Thread: What is wrong with the D3/D4?

Keep talking them down please.
Once they drop down further in price I can afford to move from my D2 into a D4.

I love my D2, but a D4 is a beast I would love to own next.

I've owned a V8 HSE D3 for 2 years and mostly drove it around the city like so many others. I always planned on using for its intended use but was nearly put off by all the negative stories you hear.

I use to own a landcruiser which I took around OZ when I was younger but I haven't been 4 wheeling for a long time. I was thinking maybe I bought the wrong vehicle because I don't want to waste money modifying and then loosing money.

Anyway, I thought i'd test it first then make a decision whether to keep it or trade in for a 200 series landcruiser.

Verdict: AWESOME!!
Tested it totally stock with road tyres etc. We drove around rescuing people on stockton beach, it was great on corrugations, no problems through mud and it blew my mind how well it tackled big rocks. I took it down a track that I thought it wasn't coming back from, I got to a point where there was no turning back and I seriously thought anything short of a write off would have been a miracle.

I never saw and another LR of any description, all toyota, Nissan or Jeep.

I'll be keeping it.

Originally Posted by Celtoid

Just did a week on Moreton Island with the 18" Compomotive Wheels and 285/60/18 Zeon LTZs.......flawless!!!

Talcum soft, deep sand everywhere....ate it all effortlessly.

Followed a Navara (Significant lift on it) over Coffee Rocks on the Eastern beach....his mate was guiding. He chewed sand, span wheels, bumped his bottom and dragged his tail but got over after a few false starts. His mate kindly guided me over....effortless. Rock Crawl Mode....no wheel spin, no fuss. Only scary part was going through the hole the Navara had made on one side, which created a lot of lean angle and a few sweats on my behalf. The Navara crew were openly complimentary.

I had passed them earlier and they told me they couldn't believe how effortless the fat Disco looked powering through the soft sand piles and zipping down the soft sand flats...."how much does that thing weigh?.....Geez it looked as if it was doing it all easy!" Which it was.

Mate of mine just bought a Navara on a super duper special 0.9% finance.....but checking the specs I see the dual cab ST weighs 2800 kg!

D3's are increasingly been purchased for offroad use by those that wanted to wait for the right price to then modify with accessories and have fun with.

I have had a ball with mine. When looking and deciding on the D3 I stretched for the D3 because of the effortless ability. It also works better the slower you go, it isn't a vehicle that needs speed offroad, because of the incredible technology and the speed of which the technology reacts. I had stock tyres, and suspension, excluding the llams unit and I never struggled where lifted 35" mud tyre cruisers did. It's ability all round is not to be discounted, if respected it will go beyond the competition.

Had many people admire it when in use and I was never let down.

Because of Land Rovers "premium" push bush types may not consider them but I tell you what, they make a 4x4 that is not equaled.

On the weekend I attacked this hill without knowing how steep it actually was
Parachilna Gorge Sunset Hill - &#169 Land Rover Club of the ACT

This is in my RRS with 20" road wheels and ROAD tires. Offroad height and low range.

AND

A fully loaded camper trailer on the back (about 1250kg)

Doesn't get really steep till the top, where it's too late to turn back!
Passengers were *****ting themselves, but the RRS just walked right up it, spitting the occasional large rock out the back.

Going back down was effortless too - the ABS system works very well for crawling down very slippery slopes. It was hard to walk down it actually (ask the two passengers that refused to travel back down in the car) but everyone commented on how easily the car did it even with the road tires and camper on the back. Obviously I'm very pleased with the RRS and can't wait for the next expedition!

Originally Posted by WhiteD3

Mate of mine just bought a Navara on a super duper special 0.9% finance.....but checking the specs I see the dual cab ST weighs 2800 kg!

Hey Mark,

I don't know what the premise of his statement was but I'd make a stab based on the comments they made that they were finding the going tough and were attributing it to the weight of their vehicle. So they were surprised when they saw how easily a vehicle they (rightly) assumed would be heavy, did the job.

I was only doing about 60 but the noise from the engine and transmission made it clear that the D4 was not struggling at all.

It's hard to believe a Navara weights that much. A mate of mine has one that I drove in every day for almost 5 months when doing a contract in NSW recently. His is basic and I mean basic ..... but they are tinny and rough compared to a D4 and have nowhere near as many electrical-whizzy things. They are a bit longer though.

Not sure what specs you were looking at but the kerb weight should be around 2000kg.