Member Since: 14 Oct 2009
Location: Location
Posts: 209
One week & 900 miles in (D4 HSE)
Well, I got my D4 a week last Wednesday and have done some wild and varied driving: country roads, offroad at Glentarkie, and a 480 mile round-trip on motorways with some driving snow. These are my thoughts on the D4 (coming from Saabs to a Freelander 2, then an Audi A5).
Compared with the FL2, the D4 is much more composed on the road. No drifting feeling on roundabouts or country roads as I experienced with the FL2. Ok, the A5 stuck to the road like glue, but it had sports suspension and a very hard ride on 19" wheels with low profile tyres. The D4 came with 20" wheels and the ride quality is much softer/more comfortable than the A5: a sit-on lawn mower would probably be softer than the A5 to be honest, so I laugh at some of the threads wondering about ride quality between the various wheel sizes for the D4, and the seats are much more comfortable than the A5's.
The D4 is my first automatic and it's taking a wee bit to get used to. In fact, I'm driving in manual Command Shift mode most of the times because I don't like the way the D4 wants to change up at 2,500 to 3,000 rpm. However, when i was offroad I drove in automatic.
Glentarkie was the first time I'd been properly offorad: green road runs and muddy fields the furthest I'd ventured before, but I went last Sunday with a group of people from the Scottish Land Rover Owners Club. I found it useful to follow a couple of older Discoveries: if they could do something, then i ought to be able too. However, the Pirelli Scorpion Zero tyres did prevent me from tackling some of the very steep ascents - nothing to do with my lack of nerves, honest.
I really enjoyed going through deep water: bow waves lapping the bonnet. However, somewhere along the route, I sustained a puncture: probably a piece of slate gashing the sidewall of the front nearside tyre. Mmm, and today somebody is round refurbishing all four alloys.
The thing I learnt the most was that I have much to learn about driving offroad.
There are some niggles: why aren't there active door reflectors or illuminated air vents? Why did LR remove the rear air con? Why does mine have rear headphone sockets? Why don't the 3rd row reading lights come on with the other courtesy lights (the boot light is quite ineffective)? A telephone signal status would be useful on the dash between the speedo and rev counter. In fact, the screen between the speedo and rev counter is largely unused and an iPod browse screen could have been accommodated. The cruise control is a bit jittery when I engage it: it often surges and I have to keep it 1 mph less than the desired speed. A handle (grab-hole) for the loadspace cover would be useful. The brakes make a terrible squealing while reversing. A couple of tracks on the iPod cause terrible bass rattles.
I've disabled the high beam assist because it doesn't change (dip) as quickly as I'd like on country roads. The FL2 I had had adaptive headlights, something I don't feel moved to pay for, but given the choice between high beam assist and adaptive headlights, I'd go for the adaptive headlights.
Oh, I suppose I ought to mention the fairy lights: fairly sh**e! Not a good implementation in my opinion. They're not DRLs because they're not constantly on and no obvious means of making them so from the user-configurable set-up menus. I feel that they ought to have been more numerous and spaced closer together to form a continuous ribbon of light. Compared with the D3, the D4 is bling enough.
Those are niggles and the real test is when I had the A5 I often missed the FL2, do I now miss the A5? Not at all.
Last edited by highlandcow on 4th Dec 2009 6:14 pm. Edited 1 time in total
4th Dec 2009 3:59 pm
Supercharged
Member Since: 07 Oct 2006
Location: Northants
Posts: 171
I am much in awe of you taking a ten-day old D4 off road, up ascents, through water, dinging the alloys - but that's what the car is for as well as soft-roading!
You earn my respect Paul
D4 HSE Zermatt Silver / Ebony
4th Dec 2009 5:10 pm
oddboy
Member Since: 29 Oct 2009
Location: norfolk
Posts: 472
taking them offroad is what they are built for !!! the last brandnew range rover i had i took to an offroad day but i did trash the front bumper and it was 2 days old (most peeps there in old defenders thought i was mad) the main downside was getting it proper clean again, it took 2 days Richard
club none owner
4th Dec 2009 5:25 pm
Supercharged
Member Since: 07 Oct 2006
Location: Northants
Posts: 171
Indeed that's what they are for. Just a bit different doing it with £50k's worth of your own new kit rather than an LR press car! After a few months, sure, but brand new Paul
D4 HSE Zermatt Silver / Ebony
4th Dec 2009 5:47 pm
highlandcow
Member Since: 14 Oct 2009
Location: Location
Posts: 209
Supercharged: in awe of me? How the others laughed at my folly.
There's a video taken by one of the SLROC members. It's quite long, but my D4 appears from time to time.
4th Dec 2009 6:22 pm
Bodsy Site Sponsor
Member Since: 06 Nov 2006
Location: In the Clubhouse
Posts: 21361
supercharged, it took me 8 days for mine to get off-road when I first bought it
Next years Billing event, we'll help you take your around the course or you can jump in mine if you haven't broke it in yet Bodsys Brake Bible
Back in the early 1970's - (damn that's nearly 40 years ago) I had a 2 door 3.5 litre Fleetline.
When it was less than a week old I took it on the military ranges at Gosport, and broke a front stub axle - no warantee problem replaced without comment from me or the stealer.
NJSSAm I Gammon or Woke ? - I neither know nor care.
2016 Discovery 4 Landmark
2011 Mercedes Benz SL350 (R230)
1973 MG B GT V8 - 3.9L John Eales engine, 5 speed R380 gearbox, since 1975.
1959 MGA roadster - 1.9L Peter Burgess Engine - 5 speed gearbox
Past LRs - Multiple FFRs, Discos & a Series I - some petrol, some diesel,
none Electric or H2 fuel cell - yet.
There are 10 types of people in this world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.
4th Dec 2009 8:35 pm
eaglesrest
Member Since: 05 Nov 2008
Location: Leeds
Posts: 57
Highlandcow, the cruise has a software fault which landrover are working on a patch for. I'll post when its available.
5th Dec 2009 11:37 am
highlandcow
Member Since: 14 Oct 2009
Location: Location
Posts: 209
eaglesrest: thanks.
Took part in my first Tyro event yesterday. Definitely need a second set of wheels with All Terrain or Mud tyres.
6th Dec 2009 6:58 pm
MartinR
Member Since: 27 Jan 2008
Location: Oxon
Posts: 708
eaglesrest wrote:
Highlandcow, the cruise has a software fault which landrover are working on a patch for. I'll post when its available.
Ooh, so it's not my imagination...! Dealer of course couldn't repro, but I'll be on the look out for this post - thanks!
6th Dec 2009 8:39 pm
highlandcow
Member Since: 14 Oct 2009
Location: Location
Posts: 209
And here's a photo of the D4 (with a Series 1 in the background) at my first Tyro event yesterday:
6th Dec 2009 11:15 pm
Smarticus
Member Since: 01 Jan 2005
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 655
That video is a great ad for buying an old Defender (or even Series Landy) and using your shiny D4 to tow it to a play site. And that site looks very good - where is it ? IMHO the Wrangler does rather spoil the otherwise great beauty of the place and assembled Landies.Disco 4 TDV6HSE
Defender 200TDi CSW
RR Evoque
7th Dec 2009 7:56 am
Tim in Scotland
Member Since: 27 Jun 2005
Location: All at sea
Posts: 496
Smart it is the Scottish offroad Driving Centre at Strathmeiglo in Fife. It is normally referred to as "Glentarkie" as that is the farm it is sited at.I have been there a lot with all my Land Rovers. The only one that the owner had any doubts about was the Freelander I took there - his reaction to seeing it was "last time we had one of them here it was on launch day and it went home on a flatbed truck with no oil left in to..." My little TD4 had a great day out with only a dented sill to spoil the fun. I took the FFRR there too and it went everywhere.Now a disillusioned new Land Rover buyer and have jumped ship to something less expensive and more reliable that hugs trees.... now driving a Mini Countryman PHEV as well as my trusty and brilliant 1996 Epsom Green Defender90 Tdi300
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