Thread: 2014 Range Rover Tyres and Suspension for Australian conditions.

They are an absolutely awesome car I would love one!! I've got a new Discovery 4 and love it just eats up the dirt roads great so I'm sure of you got the new Vogue and only had 20" tyres you could put the Cooper Zeons on. As with all new Land Rovers since 2010 tata has taken over spent an absolute fortune and it's really starting to show the reliability issues are long gone they are great cars and you won't regret one.

Look up "GregMilner" for some of his posts on his travels up North with his fairly new Range Rover.

Thanks for that reassurance and info - now off to hunt down posts from someone who sounds as though he's using the car for exactly the same things I intend using it for.

Thanks cripesamighty.

I found Greg's blog post and it was the same post as I linked to in my opening comments. Greg's experience is one of the reasons that makes me shake with fear about buying a Rangie - especially now that the smallest rims that can be fitted on the SDV8 are 20 inch.

The guys in the Drive Vogue outback review also had the same problem with the stock shockies on the SDV8 they were testing.

I've done the Gibb and Mitchell Falls in both a mid 90's Pajero and my 100 series Land cruiser - no issues with either of them. I guess that I could get the V6 with 19 inch options but I test drove both and enjoyed the V8 much more.

Do you know if there are any aftermarket shocks that can be fitted to the Rangie that are better than stock, or more specifically, designed specifically for our kind of corrugated roads. I totally understand that the shockies that come stock are part of the well thought through engineering package that gives the Rangie its perfect ride and handling package for sealed roads - where it is most used. If I was able to do a temporary shockie swap I'd probably be less inclined to worry about the suspension.

Cheers

If there's a base model that doesn't have the CVD shocks then they would be expected to fit but you'd want to at least unplug the current shocks first to see to what extent and in what way the CVD ecu objects. Alternatively remove the CVD ecu's fuse to see in what way other systems react and if they pose an intollerable restriction.

Hi Graeme - I'm both a newbie and not super mechanical - though I do understand the basic engineering principles as they relate to the physics of the movement of a vehicle. I don't however have a knowledge base yet that allows me to fully understand what you're explaining...

I think that what you are saying is there might be a shockie that they use on more basic models that would be more suitable for the type of use I'm describing. If there is, they should fit on the Vogue without too much drama but it could be that brain in the Vogue goes "Hang on, I don't recognise these new shockies" and potentially even worse it might say "bugger you, I'm not driving anywhere with those shockies on"

Whats the CVD stand for?

CVD is LR's acronym for continuously variable dampers. The shocks are fitted with a solenoid operated bypass valve that is opened to varying degrees under ecu control depending on suspension movement frequency and extent utilising the height sensor signals to allow some oil flow through what LR calls the soft valve rather than all through the firm valve. My thoughts from the reported very smooth ride over bad surfaces for extended periods is that CVD is overworking the shocks and therefore plain old shocks may survive better, albeit likely not with the same smooth ride.

The CVD ecu is effectively a separate ecu to the suspension ecu even though these days they occupy the same physical container probably because they now use the same height sensor signals. The earlier version used dual height sensors and distinct ecus. However as the ecus send messages to each other there is a possibility that one or more of the other systems may go into some sort of limp home mode.

Graeme, you are bloody guru. Thanks for that. I guess what I'm leaning towards is leaving the Vogue suspension as stock and acknowledging that the designers didn't really have Australian outback corrugations as part of their brief when they did the engineering. It does sound that our roads will push the car to its absolute limits. It isn't the end of the world I guess - probably means that sometimes the Rangie will stay garaged while the LC200 goes out for a play - which probably won't be that often given how much I reckon I'll want to be driving the Vogue.