Report from my '14 Test Drive

[suvowner]

To me, the heated windshield is one of THE best features on a Land Rover. You'll get over it in no time and love having it. Thanks for the detailed report!

I would second this it bothered me for about 6 weeks then completely never noticed it again it would be cheaper to get an aftermarket windshield but if u don't connect an element I would suspect some kind of code

I was once driving thru some elevation change with sunroof vented and hit some residual fog and got instant fog on all inside glass at night was scary but heated windshield cleared it in about 30 seconds it does help in active snowing conditions so I would highly recommend giving time to adjust to it sooner later it will come in handy

 

[danrhiggins]

Thanks - you are right

Glad you decided on the LR4. Sounds like you ordered a nice color combination (haha, I'm biased). I must say I've never seen such a thorough investigation in buying a new car.

As for the 2015 model. I will believe it all when I see it. I still think that future generations of the Discovery will be an Evoque-looking vehicle. I think for a lot of us we want the current iconic style and capability and really have limited interest in style updates. I have no doubt that future vehicles will be brilliant (engineering wise), but they will cater to the masses. That's the future direction of Land Rover.

You will love your 2014, don't second guess wondering if future models will have this or that. Congratulations!

I went to the dealer today just to, again, measure/look/etc. And once again it is clear there is nothing like this vehicle. And it all about the "big butt". ;-). I need to remember that part of the value of this vehicle is how useful it can be once you get to where you are going. I'm getting this so I can go where my MDX won't take me. When I get there it will be incredibly hand to have the space and utility of the LR4. It gives you a little bit of living space. I intend to have one of the rear seats up much of the time and the middle row part or fully folded flat. That gives me work space inside the vehicle. So much better than any of the other options out there.

I am already laying out plans for the following:
- shaped covers for each of the seat sections. Since I will be using various configurations of the seating none of the one-piece covers will work.
- I may build a storage/cabinet/box for my camera gear that will be padded and will fit beside one of the sometimes-upright rear seats that I can access from that rear seat and also from the back when the split gate is open.
- for longer road trips I will have two lower-height woods framed drawers that when placed side by side create a flat space on which I can pile suitcases and golf clubs. I can put all sorts of smaller items like hiking sticks, golf shoes/equip/emergency stuff, etc in the drawers for easy access without needing to move or unload the stuff in top.

This sort of fitting-out would not be possible with other vehicles. And I haven't even thought about using a rack on top when needed.

What other modern, luxury vehicle allows this?

 

[danrhiggins]

Thanks

I would second this it bothered me for about 6 weeks then completely never noticed it again it would be cheaper to get an aftermarket windshield but if u don't connect an element I would suspect some kind of code

I was once driving thru some elevation change with sunroof vented and hit some residual fog and got instant fog on all inside glass at night was scary but heated windshield cleared it in about 30 seconds it does help in active snowing conditions so I would highly recommend giving time to adjust to it sooner later it will come in handy

I looked at threads from other forums on this topic where others were considering a switch to non-heated. The number one response that came back was how it would hurt your resale value. Most readers love it.

So thanks for the encouragement. I will stick with it. If after a few months (including winter) it is still an issue then I may rethink it. But I'll give it a chance.

 

[PALR4]

I would have thought cruising at 70-75 with an 8 speed, the rpm's would have been at most 1500... I wonder if they had to put shorter gears or final drive to make it feel peppy?

 

[danrhiggins]

I would have thought cruising at 70-75 with an 8 speed, the rpm's would have been at most 1500... I wonder if they had to put shorter gears or final drive to make it feel peppy?

They may have been less than 2K. I just glanced at the tach. Didn't carefully observe it. I just noticed that it was lower than I would typically see with my MDX (6-speed).

 

[epiclr4]

I would have thought cruising at 70-75 with an 8 speed, the rpm's would have been at most 1500... I wonder if they had to put shorter gears or final drive to make it feel peppy?

I think it was a 2k RPMs when going about 65-68 mph. If you push it past 70 it gets to 2200 if I remember correctly. I paid some attention as to compare it to my 535 with the 8 speed. The LR4 revs higher than the 535.