Thread: Whats everyones opinions on new 4wd vehicles.

This post has prompted me to take notice of them recently.
They all seem to be very close to the ground. Little clearance. Especially late model Discovery's.
I like my old toys. Anything that is a daily drive I like to be modern. The Commodore is due for an upgrade.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

This post has prompted me to take notice of them recently.
They all seem to be very close to the ground. Little clearance. Especially late model Discovery's.
I like my old toys. Anything that is a daily drive I like to be modern. The Commodore is due for an upgrade.

Hi Mick,

If they're on the road, they would be at on road height or access mode...off-road height I believe is the same as a Cruiser but then the D3 & 4 have contingency height settings if they bottom out.

Oh and having independant suspension gives the D3 & D4 less to drag underneath.

Cheers,

Kev.

Ground clearance has also been an issue for me. My RRS is parked in my driveway next to my old 98 Freelander 1. The RRS is at up at offroad height at the moment (showing off to a cruiser driving neighbour) - guess which has the greater ground clearance between the FL1 and RRS - yep the FL1.

Sure the RRS will still go up two levels higher but only after it has already bellied out and spun its wheels - and lost all momentum. Llams for me to get over this issue.

There is no doubt that the ultimate height on the D3/D4/RRS is outstanding but the lack of manual control to get it to extended height is a drawback.

Garry

Originally Posted by garrycol

Ground clearance has also been an issue for me. My RRS is parked in my driveway next to my old 98 Freelander 1. The RRS is at up at offroad height at the moment (showing off to a cruiser driving neighbour) - guess which has the greater ground clearance between the FL1 and RRS - yep the FL1.

Sure the RRS will still go up two levels higher but only after it has already bellied out and spun its wheels - and lost all momentum. Llams for me to get over this issue.

There is no doubt that the ultimate height on the D3/D4/RRS is outstanding but the lack of manual control to get it to extended height is a drawback.

Garry

You're aware Gary that your RRS has less clearance than a D3/4? Common chassis but not the same clearance.

I agree that the automation on the system can be annoying/limiting....I drove the whole length of Bribie Island beach yesterday with the warning on my screen, as I was between 45 and 52kph most of the time..... I actually thought that the trigger was 50 but it didn't lower until around 54 or so.

Llams is a great idea.

Cheers,

Kev.

Originally Posted by Celtoid

You're aware Gary that your RRS has less clearance than a D3/4? Common chassis but not the same clearance.

Yeah but the difference is only due to the lower profile tyres on the RRS. The RRS and D3/D4 have the same ground clearance when fitted with the same wheels and tyres. So on D3 standard tyres ground clearance would only be the same or just a little better than the FL1.

The standard offroad height is great for most situations but the logic of having to ground the car to go higher escapes me. Why not have it manually selected but have it speed limited to say 20kph.

Garry

While on the subject of electronics, I hate electric seats closely followed by electric windows. My wife drove my FL2 and blew a fuse adjusting the seat. At the time I couldn't find which fuse box had the fuse in it. I now know there are 3....I think. Anyway I drove home in the foetal position because you can't move the seat manually in any way and I think that is rubbish. Also if I park anywhere for any length of time I can't put the windows up or down without turning the car on. Sometimes I'm asleep in the back at a roadside rest area on a trip and wake up because it's either too hot or too cold. It's rubbish to have to get out and start the car to do a simple thing like put a window up or down.
Either of those things is not hard unless you are totally handicapped so I can't see why they have to be electric? Mike

Originally Posted by garrycol

Yeah but the difference is only due to the lower profile tyres on the RRS. The RRS and D3/D4 have the same ground clearance when fitted with the same wheels and tyres. So on D3 standard tyres ground clearance would only be the same or just a little better than the FL1.

The standard offroad height is great for most situations but the logic of having to ground the car to go higher escapes me. Why not have it manually selected but have it speed limited to say 20kph.

Garry

Is that right Garry? I didn't know that, I assumed the extra 83 mm were from the suspension itself. 310 versus 227 sounds like a lot until you look on a ruler....LOL!!!

I assumed that when you reduce the profile of the tyre, the increase in wheel size compensates. In other words there is technically no difference in the outside diameter of wheel and tyre (different brands not being taken into consideration) just the ratio of metal to rubber. Oh well

Originally Posted by Celtoid

Is that right Garry? I didn't know that, I assumed the extra 83 mm were from the suspension itself. 310 versus 227 sounds like a lot until you look on a ruler....LOL!!!

I assumed that when you reduce the profile of the tyre, the increase in wheel size compensates. In other words there is technically no difference in the outside diameter of wheel and tyre (different brands not being taken into consideration) just the ratio of metal to rubber. Oh well

I asked the same question re ground clearance of the RRs before I bought one. The book ground clearance of the RRS 227mm but this is actually normal offroad height. I think the D3 offroad height is about 235 mm. Like the D3 the RRS still has two more heights to go up and where the D3 goes to about 310mm the RRS goes to about 300mm. This is approx equivalent to the difference in tyre height.

The standard RRS (ver 1) is 255/55 18" where the equivalent Disco is 255/60 18" (slightly taller tyre on the same size rim). I believe the same differences apply in the 19" tyres in the later RRS and the D4.

Garry