1st prolonged experience off road with my lr4

[bromhead]

After an embarrassingly long time, @ 5months, I finally had the opportunity to wheel a bit in the Anza Borrega area this weekend. A few of us separated from the group we were with and ventured out. I swapped passengers a few times and everyone was impressed on how solid the vehicle felt through the trails. I was overwhelmed with the traction and suspension. Very very happy with my choice, but there were a few things that I wish I could change (and some of them I can)

1. Engine is wonderful, size of the fuel tank is not. Gas mileage is not good, and you usually use about 18-19 gallons if you fill up when it hits the reserve light...that means filling up @220 miles when you are not on the highway...if you are going to deny me the diesel, then give me a larger tank please

2. 19 wheels....saving my pennies for the 18's. Not enough sidewall for the 19's to make me feel comfortable. If I have 18's, at what size can I no longer mount the tire under the rear of the vehicle? For various reasons, I am not excited about mounting it on a roof rack or buying the modified rear bumper...but perhaps that is the answer...

3....and by FAR my biggest gripe....that ridiculous programing that lowers the height to standard mode when you approach 30mph. I understand that you might not want someone driving 100mph at the higher setting, but under 30mph?....so, to keep pace with the freaking ford and rubicon i was following...at the obscene (this is a joke) speed of 40mph through semi loose sand/dirt trails...i had to drive at the lower setting...and the lr4 is low to begin with....very very dumb. I guess my options are Johnson/Sasquatch rods (although i am concerned about the performance hit at 70+mph at the higher setting) or perhaps the upcoming ob reader that allows you to reprogram your car's height is the answer.... Curious as to people's opinion, especially in light of my desire to buy 18inch wheels...

Overall, great, amazing car. I think i am going to sell my old 97 D1 as I can't honestly think of a reason when I would prefer to drive the beast over the new LR4 (except for course the wonderful carefree attitude you have driving a 15 year old truck vs a new vehicle!)..oh, and the rear locker earned its value, especially with the semi street tires that come with the truck

 

[manoftaste]

My biggest gripe with LR is dropping the option of 18 inch wheels starting with the LR4. Even 18 felt that it was at the limit as far as side wall. The excuse that its due to the bigger rotor diameter is plain ridiculous. Well then re-design the damn rotor/hub combo. Learn from BMW and others for that matter (have you looked at the BMW's rotors and the ratio between their diameter and affective braking surface area?) Stop using the Jaguar braking hardware and purpose-design the system for LR4 so it could fit smaller size wheels. Its a 60k plus truck for crying out loud, you have got some room for designing vehicle-specific hardware. There is absolutely no excuse. I am not a ********* off roader, and a dirt back road is as off road as I get, but I have gotten sick and tired of watching all these LR videos (with trucks with 19, 20, and even 22 inch wheels with absolutely no sidewall to spare) going over rocks etc. Those size wheels have no business being in that terrain and could only result in scratches, dings, and/or flats. Its like taking a sports car off road after fitting it with an all wheel drive drivetrain and long travel suspension. Makes no sense at all.

Blinging vehicles up is one thing, but to compromise on the off-road hardware (for which the discovery line was originally designed for) is ridiculous. I am the type of customer who does not want to mod his/her car and takes comfort in the fact that the car manufacturer has done its due homework in extensive field testing before hardware design and engineering aspects are approved for assembly line. So i want the 18 inch wheels that are specifically designed for LR4 by LR, and tested by LR just like the their 19 inch ones are.

 

[Finlayforprez]

Hey bromhead,

Great review - thanks! I do agree with you on a lot of the issues you described. Getting the 18" wheels will definitely expand your tire options and make your LR4 much more off-road capable. I have the 19" wheels because I am not going to spend the money for the 18" wheels right now, but definitely later if I end up keeping my LR4. I do only moderate off-roading, so switching out my crappy stock Contis to Cooper Zeon LTZs was a great move, I feel MUCH more capable with the upgraded tires. You are on the right track with getting the 18" wheels and some good tires.

I never drive fast off road, so I don't have the issue of the suspension lowering - and I am wondering if you are going fast enough for it to lower maybe it's fine lowered? The most annoying part of off-roading in the LR4 for me is the changing from low to high range and how you have to stick it in neutral, change it, then go back to drive. But, I tend to stay in low range and then just change terrain response as needed.

All in all, this is an incredible vehicle considering its blend of on and off-road capability.... Amazing!

-David

 

[bromhead]

Hi David,
So far, i havent approached doing anything even remotely beyond "moderate off roading", I just dont trust the thin sidewalls. Manoftaste, in my eyes, hit it on the head perfectly.

Out in San Diego, we have alot of desert driving. You are following old dried out river beds or simply very unimproved roads. Its not like following a trail in the sierra where you might be nuts to go over 25mph. The terrain is uneven, but not technical in anyway, but there are bumps, areas that sand has built up in the middle of where you are driving, etc. Now I am not a Baja racer, and do not regret buying a F-150 raptor or an Enduro, but under 30mph is just unnecessary...and perhaps its more gut feel than logic, but i want that extra height.

 

[Finlayforprez]

Hi David,
So far, i havent approached doing anything even remotely beyond "moderate off roading", I just dont trust the thin sidewalls. Manoftaste, in my eyes, hit it on the head perfectly.

Out in San Diego, we have alot of desert driving. You are following old dried out river beds or simply very unimproved roads. Its not like following a trail in the sierra where you might be nuts to go over 25mph. The terrain is uneven, but not technical in anyway, but there are bumps, areas that sand has built up in the middle of where you are driving, etc. Now I am not a Baja racer, and do not regret buying a F-150 raptor or an Enduro, but under 30mph is just unnecessary...and perhaps its more gut feel than logic, but i want that extra height.

That's a great point.... We do not really have those roads in Northern California. I typically only go off roading at Hollister and it's more forest, ruts, and obstacle courses - all pretty well laid out. I never do anything even remotely risky, but I know what you mean about the thin side walls.

I think anyone who does any real type of off roading usually has to modify these trucks a bit of course.

I would be more apt to do that to a second truck - say a used LR3 or something, but not my LR4.

I am right there with you on your comments though!

-David

 

[umbertob]

There are a couple of tools out there, compatible with the LR4, that allow you to modify your suspensions height electronically to give you extra clearance when you need it (such as those precious extra inches off road at speeds over 30 mph) and go back to stock height when you don't. No rod swapping required, no concerns about long term alignment wear and tear or handling at high speeds.

One is the Llams height controller - a module from Australia that modifies stock height -20mm, +30mm or +50mm at the flick of a switch in your cabin. It's brilliantly simple in the way it operates, and quite easy for a DIYer to install in about an hour.

The other one is the IIDTool by Gap Diagnostic, which allows you to modify your suspensions' height any way you like it, and adds robust diagnostic and fault reading / clearing features of most other modules in the process, making it far more useful than just a simple EAS "hack". It plugs into your OBDII port and is controlled with your steering wheel switches and instrument cluster display. Over the weekend, Gap just released a new firmware that greatly enhances diagnostic capabilities, see this video: IIDTool Menu 2.18.03 on LR4 - YouTube

I have both devices on my RRS and they do a fantastic job. They are more expensive than the rods solution (about $500/600 or so), but you get what you pay for. IIDTool in particular does nearly as much as full blown diagnostic programs costing thousands more, but it's the size of a matchbox and you will never forget it at home. To me, that's a bargain.

 

[grizzld]

Not saying that any of you should be satisfied with the 19" wheels, but this video might interest you. It's a 4x4 television program in South Africa where the host takes a stock LR4 over Baboon's Pass—supposedly the most difficult trail in S. Africa. The only other vehicles on the expedition are souped-up Defenders.

The reason I think it's interesting is because his logic is to put more pressure in the tires to protect the sidewalls. He says that the electronics will make up for the loss of grip.

Anyway, decide for yourself. It's a cool video nonetheless.

Part 1 (14:46 long)

Part 2 (19:40 long)

 

[CaptainSpalding]

My biggest gripe with LR is dropping the option of 18 inch wheels starting with the LR4 .… Stop using the Jaguar braking hardware and purpose-design the system for LR4 so it could fit smaller size wheels.

I agree with you completely about the need for more sidewall. I might disagree with your analysis that the LR4's wheel size limitation is because of the use of Jaguar brake components. In other parts of the world the Discovery 4 is available with 18" wheels as standard equipment.

Click on the following link, scroll down and look on the left to find "Wheels" and click again to see what I mean.
http://www.landrover.com/gl/en/lr/discovery-4/explore/tdv6/


ETA: I wish I could get this "global spec" version.

 

[manoftaste]

Captain, I am aware of the 18" wheel availability for the non-US markets. But that also means older (LR3's) braking system. I thought the revised, bigger rotors (to match the increased engine torque) in US-bound LR4 did not allow for the 18 inch wheels. Isn't that true?

 

[bromhead]

Grizzld...nice video. Interesting comments about airing up on low profile tires...but I did notice they had what i believe are wranglers, not the "street" conti's we get in the US

That being said, not bad. But it could have been so much easier if you just had 265/65/18's and say a base ground clearance like a 2012 Range Rover (11.1 v 9.5 in extended mode).

I can confirm that the LR3 18inch wheels will NOT fit a 2012 NAS LR4 HSE. I tried...