Using Terrain Response to Improve Gas Mileage

[richpike]

I was reading our latest issue of Land Rover Lifestyle Magazine tonight (a great magazine by the way - I get tons of car magazines, and this is the only one my wife allows on the living room coffee table - www.lrlmag.com ), and there was a very interesting article on the Terrain Response System and its development/evolution.

One of the most interesting comments was around some drivers using the grass/gravel/snow mode for normal driving which has given them an extra 3-5 mpg better gas mileage due to the less sensitive throttle and different shift maps.

Does anyone do this? If so, have you seen similar results? How about potential issues? I don't believe it changes anything that you have to worry about long term (e.g. it doesn't permanently lock the center diff), but I'd be interested in people's thoughts/experiences.

-Rich

 

[cdodkin]

I there was a very interesting article on the Terrain Response System and its development/evolution.

Does anyone do this? If so, have you seen similar results? How about potential issues? I don't believe it changes anything that you have to worry about long term (e.g. it doesn't permanently lock the center diff), but I'd be interested in people's thoughts/experiences.

-Rich

Interesting....

 

[tamurag]

have you tried it?

 

[richpike]

Nope, haven't tried it yet. I'm waiting for someone more knowledgable on the LR3 than I (grommet, nwoods, davez26, toddjb, roverman, houm, duckdive, techboy, bueller, bueller, anyone? ) to speak up and say whether they think this will cause issues. We did read through the manual today, but it doesn't say what is modified when you turn it on.

In some ways it would probably be easier to just use the command shift, but:

A. I get lazy, and the car is so quiet, I forget to upshift and the next thing I know I'm at 5K rpms in 1st

and

B. It is mainly my wife's car, and learning the whole art of manually shifting an automatic transmission is not something she is interested in

-Rich

 

[richpike]

One more comment:

Most likely the next generation of Terrain Response will have an "economy" mode on it that slows throttle response, starts in 2nd gear and gets in to the top gear faster.

-Rich

 

[m5ccie]

Subscribed.

 

[richpike]

Subscribed.

You won't be disappointed. The current issue they have online (April - one behind the print versions) has a great story about Rovers and how they are used in wine country in California. The issue before that had a great story on Tequila. They cover all sorts of interesting things (many beyond what we can afford today, but very interesting nonetheless). I'm probably going to order the back issues soon.

One other thing to note - don't be surprised if it takes a while for your first issue to show up. Ours took about 2-3 months.

-Rich

 

[techboydino]

good topic rich. a few years ago when i bought my rover and drilled the salesman about the LR3 I asked about the terrain response. threw out some hypothetical scenarios (mostly involving my woman driving) and lots of what-if's. Basically he told me the terrain response is almost like a preload. If you initially set it, you will be starting off better than if the vehicle needs to sense the current conditions. So if your in regular mode and it senses snow/ice, then you should get the same output eventually if you select the snow/ice setting.

My take on it is that it should work if he wasnt blowing too much smoke. starting off with minimal throttle should eventually change to standard driving if your in snow mode. worth a shot. ill try it next gas tank and see where it gets me. currently with good summer gas im holding well at 15.1 mpg.

 

[mustbeaudi]

Ugh, techboydino just reminded me about that cr*ppy winter gas and its worse mileage. Another reason to look forward to winter!

 

[techboydino]

Ugh, techboydino just reminded me about that cr*ppy winter gas and its worse mileage. Another reason to look forward to winter!

haha, good stuff we all love. welcome to -3 mpg for everyone. shouldnt start until about november thought so stock up now.