LR4 Offroad Performance WITHOUT Heavey Duty Package

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R Hermann

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In my case, the desire to go off-roading exists but the experience does not and I do not have any friends who are knowledgeable to advise me.
Land Rovers have the reputation for off-road ability and someone without experience/knowledge would perhaps purchase one assuming it was "ready to go anywhere"- a fair assumption 20 years ago but obviously not accurate with the current generation of vehicles.
This forum will likely be around for a long time and can serve as a resource to those seeking to understand the capabilities of their Rover.

I still wish there were videos of a side-by-side '13 vs. '13 Heavy Duty, '14+ vs '14+ Heavy Duty, '13 low range vs '13 high range, and '13 low range vs '14+ non-heavy duty. Any comparison video of a low range vs '14+ standard duty would be great to see just how much advantage the hardware has over the technology.
 

Longhorn

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In my case, the desire to go off-roading exists but the experience does not and I do not have any friends who are knowledgeable to advise me.

If you are in the States and live relatively close to one of the LR training centers, take a 2 hour lesson. I'm pretty sure it's free when you purchase a truck. We didn't know this on our past 2 purchases, but when we called the Biltmore they informed us it was. That's a great way to start to learn the capabilities of these trucks and also get confidence to go off-road.
 

umbertob

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The complimentary 2-hour off-road lesson is a relatively new perk (it definitely wasn't offered when I purchased my 2013 4 years ago...), and I agree you might as well take advantage of it if you are a new owner and are lucky enough to live close to one of their LR Experience Driving Schools: http://www.landroverusa.com/ownership/vehicle-warranty.html

Looks like they traded a free 2-hour off-road lesson for the first free scheduled service at 1 year or 15K miles, as I don't see that freebie mentioned anymore under "Owner Benefits"... Considering that 99% of owners likely won't take advantage of the free lesson, they probably did it to save some dough.
 
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Longhorn

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The complimentary 2-hour off-road lesson is a relatively new perk (it definitely wasn't offered when I purchased my 2013 4 years ago...), and I agree you might as well take advantage of it if you are a new owner and are lucky enough to live close to one of their LR Experience Driving Schools: http://www.landroverusa.com/ownership/vehicle-warranty.html

Looks like they traded a free 2-hour off-road lesson for the first free scheduled service at 1 year or 15K miles, as I don't see that freebie mentioned anymore under "Owner Benefits"... Considering that 99% of owners likely won't take advantage of the free lesson, they probably did it to save some dough.

We were headed down to NC for a karate tournament this summer and decided to plan a detour to the Biltmore. We were all set to pay for a 2 hour lesson but the ladies there informed us that since we just bought a new truck, we were eligible. The took our VIN and signed us up. The instructor was great and will tailor the lessons/terrain to your comfort level and "competence". We had a blast.
 

iSurfvilano

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Hi all,

Just purchased a 2016 LR4 Landmark a month ago for my wife. She had particular "requirements" on exterior and interior colors. So with Yulong White and Tan, there were just not many Landmark editions out there at the time and none had Heavy Duty package which includes 2-speed transfer case, locking rear diff, and a full size spare tire.

The salesman said HD is only for towing big boat or "extreme" off roading such as rock crawling. We thought taking a Landmark edition to rock crawling may never happen, so no HD was fine.

However, after reading a few threads and forums, I went crazy. It seems that an LR4 without the HD package is just like another AWD SUV. Then what is the f*** point to buy a Land Rover? So we were just wondering what type of off roading you can do without the HD package. I wish LR at least had included a 2-speed transfer case as standard and I can live without the locking rear diff. Well, it is what it is.

Anyone has done off roading without the HD package? What's your experience? Really appreciate it!

Thanks a bunch!!!

Interesting thread, lots of opinions. I believe the 2014-2016 HD package is only warranted based on where you drive off-road...honestly.

I have a 2016 without the HD package. My terrain, 100% of my off-road driving is in sand...and not the type of "beach parking" sand a 2wd truck with a locking rear can take on. It's a mixture of thick gritty shelly sand, black muddy sand and deep airy sand all along several miles of beach. It can get tricky and I'll consistently see newer 4Runners, Jeep Grand Cherokees and other vehicles get stuck whereas my LR4 will not. I spend about 2-4 hours a week testing my LR4s capabilities in this terrain and have been driving off-road in this area for about 7 years (only 4 months with my LR4)

Only thing I changed is that I put some 255/55/19 duratracs on and keep a set of MaxTrax in the back. I never lower the tire pressure unless I'm in trouble or foresee obstacles which will require me to stop in softer sand. (Though people swear this is necessary)

My prior vehicle was a jeep wrangler sport used for the same purpose in the sand. NEVER needed to use low gear or air down the tires, only used low gear a couple of times going up a soft sand dune section to the main road and found it was not necessary after practicing in high gear.

So, if you're a flatlander/semi flatlander with my type of terrain, the LR4 with a good set of tires, the ride height up, the terrain response set correctly AND a set of MaxTrax is plenty capable, far mite capable than any other SUV in its class. Even going up dunes isn't that big of an issue, it actually feels much more effortless than my wrangler was thanks to the TRS.

So yeah, if you need to scale a mountain or are in a club that is all ******** and takes on hard trails, trade it back in for the HD package, but it's an absolutely amazing vehicle if you take it in the sand I described. If not, then I'd suggest taking it out and trying to get it stuck once and a while so you know what you can and cannot do. If you're not getting stuck then you're not learning how to get unstuck.

Hope that helps.
 

Jerbo

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I got mine (16 non-hd) stuck on a 5% hill grade in wet grass, which resulted in ruts. I had just put the new continental terrain contact AT tires on it.

I fiddled for about 2 mins, mud and ruts setting, started in second/third gear, all I did was sling mud.

Now, in the real world I would have carried speed and probably gotten through it no problem, I intentionally stopped on the hill and tried to start again.

For being fairly capable SUV, but with out a more aggressive tread I would have thought it could have pulled through.

Any driving recommendations which would have resulted in not getting stuck?

All, in though I am not sure if HD would have helped, better tires for sure, there was nothing for me to grip on so what good would low range have done for me?
 

iSurfvilano

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I got mine (16 non-hd) stuck on a 5% hill grade in wet grass, which resulted in ruts. I had just put the new continental terrain contact AT tires on it.

I fiddled for about 2 mins, mud and ruts setting, started in second/third gear, all I did was sling mud.

Now, in the real world I would have carried speed and probably gotten through it no problem, I intentionally stopped on the hill and tried to start again.

For being fairly capable SUV, but with out a more aggressive tread I would have thought it could have pulled through.

Any driving recommendations which would have resulted in not getting stuck?

All, in though I am not sure if HD would have helped, better tires for sure, there was nothing for me to grip on so what good would low range have done for me?

I don't think so....Tires are key. Low range wouldn't have helped in that instance in my experience nor would the locking center diff...you would have just spun all 4 wheels at a 50/50 ratio while revving higher. My last vehicle was more capable than my LR4 but was horrible with the stock tires, would get it stuck rather often and low gear didn't help much because there was no tread to assist in grabbing.... ended up getting Mickey Thompson ATZs and then I could fully utilize both high and low properly. I can't say much about the stock contis on the LR4 as I swapped them for duratracs pretty soon after the purchase of my LR4. I would think in your situation a set of MAXTRAX or TREDS would have helped more than a low gear....they are far less expensive than a new set of rubber. But if you have the money, get both.
 

mpinco

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A perspective that some don't realize is that traction control is basically reverse ABS. It is why everyone can offer it. It is relatively cheap to implement. ABS senses wheel spin and relaxes braking to enhance directional control. Traction control senses wheel spin and applies the wheel brake to shift torque to the non-spinning wheel on the axle. Now integrate that with throttle response and it would seem to be a reasonably good AWD system.

Except ...... by applying the brake some forward momentum is lost. Now multiply it by 4 wheels that have marginal traction and the issue becomes obvious. If a couple of tires still have traction it works. But when all four are struggling, not so much.

Years ago (ours was a DI) the dealer sponsored an off road day of trails, teeter totter, challenges and food. On a loose granite hill there were 3 examples:

- Standard Discovery I, center diff locked (50/50 power split to front rear) - made it about 15% up the hill before wheel spin stopped forward progress.

- Discovery II with TC, center locked - made it about 30% up the hill before TC no longer was effective and forward progress stopped. They tried higher speeds but the outcome was the same, just a little further up the hill.

- Defender 90 with locking diffs, center locked - walked up the hill with minimal wheel spin.

Granted TC has evolved since this time but the technology is basically the same, when a wheel starts spinning, apply the brake. Newer TC adds reduced throttle response to lower torque and hopefully increase traction.

In summary TC = less power and apply brake/s in an attempt at regaining traction.
 

iSurfvilano

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Defender 90 with locking diffs, center locked - walked up the hill with minimal wheel spin.
Was that defender running conti 4x4s? I think tires have a lot to do with the experience that is being encountered in the given situation. It's the same no matter what platform, tires have a lot to do with the traction going up a slippery surface, locking the center diff and putting in low gear with no tread isn't going to do much to garner forward momentum. More importantly, I am puzzled why a $65k+ vehicle didn't come with better shoes.
 

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