First long road trip - A second Opinion

[toddjb123]

Also, re: seating position -- you're being too ******* it, it's a truck....

Yeah, right. At $50K+, a comfortable seat isn't too much to ask for.


Too bad about the replys on the 8 position seat not showing up as rumored on the SE. As I and others posted, the only way to get it now is with the HSE.
6'2", need that front tilt for leg support and comfort on long drives.

Great post, backpain, thanks.

 

[racingdc9]

Ok, here's the update on my weekend roadtrip to Dallas from Houston(250 miles each way). The LR3 was packed with a big suitcase, a baby swing, a duffle bag with baby clothes, a folded up crib(co sleeper for baby), so the cargo wasn't too heavy, we do have the 3rd row seats(folded down).

On the way there weather was decent no rain(about 55-60 degrees F) fairly mild to moderate traffic, I averaged about 75-80mph. In the beginning, the LR3 actually made it up to about 18.0mpg until we hit some stop and go traffic for about 5 miles or so and the MPG dropped to about 17.6-17.8 mpg and the LR3 hovered around that MPG the rest of the way to Dallas. I noticed that when I actually got the LR3 up to about 85-90 the MPG went down to about 17.2-17.4 mpg. Leaving the house with a full tank by the time we got to Dallas and to the house we had about a little less then 1/4 of a tank. I think it's not bad for the LR3 but I don't know if I were to have driven at around 65-70 mph if the MPG would have been at 18 or higher or not.

Ok, on the return trip was a little different. Weather was about the same maybe a little hotter(sun finally came out about mid 70's to high 70's) Speed wise I kept it about the same 75-80mph but this time on the way back, there was a pretty strong head wind and you could feel the LR3 working a little harder(had to actually work at keeping the car straight with the wind blowing), the LR3 averaged about 16.5 mpg, only until we were about 60 miles from Houston that the wind died down and the MPG actually went up to about 17.2 mpg.

Comfort: i'm 5'8" 220lbs and the only thing that was different from my other cars(Mercedes ML 430 and C320) the seat cushion was kind of stiff on the LR3 and my butt did start to hurt a little towards the end of each drive.

All in all our first road trip in the LR3 was good, no major complaints. Noise was minimal, solid SUV. Total mileage is about 1850 miles. Hope this is informative.

Tommy

 

[backpain]

Yeah, right. At $50K+, a comfortable seat isn't too much to ask for.

Great post, backpain, thanks.

Thanks. I was suprised by some of the replies... I think the move from f/r live axel to 4-wheel independent suspension was a decision based around getting the nit picky reviewers to shut up about road handling and comfort. The LR3 is an SUV which these days doesn't necessarily mean "truck" and I'm only positive that LR doesn't see FORD, Chevy or the Titan as competition. The SUV is as cliche as the minivan when it comes to the suburban sterotype people seem to flee from and I'd venture to say that SUV's have borrowed more from minivan focus groups than real truck people (Get Shorty's "Cadillac of Minivans" sort of thing). LR has also embraced the luxury car feeling (albeit more utilitarian in interpretation) that people have attached to them and are obviously moving more in that direction. As such, the $50k price band that LR has firmly stuck the LR3 in seems to mandate more of the lux basics to include the expected fully adjustable seats without regard to HSE vs SE. Chalking it up to first year new model feels really cheap especially when the LR3 everywhere but the US is still a Disco and, at least in my opinion, could have cashed in further on.

Comparing the Defender to the LR3 is silly. Obviously different purposes were in mind in the two vehicles, and I would absolutely expect the Defender to be more truck-like. No one is sitting around a boardroom or design session thinking about easier stroller storage with the Defender. When a vehicle is compared to 5/7 series or E/S class "executive saloons" by LR and the industry, my second opinion came more from a don't believe the hype perspective. Don't get me wrong, it's a great vehicle, I like it very much. I just expected more and was suprised by the long roadtrip experience. I would compare the LR3 more evenly to the Ford Explorer/Expedition perhaps or would perfer to see the pricing structure equivilent to the Disco, more towards the high 30's low 40's.

Expectation management. I've always like the quirky personality of LR, and some of it I just throw towards that. I thnk LR should clear up some of the obvious marketing vs. reality issue though.

 

[tmiller1]

That was well articulated...

 

[Freeflytim]

It may have been my imagination with only 500 miles on my HSE7, but I did notice it downshifting to keep the correct speed with the cruise control on. I noticed it because of one hill I would crest in my old Yukon with the cruise at 65ish and bottom the hill near 75ish.... the LR stayed at 65 with a bunch of shifting going on. Again, that was with the cruise on.

We are in the process of purchasing the LR3 HSE model. I had a trans question since there seems to be discussion about it here in this thread. Does this trans have what I would call "Grade" braking? By this I mean as you are running down a fairly steep road at say 60, even 70, it will downshift a gear if you apply the brakes for any length of time without stepping on the accelerator? ....

 

[FriscoKid04]

I drove one for 90 miles at 95 mph ( with Valentine working ) and the truck is AWESOME!

I was getting 16.9 at that spead with just me in the truck.

The seats do soften up. Try using Lexol leather cleaner and conditioner; that may helps some but it will never have the "cush" feel.

Use the sport shift mode on a 1/2 a tank one way and drive the other 1/2 full auto. The shifting does come in handy and does give a little more control.

Good Luck!

 

[toddjb123]

So, w/ regards to cruise control and highway hills...did it perform more to your liking in Sport or Auto? (referring to a previous post that the truck may downshift to hold speed on the downhills...a negative for some of us.)

 

[backpain]

Made another trip to NJ/NY for business and drove it in "sport mode" roundtrip. Cruise was a little smoother but I also noticed that 6th gear was hard to get to. Flat open road pushing 85/90mph (in 6th only ~2500RPM!) and it's just happy in 5th... If I threw it into regular mode (?) the trans would make the shift to 6th. I also notice that you have to be extremely mindful of the accelerator in "sport", I stood on it to pass a couple times and the engine went straight to 7000 RPM. I'm hoping that there's some software fixes at service time, mode of the issues I see would appear to be code related.

In Sport the computer said I was averaging about 15.6 mpg. On the tripometer I got 394 miles on a tank of gas.