NextStepDesigns

My family and I are headed off to explore the slot canyons and Anasazi cliff dwellings of southern Utah.
Lots of photos and full write-ups upon our return.

Yeah, you heard me. The LR3/Disco III is the Best Off Road vehicle Land Rover has ever built.

I have a very strong opinion regarding the LR3, not often shared by owners of older Rovers. I think that stock off the show room floor, the LR3 is the best off roading machine Land Rover has ever built.

Unmodified (other than putting on some real tires instead of those GoodForOneYear’s they come with), the LR3 will do 90% of all the trails out there, and do them with ease. However, there are two limitations to the LR3 which are serious limitations for many hard core off roaders, and for good reason:

1. The LR3 driveline and suspension is EXTREMELY difficult to modify. To extract the remaining 10% potential to keep up with fully built D90’s, RRC’s, Disco’s, etc… just isn’t feasable. The LR3’s are pretty much restricted from trails like the Rubicon, or at least for now. My goal is to continue adding armor and suspension mods and make it though that trail, perhaps next summer.
2. Electrowizardry. While undeniably it’s best asset off road, it can also be it’s Achilles Heel. I would be hesitant to take a normal LR3 across some of the remote areas featured in Overland Journal, unless you had your own T4 Testbook computer. The truck itself is very mechanically reliable, but if you throw a sensor fault, you lose most of it’s off road enabling systems. You need the T4 computer to clear those faults, and it costs something like $25,000. The Morocco Challenge teams with Disco III’s from the UK these past few years all brought a borrowed T4 and lots of EAS bits and pieces. They all did okay actually, but they were not solo…

My own personal LR3 is somewhat of a novelty in the USA, but more common in places like South America, Australia, Belgium, etc…Unlike all the other LR3’s here in the States which are SE’s or HSE’s, mine is a Base model, with an odd assortment of NAS options. My truck is a pre-production model shipped over with 20+ other variants before LRNA settled on which options packages would be right for the US market.

I am often asked which is the better buy, a used Discovery II, or an LR3 (new or used). The answer of course, completely depends on what you want the vehicle to do for you, or what you want out of it. Most people are just a little uncertain of the LR3, though I highly recommend them. I use the following as really the only criteria you need to consider if you are thinking of getting an LR3:

• If you just want it because the LR3 drives better, is more comfortable, has better audio, fits more stuff and holds more people, then yes.
• If you want it because it was designed literally 40 years more recently than the basic underpinnings of the D2, and over a decade newer in interior ergonomics, then yes.
• Or, if you want it because it is safer on the road with airbags all around, has infinitely better braking systems, stability control, 300hp acceleration, and the incredible convenience of a true rear lift gate, then yes.
• Or if you want it because it is an amazing off road machine with unparalleled traction, superior approach and departure angles, locking rear and center diffs, and substantial articulation and ground clearance with the stock air suspension, then yes.
• But if you want it to build up into a long haul expedition vehicle or ultimate trail rig, no - stick with the D2 and build it up. The D2 with CDL is a great platform to build from whereas the LR3 is hard to improve over stock due to it’s systems integration and suspension system.

And there you have it.

(Team Morocco from the UK, 2006)