Land Rover Discovery LR4 test drive since 2009 SUV
Fourth -generation discoverer
The number 4 flaunts on the nameplate, although in fact it is Discovery 3 with a very big plus. The interior has changed, a new motor was added - the current shareholders of the British company did not radically change the most popular English SUV. And for this they are grateful from all connoisseurs of real automobile design. Beauty in English.
It is difficult to understand why the residents of the country where the first industrial revolution occurred, so many SUVs. Asphalt roads, albeit narrow, in one and a half of the usual stripes, have developed the whole of Great Britain from London to the Northern Scottish Mountains. The former mayor of the capital of the kingdom even tried to declare war on these large and voracious cars, forbidding them entering the city. Well, what to take from a person who gives an interview to gay editions of the whole world ...
However, Scotland is not England. There, money looks different there, and the industrial revolution since the 17th century has not yet reached these lands. Defender is a standard car of a local resident. Hundreds of kilometers of low hedges composed of stones, herds of sheep and a ghost of the highlander of Maclaud, wandering around the purple hills from heather, - that’s the whole surroundings for the European press -premieres of the new Discoovery. The idea of \u200b\u200ba car for risky guys has been implemented from the very beginning of the program: many journalists first took up the management of the right -hand drive in the country with left -handed traffic. However, the surroundings of Edinburgh, where the presentation was held, do not suffer from overpopulation, there are practically no cars on the streets, and the good organization of the road saved the new Discovery - not a single incident with Aboriginal machines.
The need to update Discovery has risen for a long time. In general, this car is outside of any ideas about car marketing. Dear (prices for the third version in Moscow start from 1,600,000 rubles), which has the unconditional abilities of the SUV, but practically devoid of signs of a luxury car, it did not fit into any of the traditional market niches. Which, in principle, is characteristic of the British auto industry living in its own island concepts about the market.
The new shareholder Land Rover - the Indian company Tata - decided not to straighten this marketing bias, but, on the contrary, bet on it. As a result, Discovery 4 became even more off-road and finally acquired the undeniable features of the car from the premium segment.
Representing the car, the design director of Jerry McGovern admitted that the appearance of the model only evolved, but a real revolution occurred in the interior design. The body contours really have become more smooth - now no one will say that the car is cut off with an ax, however, the step on the roof has practically disappeared - the branded feature of the previous generations of Disco. Fashionable LED sources of daylight are more appropriate for the car of an avid clabber, but not for a fan of travel off-road. Nevertheless, the headlights are generously decorated with frivolous diodes. Other new details in the appearance - altered knitting needles in disks, rear turns indicators and so on - can only be noticed by the true connoisseur of the brand. But in the salon there is really a revolution. Land Rover threw a black monolithic panel of devices into the landfill, the design of which, obviously, was claimed by the Queen Mother. Its place was taken by a modern console with clearly defined zones intuitively understandable governing bodies. The speed switch shifted to the speed selector, more than the control buttons of media and navigation systems appeared on the steering wheel.
To the delight of lovers to download the pirate music of the car media as a car with a connector for a USB carrier on the Internet. For those who still spend money on the legal purchase of music files, the iPod connector is also installed. If necessary, the image from five chambers located on all sides of the SUV is displayed on the central screen of the navigation system. Why do you need front and rear cameras, it is clear, but the need for laterals was experimentally proved when
journalists were offered to call on a hill from steel channels - it is possible to control the position of the wheels when hitting a narrow steel strip can only with the help of side chambers, the signal from which simultaneously falls on the central monitor. The machine will be equipped with two new engines - a three -liter turbodiesel with a capacity of 245 hp. and atmospheric five -liter gasoline power of 375 hp. In the diesel engine, Land Rover experts used double parallel-sequent turbocharged. This technology, firstly, allows you to quickly, literally in a split second, to develop the greatest torque (600 nm), but at the same time saves fuel (and, accordingly, reduces emissions) at low speeds. In addition, two compressors allow you to smooth out the turboyam - the slow response of the engine to press the accelerator pedal associated with a certain inertia of the turbine. The lack of such a system, by and large, the presence of a large number of moving mechanical parts, which, by definition, increases the likelihood of a breakdown. A curious detail: for the motor placed under the hood, the cylinder block is made of cast iron with a graphite skeleton. This design is stronger than usual, and the block can be made smaller. In this case, the graphite amplifier helped save the necessary 8 cm.
The gasoline motor is the dream of a real off -road lover. A torque of 510 nm is achieved at low speeds, which makes a 3.5-ton car a real rogue. The four is equipped with motors from the previous generation of Discovery-a 2.7-liter diesel engine and a 4-liter gasoline engine.
On the central display, you can display not only a map of the navigation system or information about the receiving radio station, but also graphic data on the work of the transmission or an image from lateral video cameras.
On the ears in the water.
First, I take a place behind the wheel of diesel disco. The electric drive of the chair, the electric drive of the steering position. Comfortable. Only the departure of the steering column is still insufficient for a convenient planting of my fair body weight. You can not even adjust the side mirrors of the rear review - these large burdocks, no matter how you put it, everything is clearly visible. The ignition key will be stuck into the lock, but it can not be removed from the pocket - like most modern machines, a radio chip is built into it, and the engine is launched by a button. A selector type of road surface - in position road and - go!
The first thing you pay attention to is the amazing turnover of the car. A new steering rack and changes in the design of the chassis allow you to expand the car literally on a patch. Having left for an even section of the highway and finally learned to not cling to the left side by the bushes, you can press the Accelerator to the floor. Turboyama really does not arise, but there is no particular power in the car. No, of course, she honestly accelerates to 180 km/h, confidently overtakes the trucks on the highway, but clearly does it, laying out 100%. However, no one said that Discovery is suitable for asphalt races. He has a different element. The first test is private hunting grounds. We move off the highway in the field. Staying. The TerRain Response surface recognition switch is transferred to the stones - and automation selectively slows down the wheels, preventing the car from jumping off boulders. In total, this system has five modes. In addition to the usual road, there is grass, snow, gravel - here the computer monitors slippage of the wheels; Sand - the electronic brain does not allow to sharply scroll the wheels and bury them along the axis, dirt/track - in this case, a constant level of force on wheels should be provided - and, finally, the already mentioned stones.
Successfully overcoming the bugristan virgin lands, we drive up to the next obstacle: an almost sheer slippery clay slope. Moreover, the entrance to it between the trees is located at an angle. That is, hanging the right rear wheel cannot be avoided. It is clear why this attraction is made. The proprietary Landruper Hill Descent Control system slows down wheels when descending from a steep slope. The main thing is not to interfere in her work: he aimed, slightly pushed the car with an accelerator - and remove the leg from the pedals. Clushing the suspension, an SUV with light shocks carefully slides down from a slide. Now there is a way upstairs. In order not to run into protruding branches, I turn on the lateral review camera - it will also tell you when the rise ends and it will be possible to slow down. If there is no need for this device, a cartoon can be displayed on the screen - an animated suspension scheme. It shows that the front and rear differentials are blocked, it is worth at least a little to give gas on the rise. However, manual, forced, locking in this machine.
Time to change the car. Discovery's line with a powerful gasoline engine came up. And from the very first seconds, the difference in the cost of these cars becomes clear. Prices for a car with a new diesel engine in Moscow start from 2,300,000 rubles, and with a gasoline V8 - from 2,600,000 rubles. This is a car with a completely different dynamics. No, it will not compete with sports cars. But the smoothness of acceleration, the comfort of overtaking, an instant response to pressing the accelerator - all this speaks in favor of additional 130 horses compared to a diesel engine.
However, the highway does not last long. Again, turn in the field - and a long straight section on a relatively flat pasture prudently cleaned of the ubiquitous sheep. Acceleration to 60 km/h - and no knock in the cabin, the car does not swing and does not rattle a suspension. I don’t even know whose merit is the developers of the chassis or sound insulation. At the end of the field - the river. We slow down on the shore, turn on the reduced transmission mode and neatly stop into the water. The water level gradually exceeds the thresholds of the door and stops 20 cm from the side air intakes through which air enters the motor. I understand that the car is designed for such obstacles, but somehow it is not the thought that I will stall in the sandy day, because it is no longer possible to go outside, without filling the salon. All belt drives at the machine are sealed precisely for such water trips. Upon leaving the land, I hear a strange noise that clearly emanating from some belt. However, after a few minutes it disappears. A dozen more kilometers along country of Scottish roads - several sharp braking in an attempt to save the life of a hare or pheasant, walking along the road - and the route is over.
I take out things from the trunk and I understand that it is necessary to close it with my hands. Like in a regular station wagon. The electric drive, which is put by almost all manufacturers of luxury cars, is not provided here.
The shipment of the new Discovery dealers has already begun. Prices in Russia were known back in July. It is clear that in our market he will have to gain hard competition mainly with German companies that firmly occupied the niche of expensive SUVs. Yes, Discovery is not a car for racing around the city, it has a calm driving. But, speaking precisely about off-road qualities, it is obviously a cut higher than the Prochniki-Reveats, albeit located with him in the same price category.
LR-TDV6 Diesel 5.0 V8 Petrol engine
Power, L.S. 244.7 375
Wheel base, mm 2885 2885
Automatic transmission 6-speed
Fuel tank volume, l 82.3 86.3
Maximum speed, km/h 180 195
Acceleration time to 100 km/h, from 9.6 7.9
Text: Alexey Harnas
Photo: Land Rover
Source: "Autopilot"
