Test drive Land Rover Discovery LR3 2004 - 2009 SUV

Rolling-City

Abroad, these machines are somehow appreciated too one-sidedly. Ah, what a cross! Ah, how to storm the fords and pull trailers! We love SUVs in a completely different way. Here you have unity and the struggle of opposites - holding representativeness, on the one hand, and village daring - on the other. Nothing prevents them from first with the lobby of the most prestigious office, and then famously transferred you to the suburban dumper, to the bathhouse, a horse in a stall and a ghost -sized heap. After all, no matter how the silk of Stefano Ricci ties is dear, and family panties from the sieves are dearer.
 
Both Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Pajero are well adapted for caring for baggage and passengers. A second row of seats is formed in a Japanese novelty, and a new design of the third row Hide & Seat is installed. Additional places for the sixth and seventh passenger are cleaned in the underground of the luggage compartment, and the distance between the floor and the roof is 86 centimeters - even very adult dein is enough for the natural convenient planting. The British also claim that all seven places of Discovery 3 are designed for adults, and for the second and third row several transformation options are provided. However, additional places are folded to the side. And the supply of air conditioned air to the gallery is an option.
The more good roads are built, the weaker the interest in expensive all -terrain vehicles. Isn't it logical? Well, at first glance, everything develops. Demand for pseudojips type X5, Cayenne or Q7 is growing almost exponentially. And those who have not yet moved to the suburbs with ideal asphalt entrances are decided to buy inexpensive Shevy-niva, patriots and any Chinese nested-they say, if it kills, it’s not a pity if it is right away, and the probability of such an outcome is very great ).
 
But the real all -terrain vehicles as they were and remain in high esteem with the Russian public. Here the Land Rover Discovery in the third generation has risen significantly relative to its predecessor, but this did not spoil its sales. Mitsubishi Pajero does not need the comments at all - wait five minutes on a busy Moscow street and count for the sake of how much and which jeeps will pass by you. You can see.
The old horse is better than two new ones. Working on the new Pajero (aka-Shogun for the British and Montero for the Spaniards), Mitsubishi Motors took into account the very curiily result of the experiment set on a focus group in 2003. The owners of the former Pajero and other SUVs were offered to evaluate the design of prototypes made based on EVO (Mitsubishi sports cars, which win with devastating constancy in dakars). All three radical Pajero were, gently, expressed, rejected. That is why the Japanese, when developing the fourth generation, turned on the reverse and won the design to the style of the conceptual model of 1979: a high body, an almost vertical windshield with minimal torque, the fifth door opened, and a storage reserve. Novelty is only visible in the design the front line is in cat lighting, in a massive drowned protective pallet, in a shortening front overhang. The new Pajero does not enchant, but it looks much more courageous than the third generation with inflated arches.
 
And in other gland, there are no changes that would be made only for the sake of changes. Everything is on business. The concept of a supporting body with a built -in frame is preserved. An independent suspension of all four wheels has been redone: the front springs are tougher, the rear are softer, but with a progressive characteristic. Cardan lightweight, carbon. The all-wheel drive system has changed, it seems, only the name (Super Select 4-II)-you need to be a very corrosive tech to understand how the handout is different that reduces a row with the locking of the center differential and control algorithms from the previous structure. For me - it is better if nothing. They are not looking for good from good. So while the main intrigue is the new gasoline V6 3.8 MIVEC with a capacity of 250 hp, borrowed from the Eclipse model.
 
A ennobled interior and luggage compartment with reduced loading heights - probably all the most noticeable changes in addition to the fact that they are thrown during an external examination of the car. Even the Japanese did not bother to make the steering wheel adjustment of the steering (only in height). True Pajovets she does not need anything - the rest will get used to it.
About portions. The disco is superharismatic and disco, the debut of which in 2004, fans of the brand were waiting with undisguised alertness. The declared transition to the luxury class (we immediately make an amendment to what Ford means by this term) guaranteed only one thing: the car will probably rise in price. But did it become proportionally better?
The advertising booklet modestly reports: the tough stylistic cubism of the exterior makes this Land Rover a work of art. Well, I don’t argue, a car with a face. There is also insolence, and rationalism, and even something game-LEGO cubes increase thirty times, you get the third disco. But with such a dark color of the body to the museum for the exposition, I think it will not be allowed to let him close. It was necessary to drive up the year in 1913, until Malevich was able to draw a black square.
 
The list of innovations is exactly what leaves no doubt in the high class of the car. At first glance, this is generally Copy/Paste of the flagship Range Rover: a three -hundredth V8 with an adaptive automatic, a completely multi -leaf air suspension controlled by the TerRain Response transmission processor with numerous off -road and color display traffic (not an extra element - only it helps to understand what exactly Currently activated, raised and blocked), a cunningly designed body with an integrated frame made from highly alloyed steel, aluminum and even magnesium. The British are inventive, what can I say. If Martians suddenly fly to us, then certainly not to fight, but to sign up in the queue for Discovery.
I would also note the best functionality of the British. A two -section rear door is a convenient thing. He threw back the side - received a semblance of a table, moreover, very durable (withstands up to three hundred kilos). It is said that in Iceland, both our Igor Maltsev and Landrooverovsky Sergey Güdzhan feasted on such a table. He lifted the light glass part-in an instant he put some trifle into the luggage womb. When landing in the car, you are guaranteed to retain clean legs. The lower edges of the doors are lowered and, as it were, go around the bottom of the body - the dirt remains on them, and not on the thresholds.
  The second happiness. Both SUVs behave perfectly on the go and allow you to get a little more, and if there are special skills, then you will be used specifically.
 
Pajero is very predictable on off -road and slippery road. You ride a day on ice floes and snowdrifts and begin to literally feel the limit of the car with your skin. You can get bogged down only according to the glaring oversight. I am sure that the Japanese will not change on the Spring Hall. The thrust is easily dosed, you don’t even need to get used to management. The front suspension works harshly, but informatively - the nose of the car prescribes the relief of large irregularities, like a self -writer. And therefore, through obstacles, the car, it seems, can be drawn with closed eyes, trusting only physical sensations. Pajero confirmed and acoustic comfort promised by the manufacturer - the motor does not really work noisily, although he eats gasoline with a deregate appetite.
 
Discovery is more impressive by behavior on the road. Or what is left of her. It is more dynamically, softer shocks small and medium irregularities, confidently keeps the course. The brakes are effective, although the process of sharp deceleration at high speed causes easy tension. You hit the pedal, and the inhibitory effect is weaker than the expected, without a pronounced jerk (the car seems to push forward the inertia of the trailer). But this lasts no longer than a moment - Disco gets into the road and begins to slow down everything harder and more confident. On off -road, the manner of the car is more difficult - not always installations of electronic brains give what you expect. But by overview of the back, the British car wins on Japanese, you feel the dimensions better. So if your nature does not adopt the retreat tactics for a repeated assault, then the disco will take it out.
Sound and color. In the salon of the new Pajero, you immediately highlight two things: the RockFord Fosgate system with an additional DVD player and a monitor in the ceiling and multi-colored illumination of the dashboard. I’ll tell you a briefly about the first - a standing little thing. Powerful, convenient, universal (other from the legendary American company, specialized in Car Audio, I did not expect). But the second ... It turned out fun, colorful, but the illumination is not balanced. The contrast of the information display is so great that it cuts the eye. The main devices are illuminated softer and more beautifully (and the shield itself is much more interesting than that of the predecessor). Illumination of controls on the central console is dim, and some buttons (mirrors, for example) are generally deprived of it. Another ergonomic miscase: the lower edge of the dashboard, dotted with buttons, is very close to the knees. After that, and you are surprised, with what fright the fog lights lit up? And longitudinal adjustment range front seats are modest - Roslyaks will probably be remembered by the developers with an unprintable word. There are no more nit -picking. The leather salon in black gamut is boring, but strict and made perfectly. The profile of the chairs, the steering wheel and switches under it, the pedal node - all this is worthy of the title of standard in the classroom.
 
The Pajero all -wheel drive system in standard mode provides the redistribution of torque with the axis of the axis in the ratio of 33:67, includes blocking the center differential and auxiliary reducing transmission for difficult road conditions. At speeds up to 100 km/h, the driver on the go can turn off the front axle by making the car with an rear -wheel drive, or turn on the lock. You can go to a low row only after stopping. For the surcharge of new ones pajero models are also being equipped with a rear differential lock. In Discovery, everything is both simpler and more complicated. You only choose the type of road by the selector along which the car moves and what will turn on and disconnect - only electronics know.
Form and texture. No one has managed to knead styles so densely and achieve harmony. The instrument panel is so conservative that oatmeal is immediately recalled, sir!, Separate cranes on copper water pipelines and muddy green Thames. But to the right of the Big Benes-an advanced LCD display. And under it is a console, which clearly combines the regulation of heat, air and music with the functions of the control panel of the missile defense system. The shape of the tunnel is not given to the description at all. I will not judge how justified the haltering is, but it will be problematic to maintain cleanliness here. So the zone between the front seats is a potential garbage collection. There is no nit -picking to finish. Not Bentley, but everything is worked out neatly. The materials are well chosen in texture and color, and the absence in the salon of the obsessive smell of polymers indicates that the British did not save on the quality of plastic. And the advice is finally. Do not try to get a job in Discovery in a lightweight way - you are exhausted. Sit higher, set your back tilt as if you decided to hire, and say a spell: I will command the parade!

Text Ruslan Tarasov photo Andrey Danilov

Mitsubishi Pajero IV 5D 3.8
 
Gasoline engine, v6
Working volume (cubic cub) 3828
Power (L.S. at rpm) 250 at 6000
Moment (nm at rpm) 329 at 2750
The drive is complete
Gearbox 5-speed, automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 4900/1795/1700
Equipped mass (kg) 2110
Maximum speed (km/h) 200
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 10.8
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 17.7/11.2
Price in Moscow (price of the tested car) from $ 54 990 ($ 60 990)
 
Land Rover Discovery 3 V8
 
Gasoline engine, v8
Working volume (cubic cub) 4394
Power (L.S. at rpm) 295 at 5500
Moment (Nm at rpm) 425 at 4000
The drive is complete
Gearbox 6-speed, automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 4835/1915/1837
Equipped mass (kg) 2536
Maximum speed (km/h) 195
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 8.6
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 20.9/11.6
Price in Moscow (price of the tested car) from $ 66,900 ($ 80 900)

We thank for help in the shooting of Rolf Holding CJSC, (495) 785-0525, as well as the Musa Motors car dealership (495) 785-1111.
 
 

A source: "Autopilot"