Thread: Which Model - Long Term Purchase

We have, from new, a MY12 TDV6 (ie, 2.7 l), 5 seats only. Decided against specifying the rear aircon. Have had plenty of hot days. Never had an issue up front or passengers complaining in the 'middle row' (which is the back row in my car!), noting there are 2 vents in the back of the centre console. So, for us, glad we saved the money. Spent it on the rear e-diff instead :-)

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

I'd strongly advise against that....I think you will find the manual rates the roof load at 75Kg...... that includes the weight of the roof rack.... so you can't legally carry 50 Litres of fuel on your roof..

Besides that - most 4WD's that lay over for a sleep - do so because the centre of gravity moved outside the wheelbase - best way I know to achieve that is put heavy things up high.. like on your roof rack.




Yes people do it...... but people do a lot of stupid things and some even get away with it too.

Not fuel, but the only way we can possibly fit everything is to put 80kgs of items (2nd spare, tent and gas bottle) on our roof rack.

My thinking is if i add 80kg to roof sure it's not ideal but I'm also adding 500kg+ much lower down in the boot, foot wells and rear seats...

Back to op though, try get the bigger screen and test out the captains chairs in the HSE. Really miss the ones our D3 had.

Cubby fridge is convenient too.

Nothing wrong with an optioned up TDV6. The motor is more than sufficient.

Originally Posted by l00kin4

My wife is 5' 1" and has no problem with the seat height, reach etc. All fine.

I wanted a SD just 'cos I liked the idea of a bit more grunt - nothing much more rational than that I'm afraid - and ended up stretching to a late model used (for 6 months and ~23k) MY14 SDV6 SE - without reversing camera or rear air.

With help from this forum (Chris cjc_td5 in particular) I retrofitted the reversing camera but it is a bit of an exercise. No e-diff either and have done plenty off road with no worries.

I have 3 kids so the only thing I regret not waiting for is the rear air. Good luck with it - you'll end up with a brilliant vehicle.

David

The issue for me with the seats, is similar to an experience my wife and I had with wanting a new WRX about maybe 15 years ago - and that was if my wife raised the driver's seat off the lowest position, the seat's front would not follow the backrest upwards to the same extent. This resulted as you raised the seat, you lost lower back support. Quite quickly actually. A friend in Brisbane had exactly the same experience with the same WRX - and found the lack of lower back support appalling. And he is about 6'1. Both my wife and he bought E46 BMWs - and neither knew they had gone through the same buying experience. They both looked at new WRXs, and bought used (slightly in my wife's case) E46s.

Subaru had dropped an adjustable front height - it was available on the ST - but the ST was a manual. My wife drove in the city, and the manual was therefor out. Plus the ST was the older series car (although actually it seemed at the time to be collectable). Turned out thought that WRXs typically have engine issues if you push or warm them up (according to a friend who knows). Subaru checked on getting parts from previous WRX seats - the cost for a raisable front seat adjustment, was $5,000!! The same price as a pair of Recaros were back then.

And the same thing happened with the TD seats. If the seat is on the floor, and the seat back from vertical, the seats were fine. But if you raise them just a little, then, the back of the seat goes up lets say 1", but the front goes up lets say 1/4" - the seat leans sort of more forward, and you loose all the lower back support.

Everyone is different too - and when I was young, I had an ex rally car, with crap seats. They did not bother me - I was young and tough. No longer!

I also think a decent arm rest is a safer thing ... the English have a tradition of excellent moveable arm rests. The SE ones are as good as Roll's Royce's (the real Rolls made in Derby). If doing long distances. I drove in three days to Alice Springs from Melbourne, with the trailer/van behind me, alone (my wife flew up) and over long boring drives, some of the trick things like an arm rest, are a good idea. Even the fancy radio / hard disk was handy. But then, an iPhone etc via USB can achieve the same thing, with some effort. Such things ... really don't matter. But lack of support in my back and my wife's - its just not acceptable.

I'm with you on that one.

Put to the wife selling her car to buy a newer Disco - not agreed to - yet.

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

I'd strongly advise against that....I think you will find the manual rates the roof load at 75Kg...... that includes the weight of the roof rack.... so you can't legally carry 50 Litres of fuel on your roof..

Besides that - most 4WD's that lay over for a sleep - do so because the centre of gravity moved outside the wheelbase - best way I know to achieve that is put heavy things up high.. like on your roof rack.




Yes people do it...... but people do a lot of stupid things and some even get away with it too.

Well, 50kg of light diesel weighs I think a bit under .85kg per litres, so that's I think under 43kg for the diesel ... an alloy roof rack and a light tank, its quite possible to be legal. I know though with Caravans and trailers, you are not allowed (I think) to carry petroleum on the rear of the van ... but diesel is legal. Not sure about the roof though - I think it is.

As far as Centre of Gravity, that is why Land Rover don't allow us to travel at over 50KMH in high mode ... the C of G becomes much worse ... and at speed, so do the sideways "G" forces. But I think, lots of people do stupid things. I intend to get LLAMS myself, because I want to avoid bottoming on hidden culverts etc... with a heavy trailer behind me, I am not pushing the C of G at all. But rising the vehicle is like adding weight onto the roof.

I am not sure, if the weight limit on the roof, is due to the roof strength, or the safety testing for Moose Test extreme left full lock / right full lock / left full lock / heavy braking in-between etc at high speeds ... I suspect its the IMO irrelevant safety tests that have imposed the ride height at over 50 KMH, and the 75kg roof weight. So - it may not actually be a safety issue in the hands of considered drivers. Our insurance companies might disagree though ... and going sideways across a steep hill - we should all avoid that.

I get your calculations (even if they are a little out ... specific gravity or diesel is between 0.82 and 0.95 and the containers weigh something ) but overall you are right it's touch and go and the way it's driven makes a massive difference....

But the point still stands that unnecessary weight up there is asking for trouble and as a general rule, a bad thing.... that's why I chose a long range tank..... which I make sure gets used regularly so it doesn't "grow things"

So many choices and opinions.... not easy for the OP to decide what's right for him.....

Strop, once you work out the options that are right for you... and start on the accessory round about......my other advice is be wary of weight..... these things get very heavy very fast .

Originally Posted by iannicki

We have, from new, a MY12 TDV6 (ie, 2.7 l), 5 seats only. Decided against specifying the rear aircon. Have had plenty of hot days. Never had an issue up front or passengers complaining in the 'middle row' (which is the back row in my car!), noting there are 2 vents in the back of the centre console. So, for us, glad we saved the money. Spent it on the rear e-diff instead :-)

That's a good point. We don't use 3rd row very often so that's no worries - it does cool down reasonably quickly anyway. With the vents in the back of the centre console the complaint is actually the opposite of what you'd expect - it's not that passengers are too hot (the temperature is fine, the air con works well) but that the person sitting in the middle position behind the console has their knees/shins frozen! The vents being up in the roof remove that issue.

David

Originally Posted by Strop

So, having owned, driven and used a Discovery - if you were given a blank cheque to buy a second hand Discovery 4 or even a new one - What model would you buy and what accessories would you look for if the only proviso was that you had to live with it for the next 10 years. I am not talking here about after market accessories there is much discussion in various threads about that. Just straight from the factory options.

Laurie

Laurie
I would (if I had to) get exactly what I got the first time. D4 SDV6 SE. 8 speed. Seven seats come in handy occasionally. I'd get the Meridion Sound system (Tech Pack but skipped navigation) to get the reversing camera and 7 inch screen. Bi-Xenons and 19 inch wheels. I wanted this motor for towing the van and have not been disappointed. E-Diff would have been ok but no probs without it.

Very happy with package. I would have happily lived with the TDV6 but couldn't justify the extra for the HSE.

Trevor