E
ECL
Guest
Holy cow is all I can say!
Being the proud owner of my 2nd Discovery, an '04 SE (my first one was a '00 SE), I have surely come to love this marquee, but that which I experienced yesterday, which I have been assured is the tip of the iceberg, was f-ing fantastic!
My local dealer hosted an off-road/learn the capabilities of your Rover event, which, I might add, was held in an old rock quarry during the rain yesterday. I’ve been dying to go to one of these event for quite some time, so when the opportunity arose, I jumped on it.
I won’t bore all of you seasoned off-road veterans with the details of each climb, rock crawl and decent, but I share one moment with you:
Initially, at the first decent, one of the spotters, who happened to be the parts manager at the dealership, ironically enough, insisted that Hill Descent Control (HDC) was engaged and that I was in 1st gear and all would be well. He said, “OK, you’re in 1st gear, HDC is on (yeah, it was on and beeping like a stuck pig, because he failed to inform me that I needed to shift the diff to LOW in order to engage this wonderful feature, which I have never used before), all you have to do is crest the hill, take your foot off the brake and the Disco will take care of the rest.”
Well, going against my better judgment and instincts, as I had a feeling that a constant beeping was some sort of warning, in addition to the fact that the HDC indicator light was flashing, which the Animal House devil on my shoulder
was forcing me to ignore because I was pumped up, I took his advice. Now mind you, my fiancée, Jess, was in the passenger seat and at the top of said decent, neither of us could see over/past the hood of our beloved Sea Mobile; seeing that this was my first stab at off-roading, I have no problem admitting to all of you that I was a weeeeeee bit nervous. Over the crest we went and as I’m sure you can imagine, we went screaming down the decline like Nitro at Six Flags. Scared the sh*t out of me, but was fun nevertheless.
After that, some girl taking pictures at the bottom of the hill was congratulating us on a wild ride and all I could think to myself was, “I really don’t think that is how the HDC control is supposed to work.”
The next spotter, after explaining to him that which just transpired, coupled with the fact that Jess was now trying to tell the guy that maybe the feature was broken, while I was telling her to keep her mouth shut, knowing full well that I have plenty left on the factory warranty
, confirmed that we actually needed to be in LOW and 1st in order to properly engage the HDC. Well, we got it right the 2nd time and I absolutely cannot believe how well my Disco drove after that. I even managed to engage the CDL (on my own), which added to the driving experience.
All in all, I have a new found respect for Land Rovers and a greater appreciation and love of mine. God willing, I’ll never get rid of her. Now all I need to do is start socking away a few pennies here and there after the wedding and before Jess and I start popping out little rug-rats, so I can protect the diffs. and tie-rods (do you think both are absolutely necessary), change my 18s to 16s, add 2” and rock sliders, upgrade the bumpers so I can accommodate a winch, and throw a safari rack/tent combo on the roof thereby turning her into a camping/off road/rescue and recovery bad ass that she so badly desires to become.
There are a few key points I learned, for all of us newbies out there, which, for those of you with more experience, if I am mistaken, please correct me:
1. In order to properly engage HDC, you must shift the diff to LOW, then push the HDC button, before the feature will be properly engaged and KEEP YOUR FOOT OFF OF THE BRAKE!
2. If you have CDL, like on and ’04, and you engage it, you will gain additional traction.
3. The tipping point of a Discovery is, I have been informed, 40-45°. They took us up and over/across a muddy, rocky stretch in which Jess and I, right as rain, thought we were going to tip over and roll down, and I was informed it was a measly 15-20° - I think I shat my shorts on that one
! If anyone has any interest, you can buy an inclinometer here.
4. “Slow and Steady” wins the race. Slow overall speed and steady throttle, especially when climbing.
5. After taking to the guys, I was asking about water submersion, and was informed that the Disco was a “waterline” on her. I have been told that the long, concave line (under door handles), which runs down the length of both sides of the Disco, the bottom edge of which marks the actually height at which you can drive through water without experiencing any damage to your Disco. Can anyone verify this?
In closing, I am completely hooked and I look forward to participating in more events and becoming involved in my local chapter(s).
I love the Land Rover World, my Disco and the other forums out there and look forward to future posts!
Warmly,
Chris
Being the proud owner of my 2nd Discovery, an '04 SE (my first one was a '00 SE), I have surely come to love this marquee, but that which I experienced yesterday, which I have been assured is the tip of the iceberg, was f-ing fantastic!
My local dealer hosted an off-road/learn the capabilities of your Rover event, which, I might add, was held in an old rock quarry during the rain yesterday. I’ve been dying to go to one of these event for quite some time, so when the opportunity arose, I jumped on it.
I won’t bore all of you seasoned off-road veterans with the details of each climb, rock crawl and decent, but I share one moment with you:
Initially, at the first decent, one of the spotters, who happened to be the parts manager at the dealership, ironically enough, insisted that Hill Descent Control (HDC) was engaged and that I was in 1st gear and all would be well. He said, “OK, you’re in 1st gear, HDC is on (yeah, it was on and beeping like a stuck pig, because he failed to inform me that I needed to shift the diff to LOW in order to engage this wonderful feature, which I have never used before), all you have to do is crest the hill, take your foot off the brake and the Disco will take care of the rest.”
Well, going against my better judgment and instincts, as I had a feeling that a constant beeping was some sort of warning, in addition to the fact that the HDC indicator light was flashing, which the Animal House devil on my shoulder
was forcing me to ignore because I was pumped up, I took his advice. Now mind you, my fiancée, Jess, was in the passenger seat and at the top of said decent, neither of us could see over/past the hood of our beloved Sea Mobile; seeing that this was my first stab at off-roading, I have no problem admitting to all of you that I was a weeeeeee bit nervous. Over the crest we went and as I’m sure you can imagine, we went screaming down the decline like Nitro at Six Flags. Scared the sh*t out of me, but was fun nevertheless.After that, some girl taking pictures at the bottom of the hill was congratulating us on a wild ride and all I could think to myself was, “I really don’t think that is how the HDC control is supposed to work.”
The next spotter, after explaining to him that which just transpired, coupled with the fact that Jess was now trying to tell the guy that maybe the feature was broken, while I was telling her to keep her mouth shut, knowing full well that I have plenty left on the factory warranty
, confirmed that we actually needed to be in LOW and 1st in order to properly engage the HDC. Well, we got it right the 2nd time and I absolutely cannot believe how well my Disco drove after that. I even managed to engage the CDL (on my own), which added to the driving experience. All in all, I have a new found respect for Land Rovers and a greater appreciation and love of mine. God willing, I’ll never get rid of her. Now all I need to do is start socking away a few pennies here and there after the wedding and before Jess and I start popping out little rug-rats, so I can protect the diffs. and tie-rods (do you think both are absolutely necessary), change my 18s to 16s, add 2” and rock sliders, upgrade the bumpers so I can accommodate a winch, and throw a safari rack/tent combo on the roof thereby turning her into a camping/off road/rescue and recovery bad ass that she so badly desires to become.
There are a few key points I learned, for all of us newbies out there, which, for those of you with more experience, if I am mistaken, please correct me:
1. In order to properly engage HDC, you must shift the diff to LOW, then push the HDC button, before the feature will be properly engaged and KEEP YOUR FOOT OFF OF THE BRAKE!
2. If you have CDL, like on and ’04, and you engage it, you will gain additional traction.
3. The tipping point of a Discovery is, I have been informed, 40-45°. They took us up and over/across a muddy, rocky stretch in which Jess and I, right as rain, thought we were going to tip over and roll down, and I was informed it was a measly 15-20° - I think I shat my shorts on that one
! If anyone has any interest, you can buy an inclinometer here.4. “Slow and Steady” wins the race. Slow overall speed and steady throttle, especially when climbing.
5. After taking to the guys, I was asking about water submersion, and was informed that the Disco was a “waterline” on her. I have been told that the long, concave line (under door handles), which runs down the length of both sides of the Disco, the bottom edge of which marks the actually height at which you can drive through water without experiencing any damage to your Disco. Can anyone verify this?
In closing, I am completely hooked and I look forward to participating in more events and becoming involved in my local chapter(s).
I love the Land Rover World, my Disco and the other forums out there and look forward to future posts!
Warmly,
Chris
