stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
  
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Hi folks,
Just in case this is useful to someone, here are my thoughts and observations on my first 500 miles in my new 2007 HSE TDV6.
For the purposes of a comparison, where I have noted the 'T5' this refers to my previous car, a Volvo V70 T5 automatic estate, which for me would be a hard act to follow.
Initial thoughts.
Car was delayed from before Christmas to the new Year because the LandRoverWatch installer failed to turn up. This is my only genuinely negative experience with the car so far. The delay took the shine off my families joint Christmas present, though my dealer (THWhite, Swindon) looked after us well with a couple of decent loaners, a new RangeRover TDV8 (nice engine, you can keep the car) and D3 S.
Car was presented in top condition as it should be, with everything clean and no silicone polish on the steering wheel (a previous new car experience I hope I never to have to repeat). Factory fit privacy glass was in place as expected and dealer fit options of mats, steps, side strips and mud-flaps were all fitted accurately and securely.
Quick check of safety items showed both types of brakes OK, and air suspension working evenly (and much quicker to change height than the 2006 I originally test drove too). The engine started in spite of the new Tracker system being installed, so I guess the installer finally got something right.
I love the drive experience of this car, it sticks almost as tightly to the road as my T5, with only a touch of roll to show it is different. As I'm running the engine in, I haven't attempted any sporting starts just yet to compare, but in fairness I was running out of places I could do that in the T5 anyway (thanks to those mobile accident blackspots) and am planning to be a lot slower/safer in future 
OK, remainder of my views are listed in a futile attempt to keep the space down.
Dislikes
None. No really, I love this car.
Niggles
Well, I couldn't find any dislikes, so I thought I better add some niggles to try and make this look balanced 
1. I miss the 'bing' when the system check is complete. I know, I know, the 2007 is very much better for the lack of all the other binging but I used this as my cue to start the engine (hmmm, which one of us is the organ grinder and which is the monkey?).
2. I like the addition of a tell-tale indicator for when the lights turn themselves on, but heavens above can it please be connected to the instrument dimmer circuit? I'll be trying to find an offcut of 50% privacy glass film to sort this one out so my retinas can recover. I hope this bulb is easy to replace, I can't see it lasting long.
3. On my old car(s), the front passenger seat had a couple of clips behind the hinge which allowed the whole seat to fold forwards flat, making the carrying of long items much easier. I couldn't find any in the D3  so had to wedge a roll of carpet between the headrest and the door to get it all in the boot. If I've been a muppet here, please don't be shy, tell me how to flatten it so I get the same carrying capacity as my T5.
4. The Traffic Info on the radio has a different volume setting to normal radio which is good, but it appears to be an offset from the main volume rather than fully independent. I often like to have the radio on volume zero so that the traffic announcements are the only things I can hear; but the offset system means that when I do turn the radio up, the next TA is deafening...
5. There's no preheat function available for the FBH. Appalling oversight. Nuff said.
6. There does't appear to be a hydrocarbon sniffer in the aircon. The T5 could detect volatile hydrocarbons, and would auto-slam the recirc dampers to keep the smell out of the cabin. I never smelt diesel fumes or petrol fumes whilst in the T5 unless I opened a window.
Likes
Well as most of you know, this could be a large list! As such I've limited it to things that make it special compared to my old car.
1. Turning circle. At last I'm back in a car that's actually got one. Ever since Volvo switched to FWD, they seemed to have flipped from best turning circle (my old 740 was better than most compacts) to worst in the world. I hated having to three point turn at mini roundabouts, now I no longer have to!
2. Pothole immunity (relative!). 6 weeks into owning the T5, I hit a small puddle at 50mph that turned out to be a 4foot long, 1 foot wide and 10 inch deep pothole. At the time I wrote off the front and back tyres and rims, and cracked a tooth. Over the next 2 years I had to replace both bearings and all the control units down the passenger side of the car. Amazingly the tracking was only 50 seconds out of true, probably because I remembered to release the brakes before impact. The council denied liability as they claimed that they had inspected the road in the previous six weeks and that also there had been an accident at that very spot a couple of days earlier. I personally was not surprised that this had caused an accident! My insurance company advised that it wasn't worth the effort of pursuing it, even though I had video evidence that the whole section of road was decaying.
I now no longer fear potholes when I'm driving; I can both see ahead better to avoid them, and now have substantially more rubber between my rims and the road than I used to have. When I have to hit a pothole now, I smile, as I can hardly hear or feel it. This may not be a big deal to most of you, but to me it's a real reduction in driving stress.
A big thanks to Wiltshire Council for making me buy a 4x4 to keep my family safe!
3. Concrete road surfaces. I used to hate travelling in the T5 on these, as the whine was invasive. No longer! The D3 road noise isolation is superb and very much quieter, almost to the point of being silent.
4. Silence. Yes, amazingly the car is much quieter than the T5 (which was in turn much quieter than my Volvo 740). Finally I have sat in a car that would ALMOST make SuperAudioCD worth while. The D3 sound system is excellent for when the silence needs filling, and I'm very happy with it.
5. MP3 6CD Autochanger. Words do not describe how brilliant this is, so I won't
6. Meere Kat Visibility. Visibility from 'up here' is far superior to what I was used to 'down there'. I also find the A pillar less obstructive than the T5, resulting in less head bobbing to see if a 10 ton truck is hiding in the blind spot. The Bi-Xenon adaptive headlights carry this brilliant experience through into the nighttime driving too.
7. Auto gearbox. Excellent! I was a little fearful when I heard that this was an adaptive gearbox, as my T5 adaptive gearbox used to learn stupidity. If you drove round granny style (as I do when I have my daughter in her car-seat) then the gearbox would learn calm and collected; and couldn't be jolted into instant life in an emergency - even with kickdown active. So far, the LR gearbox has behaved impeccably, silently and very smoothly.
8. Engine. This has plenty of power for me, the torque sees to that and I have no fears about pulling out into busy traffic and getting up to speed before I'm rear-ended. This was my biggest fear of upgrading from T5 to 3 tonner, and it is thankfully unfounded. From what I've experienced
with this engine so far, I won't be getting it chipped after all. The TDV8 is stronger and quieter but I'm happy to stick with the TDV6.
I better stop there, or this part of the list will keep growing!
Thanks to all of you for your information, guidance and passion about the D3; This site played heavily in allowing me to make an informed decision whether or not to buy LandRover, and boy am I glad I did.
Dom. Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
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 15th Jan 2007 1:02 pm |
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Bodsy
Site Sponsor
Member Since: 06 Nov 2006
Location: In the Clubhouse
Posts: 21361
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Excellent news and great comparison feedback.
you should change your Avatar of a parking space WITH the D3 in now surely...  Bodsys Brake Bible
D4/D3 Remote FBH heat kits
BAS Remaps/ EGR Blank
Transmission Flush
Software updates/enabling
Clock/ SNOTM /3Flash / 4x4Info /BT Update /Service Reset/Error Codes / Gearbox Reset
See It Here
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| 15th Jan 2007 1:28 pm |
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stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
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Thanks Bodsy, and you're right. That's what I first intended to do when the D3 arrived...but now I find that as I'm out in the car so often, the parking space remains empty... Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
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| 15th Jan 2007 1:34 pm |
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catweasel
Member Since: 05 May 2006
Location: Bundaleer
Posts: 4805
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stapldm wrote: I miss the 'bing' when the system check is complete.
I don't bother waiting for it anymore and have had no probs. good to hear another satisfied customer
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| 15th Jan 2007 1:39 pm |
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Bodsy
Site Sponsor
Member Since: 06 Nov 2006
Location: In the Clubhouse
Posts: 21361
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So an action shot should be called for. Get yourself infront of DiscoStu, you'll soon have plenty of footage to choose from... Bodsys Brake Bible
D4/D3 Remote FBH heat kits
BAS Remaps/ EGR Blank
Transmission Flush
Software updates/enabling
Clock/ SNOTM /3Flash / 4x4Info /BT Update /Service Reset/Error Codes / Gearbox Reset
See It Here
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| 15th Jan 2007 1:41 pm |
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stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
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Now that's a good idea! Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
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| 15th Jan 2007 1:58 pm |
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catweasel
Member Since: 05 May 2006
Location: Bundaleer
Posts: 4805
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so long as it's an action shot and not a money shot 
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| 15th Jan 2007 1:59 pm |
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stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
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 I thought they were near interchangeable on this forum? Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
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| 15th Jan 2007 2:06 pm |
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