Land Rover Discovery LR4 test drive since 2009 SUV

A camel for the pros

If David Livingston had such a car, then he would not disappear for three years at the source of the Nile. Henry Stanley, who went in his foot, would spend not seven months in search of a traveler, but a couple of weeks. And the jungle of Niger and the Congo would not have taken the lives of 374 people, overwhelmed by thirst to be the first where the foot of a white man had not yet stepped.
The burden of a white man
This is a car for real, strong spirit of men. Such indifferent to leather comfort of conditioned limousines. The feeling of peace comes to them when they are free to go where they want, and not where the asphalt highway leads. Horse powers are not needed for the champion start from the traffic light, but for laying the road where it should not be due to the dominance of virgin nature. Unfortunately, such men are already listed in the Red Book as an endangered view of Homo sapience, therefore, there are practically no worthy cars for them.
Yes, in the automotive world there are a large number of vehicles of increased cross -country ability, and most of them can be compared with a real knife from Zolingen steel - reliable and reliable in work. But only one car can be compared with Swiss Army Knife, which can help its owner in any situation.
This is a real combat Land Rover Discovery Camel Trophy Special. For eight years, cars of this modification of the wheel on the lost corners of the planet as part of the Camel Trophy caravan. This year they will be replaced by Freelander, but it is still unknown whether the new model will inherit the glory of his predecessor. Or adventurers will again cross to the good old Discovery.
In Russia, one cannot buy one. But in England, there are several companies that are engaged in pre -sale training of the Land of Rovers that took part in Camel Trophy. So the opportunity to purchase a car, on the bottom of which the dirt of the Malaysian jungle or the dust of the attack desert is still preserved, is quite feasible in practice.
Snail on the slope
Land Rover Camel Trophy is recognizable anywhere and anytime. First of all, thanks to double coloring - sand -yellow body and black hood. Stlace fighter paint is not used by chance - a matte -black color does not give glare from the headlights even in the worst rain.
The trunk is not just attached to the gutters of the roof with metal captures. It seems to be one with the inner frame. A similar design can withstand the weight of the elephant, wish you to go to the safari. At least she withstanding the weight of almost all participants in the next Camel Trophy, who traditionally take pictures at the end of the journey on her favorite car. And if you are not so trained to jump up from the wheel, then a special ladder on the back door is at your service.
On the sides of the car, between kangarin and trunk, metal cables are neatly stretched. They are ready to cut off the branches that are very disgusting to hit the windshield, if the hard is difficult to bring you into the dense forest. The thickness of the cables is enough to cut off and a rather large brushwood, the masses of which are enough to simply squeeze the glass in the face of the driver.
The car is not a submarine. However, the Cameltrophic Land Rover is subject to brodes with a depth of more than a meter. As you know, there is no familiar ignition system in the diesel engine - the engine just should breathe, being almost under water. The role of a straw is played by an air intake, which is displayed to the roof level.
A special touch, a special charm that emphasizes the combat origin of the machine, is the hood fasteners, excluding its spontaneous opening. Even the most powerful castle can refuse with active jumps on potholes and pits.
Protection of the bottom from titanium, 12 millimeters thick, not only protects the vital parts of the car - the gas tank and the gang of the crankcase, but can also be used as an offensive weapon of retaliation in the fight against sewer hatches. From personal experience, I can confirm: in contact with the Landrover protection, the hated lid is split into several parts.
BIG WASH
All Land Rover Camel Trophy cars have a special tubular frame inside, sheathed with soft foam. It protects the heads of passengers and other weak parts of the body from mechanical damage at a time when the car rides along the leales. Moreover, this design allows the car to make several somersaults through the roof without any harm to passengers.
So that things placed in the trunk do not move in space on the principle of the Brownian movement and do not injure passengers who are already in a state of shock, the back of the cabin is separated by a strong metal net.
And there will be something to fly along the cabin if you are lucky and it will be a car completely equipped with additional equipment. The standard a-la Camel Trophy includes a whole set of special equipment, which includes two metal cans for fuel, two plastic water for water and two hermetic plastic suitcases, in which everything that you want can be stored. By the way, these same suitcases, only empty ones, are often used as floats for a small raft. And once I saw how the Polish team used them as a washing machine. The algorithm was simple - dirty linen was folded into the suitcase, water was poured, and washing powder fell asleep. After a few hours of driving, more reminiscent of roller coaster skating, linen was clean, as after Tidida.
But a significant part of the additional equipment, most dangerous in free flight, is attached in special places on the trunk. This is an ax, a shovel and four Sandmatians - perforated metal tracks. This is in case the unpredictable and your car was stuck - you do not need to look for an improvised tower tool or a couple of boards for the wheels.
But in the yard we have the end of the twentieth century, and not the era of great geographical discoveries. Therefore, your car can be regularly equipped not only with an ax and shovel - since 1997, a GPS satellite navigation system and a cell phone are installed on the front panel.
May there be light
At your disposal is six headlights. Four spotlights plus regular headlights. The power of this mobile chandelier is quite enough to illuminate the set of a low -budget Hollywood film. I myself saw how photographers and television people on Camel Trophy calmly worked at night in the light of these headlights.
A winch of 3.9 tons is installed on all cars. If desired, the traction effort of this unit is enough to raise the car along the steep wall. That is, the largest obstacles can be overcome on the principle of more easily jumping than to go around. Such a light representation requires a serious approach to the problem of electrification. Moreover, under the hood, a diesel engine is beating, which should grab with a half -thousand.
To do this, there are two batteries, sequentially connected into a circuit through a special charging device. When one charged, the charging current automatically switches to the second. A good guarantee that the car does not die at the most inopportune moment.
And the most important thing. The exclusivity of such a car lies primarily in the fact that it is completely subject only to a prepared and obsessed person. A person who is ready to eat his wide -brimmed hat in the name of the ambitions of the pioneer. And combat scars on the body are rather a decoration - like a sparkling corporate nameplate on the side of a varnished convertible.
The autopilot thanks CJSC Passat, (095) 129-9991, 129-9992, for the car provided for the test.
Model/Modification Land Rover Discovery Camel Trophy Spec.
The manufacturer Land Rover Ltd.
The manufacturer of the UK
BODY
Type station wagon
The bearing element of the frame
Number of doors/places 5/5
ENGINE
Type of diesel with an unrequited camera, turbocharging with intermediate cooling of air
The location in front is longitudinally
Working volume (cubic cub) 2495
Number/location of cylinders 4/row
Cylinder diameter x Piston stroke (mm) 90.47x97.00
Compression degree 19.5: 1
Power, kW (L.S.) at about./Min. 83 (111.3) at 4000
Moment, NM at about./Min. 265 at 1800
The number of valves per cylinder 2
TRANSMISSION
The permanent drive is complete
Gearbox five -speed mechanical
Transporting number, norms/lowering. 1.000/3.308
SUSPENSION
Front, unusable beam of the bridge, screw spring, reptile stabilizer
The rear of the stabbing of the bridge, a screw spring, a reptile stabilizer
STEERING
Type gear rack with a hydraulic booster
Brakes
Front disk, ventilated
The rear disc
Wheels
Tire size 205 r16
7jx16 'discs''
Dimensions/about EME/Weight
Length/width/height (mm) 4751/1795/2219
Wheel base (mm) 2540
The track front/track of the back (mm) 1486/1486
Clearance (mm) 215
Dry/total mass (kg) 2053/2720
The volume of the fuel tank (L) 81.7
The maximum permissible corners
Entry/congress (city) 34.3/29.0
The diameter of the turn (m) 11.6
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed (km/h) 170
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 12
Economy
Fuel consumption (l/100km):
at 90 km/h 7.2
at 120 km/h 9.2
conducting city cycle 11.9
 
Nikolay Kachurin,
Dmitry Novokreshhenov (photo),
Vitaly Teplov (photo at the opening)

 

Source: "Autopilot"