OK to drive but it's making some groans and there are some clunks.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the damage and result.

How did it happen? Driving along the beach on Fraser Island in an 80kph zone on the hard sand, manoevering around and slowing down for obstacles as normal. Was on a patch that looked completely clear and them without any warning, came over the top of what looked like a slight rise and there it was. Thank god I was sub 80 as only ten minutes earlier had had to back off due to the D4's incredible ability to creep up the speedo without being noticed (was doing 90+ without even realising it....just loving the experience and the view).

I hit the picks real hard but I knew there was no way I could stop the D4 in time, so I straightened up on the edge of the drop off to prevent a roll-over and we all braced for the ride. I don't think I assisted my children's vocabulary any and whilst I was confident in the occupants being OK was seriously concened that the D4 was going to get broken. It was a hard landing but the car just didn't flinch....remained perfectly straight, no wobbles, no threat of a roll-over....just a bug thump as we hit the water and then other bank.

Once checking everybody was OK, I got out to inspect the damage. My family with the exception of my son (who thought it was a hoot) were a little shaken but none the worst for the incident. The truck looked fine on the first inspection apart from the broken rego plate cover and bent deflectors. Then I noticed all this fluid pouring down the front of the radiator....pooh, pooh, pooh. Stuck on Fraser, tide coming in, dubious insurance cover...pooh, pooh, pooh. Jumped back in, to at least get the car out of the water.....it seemed to drive ok. Got out, took another look...by this time the shock was wearing off. "Hang on a minute"...the fluid was clear, put my finger in it tentatively....it was freezing cold...."woohoo"....it was just the fact that I'd injested half of the river on impact and it was still flooding back out! :arms:

The steering is still tight and it wasn't till I got on the sealed road on the way home and was around 100kph that I felt the slight vibration. And it was only when I got home and was washing the D4 that I realised the front arch was loose....bit of a bum-bump and it was all fixed.

This was an incident I certainly wouldn't recommend to anybody and could quite easily have been very ugly. Thank god I'd slowed down earlier and hadn't been distracted right at that moment. And funnily enough, I was really glad I don't have a Bull-Bar on as I'm certain that would have speared us in. I'm also glad I was driving the Discovery as it seemed non-fussed about the whole thing. :)

As the truck still drove fine afterwards, the trip wasn't spoiled...so that was great.

The gravity of the situation was lighted up, when shortly afterwards, whilst fishing, two Dingos made off with all the bait....:D

Anyway, I'll post some shots, once I download them from my camera and after I figure out how to actually post them...hahaha.

Regards,

Kev.

PS My mate that went to Fraser with me has a 2008 GXL Prado. I have no idea what that comes with standard option wise. It had a leather interior but appeared really basic. Only had some sort of manual diff locker too. Nice enough car but just wasn't in the same league as the D4, looks and finish wise. It drove well but once again, nowhere near as well as the LR. I don't know what he payed for it but I guess it wasn't cheap. It also looked like it had less clearance than the D4 and I noticed him 'levelling' a few tracks with the belly of his car and plowing his towbar.

It did have pretty good fuel economy and a 120L fuel tank and seemed pretty capable as it appeared to have no issues with anything we did....it just wasn't as easy or smooth.

[FifiLámour]

LOL RMP, I won't do that to you. Images of Alex being conditioned (A Clockwork Orange) are coming to mind:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/1383.jpg

Well boys, as of Sunday, I have a new favourite shop! Goodbye Mecca Cosmetica. Goodbye to the cosmetics counters of David Jones. On Sunday, I discovered...Super Cheap Auto! Yes, my friends, and Dave the sales assistant is my new friend.

There were shelves and shelves of cleaning equipment (not to mention everything else)! I went in, I shopped and I conquered. Spent almost $100 and walked out with kit to be proud of.

Then I gave my girl a makeover.

She got vacuumed in every nook and cranny and might I say I "lingered"? Would that be rude? We do have the 7 seats up occasionally, but when we do it, we are generally in a rush - boys to soccer, grandparents on an outing, you know the drill. This time I put up every seat and I, well, "lingered". What a marvel of engineering the D3 is!

Seriously, when I think of England, I usually think of the Royals and I cringe. (I can say that, I'm born there ;).) But now, I think of Land Rover. And I don't care that they didn't do well in the JD Power reliability tests. I just LOVE the way those seats fold into each other so seamlessly and easily. It defies the fact that the car is so heavy and strong. All seem right with the world when everything is so...neat!

Anyway, I digress. I vacuumed, had her washed, then brought her home and polished, blackened, cleaned the rims, shined the tyres. It took virtually the whole day and my arm was so tired last night I couldn't sleep. And the tips of my fingers so sore and waxy I couldn't even type (well, I waxed our other car too, not wanting her to feel left out).

But...what a difference! I used Meguiar's Deep Crystal Wet Look Cleaner Wax on her body and Mothers Naturally Black on the trims. Oh. My. God. Mother's Milk, more like it! Her black plastic trims were fading - particularly around the wheels, under the doors and on top of the mirrors. Massaging in some of this stuff has brought them back to a nice, strong black. I thought it might have faded overnight, but no, still there this morning!

Sorry, I know I'm raving, but she is just so GLORIOUS! I keep walking out into the garage and stroking her. Is this car porn? What has gotten into me?? Maybe I need a dose of what Alex had, LOL.

Anyway, thank you for all your helpful suggestions. I would have been completely overwhelmed in that shop had I not gone in with them. And on a final note, I think Freddie said it better than I can:

YouTube- Queen - I'm In Love With My Car

[gghaggis]

We're having our driveway re-concreted, so they dug up the old one yesterday and left me a nice 40m stretch of dirt to park in. 6am this morning and they're outside bashing retaining planks into the dirt and generally ensuring that last night's headache won't be forgotten quite as soon as I would have liked.

7am and a large Mercedes cement truck (apparently they make cars as well?) backs down the drive and starts pouring. I'm outside looking on as the young bloke explains how the truck inches forward as they pour, to keep the out-flow constant. Did I mention the dirt? Oh, and that the driveway is at a 10deg incline? I nonchalantly reply that the truck seems to be inching _down_ rather than forward. Much scurrying around later and yep, the truck is bogged. Full of concrete. Costing me $!**# per hour. 90mins to get another truck around to pull them out. The older bloke wanders up and eyes off the Rangie:

"Recon yous could pull the truck up the driveway? How much will that tow?"
Hmm - "Around 3 1/2 tonne" I reply, "Why, what's the truck weigh?"
"Ooh, I dunno, around 20 tonne?"

He helpfully adds that he's got a chain. Ah well ..........

Of course, the chain won't reach all the way to the road, and somehow the humour of me helpfully asking them to move the truck forward a couple of metres is rather lost. So I back the Rangie into the driveway, wheels in the dirt, engage low range, Rock Crawl and lock into 1st gear. A rather large chain is attached to the rear tow point and I take up the strain. Thumbs up from the grinning psycopath in the truck and I give it a little more revs. A slight shudder and then she just _walks_ forward. No spinning, no straining - the truck rises out of the hole in the drive and I pull it up the drive a few more metres.

The old bloke walks up to my driver's window - "Jeez, these things have got a bit of guts, don't they?"

They sure do :BigThumb:

[Ean Austral]

This is a brief but funny story ( now we look back at it ) on our test drive of the D3..

Our D2 is getting the front prop shaft changed so we decide to take the D3 for a drive..Swmbo drives from TRS and absolutely fangs the D3 and we take off like a rocket, so she drives down to about Glenelg area, then says to me drive back..

I hop in and because SWMBO is shorter than me I move the seat back but cant see the speedo properly, so we are coming up the hill back towards lonsdale and im trying to find the steering adjustment..so i grab something that feels as tho it should be the steering coloum adjustment, (we are in peak hour traffic in the middle lane) and the car goes dead..Not a light on the dash, nothing..WE MANAGE TO GET THE CAR TO THE EMERGENCY LANE.. and just sit there wondering what the hell happened.

Now I have been in some strange situations at sea, but being in a car you know nothing about and its totally dead is something very new to me..
So we just sit for awhile, then SWMBO starts with the..WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO..

Well to cut a long story short, and something I still get reminded of, I turned the car off, thinking the Key was the steering coloum adjustment knob..Re-start the car and drove back trouble free, but boy its a strange feeling sitting in a dead car you know nothing about..

Doesn't compare to some stories on here but as I say is funny now but at the time...

Cheers Ean

[Celtoid]

This is a brief but funny story ( now we look back at it ) on our test drive of the D3..

Our D2 is getting the front prop shaft changed so we decide to take the D3 for a drive..Swmbo drives from TRS and absolutely fangs the D3 and we take off like a rocket, so she drives down to about Glenelg area, then says to me drive back..

I hop in and because SWMBO is shorter than me I move the seat back but cant see the speedo properly, so we are coming up the hill back towards lonsdale and im trying to find the steering adjustment..so i grab something that feels as tho it should be the steering coloum adjustment, (we are in peak hour traffic in the middle lane) and the car goes dead..Not a light on the dash, nothing..WE MANAGE TO GET THE CAR TO THE EMERGENCY LANE.. and just sit there wondering what the hell happened.

Now I have been in some strange situations at sea, but being in a car you know nothing about and its totally dead is something very new to me..
So we just sit for awhile, then SWMBO starts with the..WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO..

Well to cut a long story short, and something I still get reminded of, I turned the car off, thinking the Key was the steering coloum adjustment knob..Re-start the car and drove back trouble free, but boy its a strange feeling sitting in a dead car you know nothing about..

Doesn't compare to some stories on here but as I say is funny now but at the time...

Cheers Ean

I know the feeling...bought myD4 as an ex demo....from Cairns, I live in Brissy.

Go to the depot to pick the car up...get handed this fob thingy.

I stand looking at my new purchase....opening it wasn't too hard...but start?! How do I do that? Sheepishly I have to ask the admin person to get the guy who took it off the truck, to show me how to start it and turn off the hand-brake.....:(

Smiled all the way home thou...for a different reason.......the D4 rocks....

[Disco4SE]

Hi all,
A few months back, I purchased a set of second hand RRS rims with MTR's. Put them on for the first time this afternoon to see how they go, as I am planning some off roading next weekend.
First impressions after driving on Scorpian ATR's is that they hum like a bastard on the road.
Anyway, we are no more than 5 minutes from home when my son and I decide to take an 'impassable when wet' track that we haven't been down for a while. Went well to start with until we found ourselves stranded with no wheels touching firm ground. Tried every setting the vehicle has and still no luck.
As a last resort, I rang my mate who has a Nissan Patrol........sorry for swearing, to help me out. He tried snatching first, but the ground was too spongy and he was starting to bury himself (even with a front diff lock).
He ended up winching me out after nearly burning out his winch motor.
So, this was my very first experience with MTR's and only for 5 minutes.
Check out the pics below.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members/disco4se-albums-my+disco+4-picture2116-100-3496.jpg
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members/disco4se-albums-my+disco+4-picture2117-100-3494.jpg
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members/disco4se-albums-my+disco+4-picture2115-100-3497.jpg

BTW: How can I be sure that I have an e-diff?
MOD EDIT: you read the FAQ!

Cheers, Craig

[Gaviatrix]

I just thought I'd add my h'a'penn'orth to this thread, much in the DiscoSaffa mode.

You see, our D3 has made a car convert out of my wife.

Now you need to realise that there have been all sorts of 'interesting' cars in the Gaviatrix stable over the last 20+ years. We had a D1 Tdi, which was a favourite with our kids. I've had periods of being a real Italian car tragic and have lost a small fortune running Alfas and Fiats and Lancias - even a 1967 Maserati Quattroporte. I've had Citroens (a 2CV6 and a DS), Triumphs, proper Minis, a Volvo, a Peugeot, several BMWs, an Audi and my lasting love, a beautiful Jaguar XJ6. She likes the XJ, mainly for its effortless grunt and cosseting interior.

But the D3 is the first car ever that she actually, actively likes, tells her friends about AND is interested in finding out how it works. She's asked me questions about MECHANICAL things, for heavens sake. When we went to one of Gordon's (Green Oval) seminars, she lapped it up and has been telling our teenage boys all about the air suspension and traction control - to their utter amazement. She has not even objected to me buying all sorts of additional kit and .... wait for it .... when I told her it was booked in for a compressor and an ARB bar to be installed she actually suggested we got a winch as well. You could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather.

That was a week ago and I'm still recovering. Our marriage may never be the same.

[gps-au]

I just thought I'd add my h'a'penn'orth to this thread, much in the DiscoSaffa mode.

You see, our D3 has made a car convert out of my wife.

Now you need to realise that there have been all sorts of 'interesting' cars in the Gaviatrix stable over the last 20+ years. We had a D1 Tdi, which was a favourite with our kids. I've had periods of being a real Italian car tragic and have lost a small fortune running Alfas and Fiats and Lancias - even a 1967 Maserati Quattroporte. I've had Citroens (a 2CV6 and a DS), Triumphs, proper Minis, a Volvo, a Peugeot, several BMWs, an Audi and my lasting love, a beautiful Jaguar XJ6. She likes the XJ, mainly for its effortless grunt and cosseting interior.

But the D3 is the first car ever that she actually, actively likes, tells her friends about AND is interested in finding out how it works. She's asked me questions about MECHANICAL things, for heavens sake. When we went to one of Gordon's (Green Oval) seminars, she lapped it up and has been telling our teenage boys all about the air suspension and traction control - to their utter amazement. She has not even objected to me buying all sorts of additional kit and .... wait for it .... when I told her it was booked in for a compressor and an ARB bar to be installed she actually suggested we got a winch as well. You could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather.

That was a week ago and I'm still recovering. Our marriage may never be the same.

She got a sister ? :angel:

[shelbyjet]

It is not often in life you get to feel the way I feel right now... I don't know how some of you guys who have waited months for your cars to arrive coped.

Last week, with the wife's hormones all screwed up due, in part, to the upcoming addition to our family,agreed that it would be easier for the 4 (nearly 5) of us if we had a seven seater. Eager to pounce, particularly before the hormones change again, I shopped around for a suitable vehicle.

My first choice was a MY10 D4 2.7. Then, for a couple of grand more (sounded like very little at the time) I figured I could get a MY10 3.0 - new base line. From there, all I had to do was convince myself I was only adding a tiny bit each time I saw a new cool gadget (we all pretend we don't, but I do love gadgets)...

In the course of the week, I was using a new babies milk bottle to justify the need for a centre console cool box! After all, it was only a little bit more...

Oh oh... Put it all together, it is more than just a little bit, actually considerably more than the 2.7 I first looked at. Thank god it is end of year, I made a very special offer to a dealer for a stock car, promising settlement before the end of financial year (hence 2 days) and he capitulated.

So, the feeling of utter excitement and pure indulgence continues for two more days. I cannot wait, but at the same time, I want to keep feeling like this. It has been over 30 years since I could not sleep on Christmas eve, now, as a much older kid, I am feeling that way again - I may start giggling.

What makes the deal even better is that the car is in Queensland and I live in Sydney. They say that the most gratifying drive of your new car is the first drive home - mine is a long drive!

So, I am proud to say (and the bank is very happy to have approved a massive loan) that on the last day of the year, I will be driving home in my new MY11 3.0 HSE with 20", premium leather, surround camera, RSE, Hybrid TV, cooler box (wife does like that idea) all the tricky headlights and tinted windows!

I will be sad to have to part with my beloved R36 but I am sure the pain will be short lived.

PS - sorry for gloating, but is that not what kids do at Christmas???

[Jon79f]

It is not often in life you get to feel the way I feel right now... I don't know how some of you guys who have waited months for your cars to arrive coped.

Last week, with the wife's hormones all screwed up due, in part, to the upcoming addition to our family,agreed that it would be easier for the 4 (nearly 5) of us if we had a seven seater. Eager to pounce, particularly before the hormones change again, I shopped around for a suitable vehicle.

My first choice was a MY10 D4 2.7. Then, for a couple of grand more (sounded like very little at the time) I figured I could get a MY10 3.0 - new base line. From there, all I had to do was convince myself I was only adding a tiny bit each time I saw a new cool gadget (we all pretend we don't, but I do love gadgets)...

In the course of the week, I was using a new babies milk bottle to justify the need for a centre console cool box! After all, it was only a little bit more...

Oh oh... Put it all together, it is more than just a little bit, actually considerably more than the 2.7 I first looked at. Thank god it is end of year, I made a very special offer to a dealer for a stock car, promising settlement before the end of financial year (hence 2 days) and he capitulated.

So, the feeling of utter excitement and pure indulgence continues for two more days. I cannot wait, but at the same time, I want to keep feeling like this. It has been over 30 years since I could not sleep on Christmas eve, now, as a much older kid, I am feeling that way again - I may start giggling.

What makes the deal even better is that the car is in Queensland and I live in Sydney. They say that the most gratifying drive of your new car is the first drive home - mine is a long drive!

So, I am proud to say (and the bank is very happy to have approved a massive loan) that on the last day of the year, I will be driving home in my new MY11 3.0 HSE with 20", premium leather, surround camera, RSE, Hybrid TV, cooler box (wife does like that idea) all the tricky headlights and tinted windows!

I will be sad to have to part with my beloved R36 but I am sure the pain will be short lived.

PS - sorry for gloating, but is that not what kids do at Christmas???

I am sure you will be happy with it - I sold my R36 Wagon for my RRS 3.0TDV6 and couldn't be happier. Wasn't the R36 a great car though!

[shelbyjet]

I am sure you will be happy with it - I sold my R36 Wagon for my RRS 3.0TDV6 and couldn't be happier. Wasn't the R36 a great car though!

It is a simply brilliant car. The DSG gearbox mated to that engine is simply awesome. I am sure come Thursday, I will be happy enough!

[jonesfam]

This is a bit involved so hang in there.

The Bad.
Recently got myself a new dog, Queensland Mastiff, a cross between a Bull Mastiff, Neo Mastiff & Rottweiler. 12 months old & 55kg, a big dog.
Have had the Grandson (4) for a couple of weeks, all going well, he likes our Foster kids & is having a good time. Last Saturday, the day before he was due to go home, he & our 4 boys are up in the play tower laying on the floor calling the new dog. Dog (Bronco) jumps up & grabs Grandson on the face. Lots of blood a bit of screaming & off to hospital we go.
Thought no big deal, couple of stitches & he'll be OK, have a bit of a scar to impress the girls with.
Doctor turns up, that top cut is just under his eye, have to have a surgeon stitch it to make sure there is no nerve or eye lid damage, great.
1 hour latter I & the Grandson are on the RFDS plane to Mt Isa, my daughter & son in law have left Townsville to drive to Mt Isa & I'm feeling pretty bad about the dog.:(

The Good.
That night I phone the missus to let her know how things are going, she says since Corvin's Mum & Dad will be there by morning no point in me hanging about so she will drive down Sunday morning (this all happened last week-end) & pick me up.
She arrives Mt Isa Sunday about 1pm, all good in the Discovery with 5 Foster kids. Gets out & says the trip was good & that the car saved their lives!
How? Well she was driving down the hills road doing about 90 as it was in good nick, comes up a rise to a grid, slows a little crosses the grid straight into a deep, wide & rough bull dust hole. Everything ends up terribly sideways & on a lean that feels like it's all going to POO! She tries to steer into the slide but it's still looking about as bad as it gets, "We're stuffed!" she thinks, "We're going over" when the car does it's thing & shes back on 4 wheels heading more or less in the correct direction & slowed right down.
So as far as she is concerned the car saved her & that is that. Loves it even more now.
Just to make things a bit better the surgeon does a great job on Corvin & we're all smiles.:D

The Ugly.
So at about 5:30pm we head for home up the hills road me driving & the kids watching DVDs. The hills road runs from about 100k West of Mt Isa up to Gregory Downs. It's not a bad road but is quite rocky & has some twist & turns. I'm cruising along at 95 when I see a blade of rock sticking out of the road so I head to the left, just hit the rocks with the drivers side tyres & hear that THUNK, THUNK of a flat tyre.
It's dark by now so first thing I do is reach for the torch in the glove box, the torch has a flat battery, great.
The Missus sets the kids up on blanket in the middle of the road to have some BBQ chicken for dinner & I start changing a tyre in the bitch black.
First problem, find the little hole in the rail that the jack has to go into, takes a while.
Second problem, get the holder on the end of the spare tyre winch through the wheel center hole that seems so small, takes a while.
Third problem, trying to line up the wheel studs without being able to see them. 1 crushed finger & cut hand latter the spare it on, the flat wound up & the jack etc stowed away, took a while.
We finally arrive home at about 11:30.:mad:

So, an interesting week-end. The decision has been made to buy a head lamp thing, 2 X LED torches & a second spare wheel & tyre. The flat tyre has been sent to Mt Isa for repair but most importantly my wife not only had the confidence to drive the car to Mt Isa she took the hills road & now has even more confidence in the D3. Not necessarily the tyres though.

Love the D3 & would happily shoot the bloke who designed the spare tyre system as well as the bloke who decided 19" tyres were a good idea.:twisted:
Jonesfam
PS The dog is still about & did not get poisoned. he was just playing & unfortunately got the young fella just wrong. Neither my Daughter or Corvin have any malice towards the dog.

[Robocop]

I didn't really have an introduction to the D4, it was more a progression..

Without going to go into too much detail.. my introduction into the world of 4x4's was with a new Suzuki Jimny in 2003. Yeah Yeah I know what you're thinking but it was pretty good. By the time i'd finished with it i'd installed a 4" spring lift with adjustable Ranchos, 3" body lift, 32" BF MT tires, Sierra transfer case with 183% reduction and manual hubs. This sold to make way for the 4x4 I always wanted. 3 days after it was sold it was on its side and a write off.

I entered the arena of the Land Rover. I always liked the look of the Defender and believed it was the best 4x4 out of the box. I got the best that I could afford at the time being a 2003 TD5 110 wagon in gunmetal grey. I equipped this with a 2" lift, BF muddies, snorkel, cargo barrier and dual batteries.

Then I got married, things changed, my wife couldn't drive a manual and I didn't know at the time but we were going to be a + 1. So what do normal blokes do? They buy a black 6L SS-V ute, lowered, Brembo's and Pontiac chrome wheels. I swear the afternoon I was driven to the dealership to collect my ute, I found out my wife was pregnant.. running through my mind was, what the F#&* am I going to do with a ute now?

The Defender was giving trouble and had become a "bit of a" money pit, lol it was always a money pit. I knew I needed an Auto but still wanted a 4x4 for my wife to drive. I decided the Freelander 2 would be a good trade off. Defender gone and after a 3 month wait we collected our Stornway grey Freelander 2.

9 months that lasted us, I really should have checked the boot size & I hated the tan interior..

It was time, time to blend. I wanted something sporty, comfortable, capable and auto, I knew anything that earned the Land Rover badge was worthy. So it was decided. We're now a one car family, and a good car at that.

Only days ago the ute and the Freelander were traded (+ a bit extra) for a Disco 4 SE in Stornoway Grey. the 600km drive home couldn't have been more comfortable. Very happy.

[NomadicD3]

Hi All, I recently had an alternator adventure that I thought would be useful to share with you all as I was able to ascertain some very interesting figures and insight into the workings of the 2.7ltr diesel motors, they may also apply to the 3.0ltr and if they don’t directly I would assume they would be very similar.

As posted in another thread, which I don’t want to hijack, I have had a battery warning light come on which went away after driving 300kms. It seemed this was primarily due to the car sitting for so long whilst I was away working and only getting a few short trips during that time. I did get the battery and alternator checked after driving the 1500 km’s home and was assured everything was working fine. Unfortunately, yet again, the information from the professionals proved to be incorrect. 950k’s into another trip and the dash lit up as the vehicle went into a form of electrical limp mode. It soon became apparent that the battery was draining and fast. It was approximately 2km’s before I could find a safe location to pull over. The 90 amp/hr primary battery was immediately tested with a volt meter and registered 10.1 volts. Assuming that it was the battery that had failed, I simply switched out the primary battery for #4 battery {yes I carry 4 batteries when long distance traveling}. The #4 battery is a 66 amp/hr AGM, this is the first of the interesting numbers. Believing it was the battery and rather stupidly not bothering to check the voltage after start up, I then proceeded to drive a further 200km’s with everything still running including the stereo and A/C in 30+ degree temperatures. The instant the dash lit up again I realized the error of my ways, it’s a pity that anger energy can’t be used to recharge a battery. By this time I was approximately 75k’s north of the Manilya roadhouse. When checked with a voltmeter the battery read 10.4 volts. At this time I was planning to simply switch to battery #3 unfortunately the terminals were on the opposite way round and the positive lead wouldn’t reach, this was also the case with battery #2, an optima yellow top. At this point the sweat beads were rapidly beginning to appear. I had considered utilizing the heavy jumper leads and connecting the positive terminals of the #2 to the primary battery as a possible power supply however I thought I would just give the key a turn and see how far I could get before complete shutdown. In all honesty I didn’t think it would even start, yet to my surprise it not only started but, with lots of dash warning lights on, I was able to drive the 75k’s back to Manilya. With a borrowed battery charger and an overnight charge the #2 66amp/hr AGM battery read 12.2 volts, with the fuses pulled on the A/C and infotainment systems, this was enough charge to drive the further 150k’s into Carnarvon. After many phone calls and much consultation I made the decision to drive back to Perth. During the stay in Carnarvon the #1 90amp/hr battery was put back in it’s rightful place and both #1 and #4 batteries were put on charge for several hours with a plan of leaving enough daylight time to be able to travel the 250k’s to the billabong roadhouse. At time of departure from Carnarvon the Primary 90 amp battery read 12.3 volts and was the sole source of power, on arrival at the Billabong and having had no warning lights appear throughout the journey, the battery registered 11.45volts. With advice from Tim AKA drivesafe, I had purchased a 15amp battery charger in Carnarvon and with all batteries in there original allocated positions I was able to charge all 4 at the same time through the traxide multiple battery system. During this overnight stop the positive cable that connects batteries 3 and 4 was re-rigged to be able to connect the positive terminals of batteries 1 and 2 allowing the power to be drawn from the first 3 batteries with the 4th being taken off line as a contingency plan. On completion of the 13hrs of charging all batteries were fully charged and reading 12.97volts. Now much to the surprise of several people I was able to drive the entire 640k’s back to Perth without another recharge and furthermore upon arrival in Perth registered 12.32 volts still in the first 3 batteries with the fourth battery not required at all. Bearing in mind that there was 1 x 90 amp/hr and 2 x 66 amp/hr batteries online.
Following advice from Tim, the amperage draw was measured prior to having the alternator replaced whilst the fuses were still removed for the A/C and infotainment unit. The vehicle may have been in a form of electrical protection mode still, smarter people than me may be able to confirm that. The amperage draw measured 30 amps on start up and almost instantly drops back to 6 amps whilst the motor is at idle. For comparison the same readings were taken after the alternator and all fuses were replaced. With the A/C just turned off but the stereo on, the vehicle draws 40 amps on start up and drops back to 27 amps at idle add the A/C and it increases to 47 amps and then turn the headlights on high beam and include the spotlights and it increase again to 75amps.
I have posted all the pertinent details in a thread on the main D3/4 forum board. If your vehicle is approaching the 120 000 k mark I would suggest that it may beneficial for you to take the time to read the other related post.
Cheers all

[away]

We lived at Alice Springs for eight months and during that time I worked for the local LR Dealer. One weekend the boss decided that it would be good to take a few Landies and go for an explore out in the West MacDonnell Ranges. One thing I had learnt since being in the Alice was that if you want to see the really good bits, you go with the locals. So, we signed up immediately.

We all met at the appointed time and place and headed west to the grave of Flynn of the Outback. From there we took a track north toward the ranges. The tracks we took weren't overly challenging for the Series II that the boss was driving (complete with bricks and a crowbar in the back to hold the wheels on the ground), an early V8 petrol Rangie, a 130 and of course, our D3. We stopped at an unofficial lookout and brewed a cuppa while others took photos.

From there we continued north and came across a fence line blocking our path. It was clear that this fence wasn't there the last time the locals came this way and it had them all scratching their noodles trying to figure out how to get to the other side. Another cuppa was brewed and it was decided to lift the star pickets out of the ground, lay the fence down, drive over it and then stand the fence up again.

Once clear of the obstacle we meandered along tracks that became increasingly rough and called for the suspension of the D3 to be raised for clearance. One particular jump-up, with a very nasty lump right at its summit, almost caused the 130 to tip over! We followed and I confess to not using the terrain response control and stalled the vehicle at the lump at the summit. Once selected to rock-crawl the vehicle sauntered up the rest of the way.

Minutes later the procession came to a halt. The track had degraded to the point where a huge lump of rock jutted up from the centre of the wheel marks and the terrain on either side was impassable. Remember the crowbar? Well, the boss drags out the crowbar and starts slamming it against the rocky outcrop. Soon enough the rock was splintering off and the once impassable track was tamed. I was gobsmacked. 4WDers everywhere else carry a shovel. In the Red Centre you carry a crowbar. No-one seemed concerned at the destruction of the rock.

The track got progressively tighter, rougher and steeper but eventually opened up at the top to a large clearing right on top of the MacDonnel Range. The views were breathtaking and well worth the effort. It had taken almost two hours to travel about 10 Kilometres. Another cuppa and a heap of photos later, we headed back the way we came. Within minutes of heading off we came across a white marker post with a blue triangle on it that we hadn't seen on the way in. We were pondering its significance when we came across another, and then another.

All of a sudden it dawned on us that these were markers for the walk-trail that runs along the entire length of the MacDonnell Ranges. So then we knew....a Disco can go anywhere you can walk!

Once through the fence we took a different route back which included a drop-off so deep that as the Rangie went over the crest of it, we could see the entire underbody while waiting behind in the Disco. We also had a few dramas when the 130 slipped off the side of the track and we had to "build" a new road for it to drive back over to get onto the track again.

We arrived back at the Alice having taken six hours to travel a little over 20 Kilometres and drink four cups of tea. It was time for a beer...

[Plane Fixer]

2012 Discovery trip report
I have just turned over 26000 on my new D4 I have had since March.
After talking about it for years we bit the bullet after I took delivery of my new D4 and did some trips, as it is so enjoyable to drive. Coming from a 3.0l Patrol it was chalk and cheese.
The first outing was through Canberra and the Alpine way to Bright and then Melbourne for a few days and then back home via Shepparton and back roads of NSW. Verdict; the D4 is very comfortable and reliable.
This then made me plan for the big one; drive to Adelaide via Mildura and then Gold Kangaroo on the Ghan to Alice springs for 8 days and then to Darwin. Home was via the Kimberly and Pilbara and Perth.
The first time I seriously went off road was to Chambers Pillar. The road to Maryvale was rough in places but the corrugations were bad in others. From there to the pillar was very bad with a steep section and deep sand and jump ups. The e-diff and centre diff locking was seamless and not once did I have any doubts about its capabilities, not forgetting the music from the great sound system.
We stayed at Curtin Springs and then did the Kings Canyon, Uluru and the Olgas, including the walks but not the climbs. The Merenie Loop was our return to Alice with an average to very rough in places. Back in Alice we went to Trephina Gorge and Ross River.
We were back on the train to Darwin where we stayed a few days going to the local markets which my wife loves; we also have to stop at any op shop which is open in towns we pass through as my wife enjoys them too. A trip to the Lichfield Park and the Wangi Falls was a nice day out.
Heading out from the big smoke again was to Jabiru for an overnight and then Katherine and a trip to all three gorges and we can recommend the cruise to all.
Heading west to Kunnunara we visited the local sights there including a trip to Wyndham which is a town perched on the edge of the earth as I was sure too many paces in the wrong direction I would have fallen off the edge; did buy some beautiful local barra there though. Another trip was to El Questro which is an oasis in the middle of nowhere, again with a rough road leading there.
Next stop was to the Bungle-Bungles and a shocker of a road as well with sand, water crossings and sharp rocks for the unwary; 2.5 hours for the 53 km journey. Of course you have to go back out as well!
Once back on the black top all was well again as we went to Halls Creek which has a bad memory for me due an incident there years ago where I heard the swish of the grim reapers blade just missing me.
Onward to Broome which is a place I enjoy and stayed at the Roey which seems to always be the same. Leaving here we went to Auski Roadhouse which was our stop off for the Karijini and walked down to the Dales Gorge at the Fortescue Falls and back up at the other end near the Circular Pool and was a great walk. We also visited the Hamersley Gorge. From there it was the last of the dirt roads as we headed to Carnarvon and then Geraldton which was considered to be one of the best towns on the trip and is a lesson to the council in Coffs Harbour what a well planned town looks like.
In both places we visited the museums and enjoyed the local produce of fruit and vegetables. Once in Perth and after visiting the rellies and bringing back from Margaret River a dozen red as well, SWMBO was getting tired of the travel and having to get her bearings when getting up in the middle of the night so we headed home across the Nullabor which is green these days. We did make the detour to the head of the Bight to see the whales. There were two white calves which I caught on the camera.
To sum up it was a very enjoyable trip with my beloved wife and in a car which exceeded my expectations in every way being comfortable, powerful, fuel efficient and a joy to drive and the ease of handling and road-holding mask the fact I was, loaded for my trip, driving a 3 tonne vehicle. The aircon and air flow is brilliant as not once did I get a beating for the whiff of “road kill” whereas in the Nissan it only took seconds and I got thumped. Nor were any animals brave enough to try out the bull bar. A Toyota Camry in Sydney came within inches when he decided to try and change lanes just in front of me; the brakes are brilliant!!
Having said all of that I will criticise the climate control temperature control as there was no finesse at all; eg. Leaving it on 22c sometimes would blow hot or cold to maintain the temp set, unlike in our VW Golf it is totally the opposite as it appears to maintain a steady temp to keep the car at the desired temp.
The cruise control is great but the 2km steps irk me. The fuel consumption lieometer is very optimistic yet the real consumption was very good at 11.2l/100 for the whole trip of 16500km. Despite what the doomsayers were saying about Land Rover unreliability I had not one fault on the trip. (Now I have said that I expect a visit from the three amigos to prove me wrong)
The Cooper LTZ have proved to be a very tough tyre, that being said I was aware I still had low profile tyres on and I drove accordingly to the conditions and I had no punctures, nor were there any cuts or chipping of the tread blocks. There was some road noise and the volume was very dependent of the speed and road surface
I simply love the D4 and have no hesitation recommending it to anyone looking for a car in this class.
Cheers, Graeme (the other one)

[Disco4SE]

Hi all,
Had to take a house lot of furniture across the other side of the bay on the weekend, about a 2 1/2 hour one way trip.
This included fridge, washing machine etc etc etc.
I towed an oversized and no braked furniture trailer that is normally towed with a rigid truck (hense the no brakes). The trailer would be over 1.5 ton empty and the furniture would have been about 2.5 ton.
I was very conscious of the unbraked weight that I was towing, so took it easy when approaching lights, round a bouts etc, and kept a bit of extra distance behind other vehicles.
I have always been impressed with the perfomance of the 3.0 Lt diesel and also the capablities of the D4 in general, however, this trip really blew me away.
The Disco pulled this weight so well and at times when sitting on 105 Kph on cruise, I completely forgot it was there. The ride didnt alter at all. Rode smoothly and didnt move the vehicle around at all.
The lie o meter told me that I averaged 15.4 Lt per 100 Klm's. Quite good I thought for a towing weight in excess of 4 ton.
After 107,000 Klm's and 2 years & 10 months, the D4 still surprises me.
I have had so many different 4WD's over the years, and none of them have blown me away like this one.
Hope all of you are enjoying your rides as much as me

[WhiteD3]

First Tuesday of every month is our tool box talk at work. Parked out front this week was my '11 D4, a '13 FL and 2 brand new '13 SDV6 D4s. Lovely to see :)

My D4 is for camping and 4WDing (not enough lately :mad: ).
The two new D4s are for towing boats and boy do they go!....but where's the bloody gear stick!
The FL is there because of the D4's and the D3's they replaced; the new owner thought we must be onto something ;)



https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/11/1332.jpg

[winaje]

First time with my D3...

I was driving the D3 to visit a mate, got to the road he lives on and there was a 4t truck broken down in the middle, road is almost 2 vehicle widths at that point with deep gutters on each side, about 50cm with mud and grass edges. Spoke to the driver, said I’d get past and grab a rope from my mate and tow the truck out of the way. Put the D3 in low range and offroad height, it easily walked it’s way through the ditch and straddled it. Got the rope and my mate, returned back through the ditch, towed the truck out of the way incredibly easily. I was impressed with the D3 to say the least.

But it got better, on the way home the truck was still on the edge of the road, and right behind it is a guy in a shiny black H2 Hummer, and a couple of cars behind him. I cruised my way back through the ditch again, but had to cross it at a different angle, so fully flexed the opposite wheels up and drove through on the traction control. A woman watching pointed in surprise at the dangling wheels lol. The best part was driving on a crazy angle in the ditch past the H2, and the priceless look on the guys face as he sat there unwilling to try with his pretty vehicle (and yes there was enough room for his extra width).