Took a 5-hour long, mostly freeway, round-trip drive this evening. I had to go down to SeaTac airport in Seattle from our place in Bellingham to drop off my wife. She is flying down to Mexico to see her family. Her father is getting older and having some health problems. The round trip distance was a bit over 200 miles.
My main take away is the LR4 needs to be in tip top shape to be able to handle any real road trip. The traffic and driving conditions in and around Seattle are like a high-speed demolition derby compared to my sleepy little home city of Bellingham. Getting into the airport was a nightmare. It was socked in wall-to-wall for a couple miles headed into the Arrivals and Departures drop-off areas. You literally needed to fight to squeeze into the next lane in order to get to where you needed to be. I'm not saying the LR4 is in poor condition or that the trip was terrible. Neither are true. But you really need to jump on it in certain situations and if you can't do that, you may easily get boxed in.
I would say my LR4 is in generally good condition, but it does have some stuff that could use some attention. For instance, the previous owner had the windshield replaced with aftermarket glass and it rattles and vibrates when you get to freeway speed. It's a little annoying, but not serious. Probably the transmission fluid could stand to be flushed and replaced. I feel a bit of a vibration coming up through the steering wheel and a muted whining sound coming from the drive shaft area. Could be something, or maybe not. Anything I can do to give it a little bit more power and zip would be helpful. Maybe a tune-up or something along those lines. Like I said, nothing really major with around town driving. What I am saying is there are times when you have to flat-out scoot and the current setup and condition of the LR4 seems a little sluggish and non-responsive. It's like a 6,000 pound bowling ball rolling down pavement at speed.
Couple of final thoughts. The suspension seems really stiff. Every expansion crack, every road patch, every little pothole, every manhole cover, I feel them. It's not like it delivers a heavy, dry, clunking sound or a popping, crunching, sound. Nothing like that. I've read about the control arm issues and it doesn't seem that serious. But who knows? Could be the start of something along those lines, or not. Instead, it feels like there is very little cushion when I roll over some minor road inconsistency. Like I said, you feel it up through the frame of the vehicle in a minor way and you hear it every time the tires make solid contact. The other thing is the weight. Nothing to be done about it, but I do believe it's a big factor. You can only be so nimble and responsive carrying around 6,500 lbs. or more (with passengers). Once you get up to speed, you can cruise along effortlessly and the rig feels smooth, solid, grounded. The downside being forward momentum behind that kind of weight doesn't lend itself to nimbly take evasive actions or make swift, minor, corrections. Topside body lean is a factor as well. Given thoe limiting factors, I'm not sure there is anything that can be done to make the LR4 feel sporty or responsive. It would probably need to be 1,000-1,500 lbs. lighter to have any chance of that.
Which brings me back to what I was saying earlier. You want everything locked down tight and in tip top working condition if you are going on a major road trip. You do that and my sense is the vehicle will perform well (or well enough given some of the inherent challenges) and you can travel down the road with confidence that you can handle whatever road and/or traffic conditions you face.