Chief Justice
Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2008
- Posts
- 17
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I got my 08 LR3 in August so today was the first day I got to use the "grass/gravel/snow" setting. I must admit that I had doubts that this whole terrain response system as a huge marketing feature that in reality has minor adjustments or effect of what happens while your driving. I guess I would say that in the best case scenario, my car may be actually making significant adjustments, but doubted if they really changed how my car performs under different conditions.
That was until today. We had an icy snow in Kansas City today. Since the temps are so low (9 degrees) the salt doesn't melt anything and the trucks hadn't gotten around yet. I told my wife I would drive as I was curious how our LR3 would do.
Starting up our steep driveway I felt no slip at all. When I accelerated I could feel that it did not respond as normal, yet I was able to gain speed normally. Then when I was in an open area I got going fairly fast and without braking, pulled the wheel suddenly hard to the left. Some lights came on and I could feel braking on certain wheel(s) and I slid very little. I think it applied brakes to my right front wheel or left rear or both but I am not certain.
I then started going down the large winding hill out of our neighborhood. As I starting braking I heard the ABS's firing a million times a second and worked better than most ABS systems I had used.
As I headed down surface streets and onto the highway I felt and sensed a million things happening all at once. I pointed them out to my wife, saying there are literally millions of computer calculations, sensor readings, adjustments made each millisecond and all of it happening by itself in order to keep us safer. I have always read about the service issue associated with all of these electronics and have been wondered "why have all of these gadgets and their problems if they do very little?" I now feel differently. There is a LOT of stuff going on when you drive a Land Rover and it is all good stuff that actually affects your cars performance in different environments. It literally made me feel a whole lot safer, and I feel even better about my purchase than I already did!!! That feeling makes a big difference in my level of worry as I am out of town and I know my wife and two little girls are driving around in this KC weather.
I also had to get gas on the way home and as I got back in the car and sat my butt down on heated leather seats, and looked through my heated windows, I was reminded that it is hardly a utilatarian vehicle, but extremely luxurious and comfortable as well.
Don't know why I felt so compelled to gush about this car as I know you all have already bought one and have seen what they can do. I guess you could say that as a huge doubter, and somebody who expects a lot out of my vehicles, I am blown away with what this truck can do. It is not just a trendy, cool looking luxury car!!!!!
That was until today. We had an icy snow in Kansas City today. Since the temps are so low (9 degrees) the salt doesn't melt anything and the trucks hadn't gotten around yet. I told my wife I would drive as I was curious how our LR3 would do.
Starting up our steep driveway I felt no slip at all. When I accelerated I could feel that it did not respond as normal, yet I was able to gain speed normally. Then when I was in an open area I got going fairly fast and without braking, pulled the wheel suddenly hard to the left. Some lights came on and I could feel braking on certain wheel(s) and I slid very little. I think it applied brakes to my right front wheel or left rear or both but I am not certain.
I then started going down the large winding hill out of our neighborhood. As I starting braking I heard the ABS's firing a million times a second and worked better than most ABS systems I had used.
As I headed down surface streets and onto the highway I felt and sensed a million things happening all at once. I pointed them out to my wife, saying there are literally millions of computer calculations, sensor readings, adjustments made each millisecond and all of it happening by itself in order to keep us safer. I have always read about the service issue associated with all of these electronics and have been wondered "why have all of these gadgets and their problems if they do very little?" I now feel differently. There is a LOT of stuff going on when you drive a Land Rover and it is all good stuff that actually affects your cars performance in different environments. It literally made me feel a whole lot safer, and I feel even better about my purchase than I already did!!! That feeling makes a big difference in my level of worry as I am out of town and I know my wife and two little girls are driving around in this KC weather.
I also had to get gas on the way home and as I got back in the car and sat my butt down on heated leather seats, and looked through my heated windows, I was reminded that it is hardly a utilatarian vehicle, but extremely luxurious and comfortable as well.
Don't know why I felt so compelled to gush about this car as I know you all have already bought one and have seen what they can do. I guess you could say that as a huge doubter, and somebody who expects a lot out of my vehicles, I am blown away with what this truck can do. It is not just a trendy, cool looking luxury car!!!!!
I too have been very impressed by the snow setting. I've got Cooper Zeon LTZ's, which are snow rated, and have been in some pretty deep snow without chains with no problems. I even tried to get it to slide in a nice wide downhill area, but couldn't. 
