Test drive Land Rover Discovery LR3 2004 - 2009 SUV

Brutals

Those who are over fifty (thousand U.E.)
Black carcasses are increasingly filling our streets. Until recently, SUVs were perceived disproportionately to inflated animals compared to the usual cars of the passenger caliber. And now, when they walk along the roads with slender columns, somehow you no longer perceive cars smaller than the average jeeps.

Who is what
Nissan Pathfinder
The price of a tested car is $ 51,000
Max. Power 174 liters. with. at 4000 rpm/min
Max. Speed \u200b\u200b175 km/h
Acceleration 0100 km/h 12.3 s
Land Rover Discovery
The price of a tested car is $ 56 900
Max. Power 190 l. with. at 4000 rpm/min
Max. speed 180 km/h
Acceleration 0100 km/h 12.8 s
Volkswagen Touareg
The price of a tested car is $ 65,000
Max. Power 174 liters. with. at 3500 vol./min
Max. Speed \u200b\u200b179 km/h
Acceleration 0100 km/h 12.9 s
 
The selection criteria were the novelty of the model, the ability to overcome serious obstacles and popularity among customers. Touareg, by the number of machines sold, managed to take first place in his company! Discovery is the best sold among Land Rover models. And Pathfinder has already overtook Patrol in the first three months and dispersed in more than 400 copies.
 
Due to the fact that our wealthy fellow citizens became more lean and do not seek to throw money down the wind, an increasingly large share of the sold cars with a diesel engine. So we went along the same path, good that the energy -coating of the entire diesel trinity is close. And Nissan is not yet produced in Europe with a gasoline engine. And he is the only one we took on the handle. Competitors are automatic. Two outwardly square SUVs are somewhat similar in some ways and are adapted for the transportation of seven people. But the streamlined Volkswagen takes on board only five. Despite his deep trunk with a dock under the floor, it is impossible to put another row of seats due to a sloping roof.
 
If you have already begun bypassing cars from behind, let's continue in the same spirit. VW has the most convenient fifth door, with a closer (option). When you raise the door of Nissan, you have to back off because of its size in height and the vertical location of the rear wall. So for unloading is closer than you can’t go anywhere for a meter. But the glass, as is customary in America, opens separately. Here, as expected, the luggage curtain, but it folds along small fractional fragments to someone will like it, but for me it is more convenient for a video, like competitors. We disassemble the trunk for the photo: Tuareg has twenty kilograms with the box with the box, you can fight this heavy object. And this is with total weight savings! The disco has two sash with a horizontal connector along the broken line. And if you approach from the side where the open half is shorter, it turns out to be a longer part in the rain to load under the roof. True, in order to get to the depths to the backs of the second row, you have to climb on a strong lower sash located flush with the floor. It must be reminded that for loading and planting an English machine (as well as German) can slightly go down. The trunk doors of the illustrious aluminum crook are slammed with the application of some effort. And the spurts on both seven -seater jeeps hang under the bottom, inspiring anticipation from the joy of their disconnection in the mud and night.
 
Passengers of the second row are also offered completely different conditions. The most comfortable (at least for two) sofa on Tuareg. But for the legs here the place is clearly not enough like a medium -sized car. On the Landro -over, too, with a height of 185 cm, I slightly rest my knees, but a height with a margin of extra centimeters of 10! But it is convenient to get out, which can not be said about Nissan, where the foot can hardly crawl along the length, and the pants or hem polish the sunset of the rear arch. But the Pesfinder offers the opportunity to sit behind the spacious legs.
 
From the point of view of Touareg posting, a clear favorite. Its seats can be safely called reference not only for this test, but also for a wide range of cars. And polished wood and, without jokes, the exclusive quality of all plastic, cause almost erotic pleasure. It only seems that if you do not limit yourself in the means, it is easy to make it beautifully. You can easily roll anything like this to Kitch, and VW holds the brand high.
 
Discovery is also quite comfortable, not counting the traditional shifts of the front seats to the outer edge, my left shoulder (XL) thoroughly propagates the door. But the hand organically falls directly onto the block of the windows control keys. The right elbow is also quite imposingly on a wide armrest-barda. And how much I like the long vertical keys of the sound signal, right under the thumbs! But many buttons on the console are not impressive, the iconostasis is clearly overloaded.
 
Nissan offers the most free location at the wheel and does not drive people of different complexions and habits in the framework set by some ingenious developer. There are most containers for trifles, but the main glove compartment in a traditional place I would not do at all, it noticeably interferes with the knees of the front passenger. But the quality of the finish is not that it is weak, but still too utilitarian. And in Volkswagen, I can only get to the bottom of the slots in a luxurious four -spoke steering wheel. In position 3 and 9, palms do not completely crawl here. You have to bend your fingers. Or maybe for this, for the finger, for the finger,? Landrover has many horizontal surfaces with a rough bottom and limited sides for trifles on the instrument panel. Of the features, oblique handrails are next to the headrests. Passengers of the second row during a very likely off -road pitching can grab them. But on the front racks now such a traditional attribute no longer the handle is supplanted by the sewing curtains of aerobes.
 
The most pleasant start of the toileg is enough for one short turn of the key, and the starter itself scrolls the engine, how much it is needed to start. Pathfinder has the highest level of engine noise, but the timbre is pleasant, baritonal, not annoying. And quietly Land Rover after a hundred begins to resist the air so actively that the Wind howl is drowning out voices. It is also annoying the noise of the fan of its stove on a deuce, it is noticeable, and on 3 and above, obsessing.
 
In terms of visibility, Nissan champion. Even in parking lots you feel it as a continuation of your body. And the rear view camera here is even more in the box office than as an example. Landrover makes you try a little more, and the maneuvers have to be made to a certain extent at random. True, unplanned contacts with the surrounding objects here are much less painful due to an unpainted plastic body kit, moldings and arches expanders. The manufacturers of both competitors were clearly more concerned with the image of a fashionista than the practice of off -road driving and contact parking. Surprisingly, the overview of the Landrover should be considered not only from the position of the driver, but also from the rear seats. They are located amphitheater and passengers are opened forward over the heads of the first row. But the worst visibility, oddly enough, VW, especially back here, is better to trust the side mirrors. But, looking at the right, you constantly catch a sunlight on the side glass, at least in bright weather.
 
He deliberately put off the moment of start, painfully promising cars. Modern turbodiesel engines are famous for their thrust, lightness, silence and economy. Everything is just like that. But there are enough differences. Having the experience of comparing the Pesfainer with an automatic and mechanics, they consciously chose the latter for the test, although this reduced symmetry in comparison. Switching here will bring joy to those who are not fixated to the automatic transmission. The lever is so jumping in the palm of his hand, easily falling into the right pod. And all six programs are selected exclusively correctly in order to choose a maximum torque of 2.53.5 thousand revolutions, push a heavy jeep forward and forward. Objectively, Nissan is the most lively, although in numbers all three are surprisingly close. But Discovery does not strive to start from the place first. You put it on the trigger, and he shows a clear unwillingness to tear with all his might. But after a second or two, he notes a double agility and he makes up the lost moments. Touareg reacts much more promptly to the position of the pedal and immediately helpfully encourages the ordered program. True, light jackets are becoming a reaction rate with an operational transition to another gear.
 
Pathfinder is still the rude, traditionally tailored, and it does not succeed in avoiding certain rolls either when braking or in bending. Although it falls into the alleged trajectory of plus or minus half a meter, I did not notice large deviations from the desired one from the real. And in the Auto position on slippery coating, it will willingly and not too suddenly connects the front line, which allows you to pass well with a winding trajectory under the thrust. The British SUV along the way goes more recently. But only in the average height position of the suspension. In Tuareg, the same process of changing clearance occurs more painless. I'm not talking about a giant, from 16 to 30 cm, the lumen adjustment range. Both German and British machines are equipped with a whole complex of electronic systems blocking differentials, brakes on off -road and hills. They, depending on the regime specified on the panel, themselves choose an algorithm of behavior and a list of involved solutions for you. There is no such thing on Nissan. The driver has to take on most of the responsibility. Although sometimes this is better for, for example, when electronics incorrectly interprets the received signals, or when you want not a triple security supply, but rather thrill.
 
What we see on Discovery is called Terran Response. For the user, all control of the system is expressed in the rotary handle between the front seats. Five provisions of asphalt, dirt, track, sand or stones are all that the driver needs to be set. And the electronics itself will change the settings of the car, increase the drives of the air suspension, its rigidity, block differentials and limit the reaction to the gas pedal. In practice, this conditional division works quite well. Indeed, with some approximation, any coating can be attributed in a suitable category. And the driver does not have to know at all how, in the bowels of what works. But for the curious, the scheme of the main elements of the chassis and their actual mutual arrangement are displayed on the display. Of course, at high speed on the asphalt, the driver is unlikely to be distracted to look at the angle of rotation of the wheels. But when the obstacles pass, visual information on how the all -wheel drive transmission works, sometimes helps to make the only right decision.
 
On off -road, all three are so good that I simply would not dare to choose a favorite. Probably, if you drive them into impassable wilds, you can plant everyone. But Land Rover, as was an off-Road icon, remained with it. Touareg also legally claims the title of off-road SUV and easily overcomes a 45-degree cup and 60-centimeter ford, is hung out on the air suspension to a record 30 cm. Yes, Pathfinder is by no means a bastard and is ready to swall Coating stones, sand, ditches ...
 
I don’t even know what to tell you about my preferences. All three are worthy. But if you insist, I will say that the difference is reflected in the price of prices that is still present here. $ 51 $ 57 $ 65.
 
Even with a cursory look at the off -road Nissan, its excellent geometric patency is obvious

Pesfainer has at least one indisputable advantage of a novelty

Pesfainer that in the forest, that on firewood and ditches, he swallows
 

Under the hood
Engine
Working volume 2488 cm3,
Compression degree 17: 1,
Max. Power 174 liters. with. at 4000 rpm/min,
Max. moment 403 nm at 2000 vol./min
Fuel consumption (EPA): 8.3/13.2 l per 100 km
Fuel tank volume: 80 l
The number of places 7
The drive is complete disconnected
Suspension
The front is multi -link
The back is multi -link
Gearbox fur. 6th.
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed, km/h 175
Acceleration to 100 km/h, from 12.3
general information
A mass of equipment./Full, kg 2150/2790
Maximum volume: 2090 l. The volume is large, although not supernatural. I like that the glass rises separately from the door, as required by the main customer Uncle Sam
 


In front of the spilled Range Rover, and a typical Disco II in the back. Corporate style. Hood.

The plastic body kit greatly helps out on the off -road to scratch not so sorry
 
 
Under the hood
Engine
Working volume 2720 cm3,
Compression degree 18.0: 1,
Max. Power 190 l. with. at 4000 rpm/min,
Max. moment 440 nm at 1900 vol./min
Fuel consumption (EPA): 8.7/13.2 l per 100 km
Fuel tank volume: 87 l
The number of places 7
The permanent drive is complete
Suspension
The front is multi -link
The back is multi -link
Gearbox aut. 6th.
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed, km/h 180
Acceleration to 100 km/h, from 12.8
general information
A mass of equipment./Full, kg 2500/3180
Maximum volume: 2560 l. The result is excellent. You can fill up so much into the cube body that for two or three sites it is easy to move from an apartment to an apartment. Especially taking into account the leafing downwards for long -meters
 
   
Volkswagen overcomes a record cool to 45 degrees. Naturally in the longitudinal direction

Despite the city suit, Touareg is ready for exploits. But it can do without them

Touareg is dirty, this is one of his few problems. Sides spray at the moment
   
 
Under the hood
Engine
Working volume 2460 cm3,
Compression degree 18.5: 1,
Max. Power 174 liters. with. at 3000 rpm/min,
Max. moment 400 nm at 2000 vol./min
The drive is constant at the first
Suspension
The front is multi -link
The back is multi -link
Gearbox aut. 6th.
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed, km/h 179
Acceleration to 100 km/h, from 12.9
general information
Fuel consumption (EPA): 8.1/13.6 liters per 100 km
Fuel tank volume: 100 l
The number of places 5
A mass of equipment./Full, kg 2200/2850
Maximum volume: 1570 l. Despite the modest total value, it is convenient to use the trunk. The low floor, the absence of the threshold and the brilliant overlay help to throw the most incorrect load here. But under the floor, alas, a doom

HOW DO THEY LOOK
Nikita Rozanov
Nissan Pathfinder.

The first show of 1986 is a new version of 2004. Design under the leadership
LR discovery.

The first show of 1989 is a new version of 2005. Design under the leadership
VW Touareg.

The first screening of 2002 is the design under the leadership of Kharmut Varcus
 
OUTSIDE
Yes ... and ... this is not a beauty contest, but the final of the Body Building competition. See how everything is monumentally, how powerfully the reliefs of the wheel arches have become agitated, the wide racks of the roofs tensed and aggressively advanced ahead of the bumper! Usually in such competitions, youth does not necessarily defeat. The experience of participation is also of considerable importance. We'll see. The most young Englishman (2005), but this is how to look. The brick-like style is not a whim of stylists at all, but a tribute to the traditions of the brand and the very first post-war SUV, the rectangular-concrete image of which is still the Defender colleague in his design. Veteran Touareg (2002), but this does not mean nothing to look at the dynamics of the form! From the face, the whole three is equally reverent to the principles of corporate design, and therefore the company will be recognized immediately and it is simply impossible to confuse someone. On the side of the off -road theme, the most adequate silhouettes of Disco and the frighteningly serious Pathfinder are adequate. It is curious that in the arsenal of everyone there is a technique that reduces the dynamics of horizontal lines of the lateral silhouette. In the Englishman, this is a hunchbacked roof and the jump of the windowsill, in the Japanese, the windowsill also jumps plus the reverse tilt of the rack C. In this sense, the swift and flying profile of Touareg is less selective and would easily fit the road universal and the city hatchback. There is no trace from behind from the former image of an SUV hung and shovels. So everything is generalized and clean that you can confuse both the station wagon and with the minivan. Unless the asymmetric rear glass Disco, and the formidable sled of Touareg, give in a slightly emotionality.
 
INSIDE
Harmony of the nuance and brutality. Still becoming a tradition among SUVs, the emphasis on the compositional independence of the central console of the nightstand. Its all-provoking significance and monumentality is beaten by all three participants in the dough in different ways, but very similar. Land Rover stylists emphasize this dignity with a contrasting color of upholstery, and the Nissanists with a visual visual visor, which is seemed to be made in accordance with the ideas about the harmony of the interior of Christopher Banlla interior. VW, in comparison with this self -affirmation, integrity itself, not without all this recognition of the brand's handwriting. The most ocular doors turned out to be the British stylists, and the most overloaded by the German. The mystery of the eastern soul was expressed in the three-spoke steering wheel Pathfinder, which previously traditionally adorned only sports-oriented models. The cut of seats does not shine with the expressiveness of the drawing. Unless the Nissan seats are noteworthy. But is it suitable for its reinforced concrete image of roundness and soft shape?
SUMMARY
Before making a choice, I would recommend to stand on the scales. If you did not break them, then you should think: after all, during the trip in any car from this three for solidity, you will have to lay walnuts behind the cheeks. True, you can still produce 95%tinting of all glasses ...
Nissan Pathfinder
Wheel base, mm 2850
Length, mm 4740
Width, mm 1850
Height, mm 1775
Clearance, mm 240

The recognition of the PEXFINDER gives a negative tilt of the rear rack. Well, Nissan is not the first here, but this greatly diversifies the design of a large jeep

From the point of view of ergonomics, PES Champion. There are few buttons and pens, and everything is at hand. But it looks boring

The greatest scope in the second row is here. But getting out is inconvenient, the doors are narrow

That's how the instrument shield should be. The faster the gaze returns to the road, the better
 
Land Rover Discovery
Wheel base, mm 2885
Length, mm 4835
Width, mm 2010
Height, mm 1880
Clearance, mm 240

Land Rover made a maximum of effort so that Discovery III turned out to be like the second generation. And Disco II, if you remember, literally beat the features of the founder of Disco I. Continuity!

The steering wheel lying almost in the vertical plane, a seat close to the door, all the features are family. You can’t do it

The three of the back is most convenient in the diskar. And in height maximum ceiling of centimeters 15 above the head

I never liked the Landrover instruments. They are faded and overloaded with fine digitization
 
Volkswagen Touareg
Wheel base, mm 2855
Length, mm 4755
Width, mm 1930
Height, mm 1725
Clearance, mm 160-300

I think no one will object that the outlines of the toilegus are clean and impeccable. They love him so much that they even forgive him the letters VW on the radiator grille

The design is stylish and verified, but using an overloaded iconostasis is not too convenient

For two, VW chairs are simply perfect. But you can't stretch your legs

On the Tuareg, the shield is informative for other Volkswagen. So they can when they want!

LIKED
Nissan Pathfinder

It is nice to change the transmission modes with one pen. Plus the differential lock button
 
Land Rover Disco

The icon on the screen constantly reflects the passage scheme of irregularities and rotation of the wheels
VW Touareg

The lever lies so conveniently in the palm of your hand that I want to use it for manual switching
 
DID NOT LIKE
Nissan Pathfinder

The door swings open so that it can shy down the face, if you do not take a saving step back
 
Land Rover Disco

This headrest completely blocks the review, so during my trips I eliminated it
 
VW Touareg

Guys-ata! Well, why on such a large beautiful door is such a modest inner hand instead of a handrail?
 
 
Text Vladimir Smirnov
Photo Alexander Nozdrin
 

A source: Cars