Thread: How good is the D3 ride?

Hi Graeme,
I don't know if this will help, or not. Is it possible that the air springs on the D4 are different and run at higher pressures than those for the D3?

Best of Luck,
Peter

G'day Peter,
I don't know if the air springs are the same part number or not. I've not seen any reference to them being changed for the D4 whereas the shocks and sway bars are documented by LR as being uprated. I can feel that using off-road height does make the springs a bit stiffer. A TSB from earlier this month that's applicable to all D3/D4/RRS air suspension ecus shows that they all use the same software. The TSB is to reduce the reservoir max pressure, perhaps to reduce the work done by the compressor to prevent it from prematurely overheating. Hence I doubt the air springs operate at a higher pressure. The ride on slow shock piston movement (eg smooth causeways at 100kph and wide ruts and potholes at 40kph) is great which suggests to me that the harshness is not caused by stiff spring rates. I like the way the D4 shocks dampen bounce on big dippers and suspect they are better than D3s at this task, but its the quick shock movement that's causing the problem.

Hi Graeme,
Thanks for your informative reply. It looks like you have covered most, if not all, bases. I must admit, I can't see any alternative apart from shocks replacement (or buying a D3 ).

I know that having a passenger with back problems causes stress to the car owner (it was this situation which led me to my first LR - a Disco 1). However it would be unwelcome of me, I'm sure, to suggest replacing passengers, as I have.

Best of Luck,
Peter

I would be driving an MY09 D3 except that 10 days after placing my order and having confirmed that the colour would be available for a factory order vehicle, LR advised that the colour had been discontinued because of the forthcoming new model. I got tempted by the possibility of the 3.0 engine and waited for the MY10 version.

I'm not considering replacing the passenger so will have to adjust the vehicle to suit and to suit me as well.

D3 rear sway bar is now also fitted and I'll find out tomorrow how much of an improvement has occurred. Shocks are loosing some of their thumping after 12K and using my 30mm selectable extra ride height on my now not-so-good storm-damaged lane helps to stay away from the bump stops at speed.

I have a D3
Ride softness changes with height. Higher pressure is used to raise the height. It is about a balance between comfort and handling with the ride height setting. As Graeme said it can hit the bump stops on the normal height. When I select my 30mm lift I find that it rides better over roughtracks but is not as harsh as off road setting, perfect.
I can't see how the springs would be different on th D4 The ability of the D3 to handle corrugations is amazing and I think the D4s stiffer ARB could well be affecting it's ability to cope with the rapis movement as it would be pushing down harder.
It will be interesting to see how Graeme find the old D3 sway bar.

Originally Posted by CaverD3

When I select my 30mm lift I find that it rides better over roughtracks but is not as harsh as off road setting, perfect.

I totally agree, as the +50mm / off-road height is considerably harsher. 30mm is enough to keep it off the bump stops even at speeds well over 100 kph. I was in a hurry and did 120 taking a short-cut across a paddock a couple of days ago.

Whilst I've been out thismorning, I've only been on gravel and good sealed surfaces, not the patchy sealed roads where the vehicle previously was jerked about following the undulations so don't yet know the result.

There's still the issue of the front shocks unduly resisting low-frequency small fast movements. Interestingly, my 2km driveway now has lots of corrugation patches in sandy sections and they are where the vehicle is basically coasting. The D2 only caused 1 short section of corrugations.

I am pleased that the vehicle no longer feels that its being tossed-about by the sway bars. The steering is also not quite so direct due to the vehicle leaning just a little more than previously, which I like. The combined changes makes the ride less bumpy and less fidgetty which also makes for a more relaxed ride.

If retrofitting D3 shocks was as inexpensive they'd be changed too but at least for the moment they will stay.