Land Rover Discovery 3

When the term “all-new” is used to describe a vehicle, it’s usually marketing slang for “looks new”. But in Discovery 3’s case, everything is new — except the little green Land Rover badge.

Why? This new Discovery — or rather the “Integrated Body Frame” it’s built on — will underpin a number of new Land Rovers in the coming years, including the all-new Range Rover Sport in 2005 and Defender in 2007.

Land Rover Discovery 3 is the third model to wear that badge in 14 years, but this time around it’s a truly different story. For starters it’s 176mm longer and 30mm wider than before; it also wears a distinctive and boxy set of clothes, and features Jaguar-based engines under the bonnet. But the end result is the same: world-beating off-road abilities now matched with prestige on-road cachet.

Land Rover is yet to confirm the Australian Discovery lineup, but all three engines will feature. We’ve been told to expect a slight reduction in prices also, but we’ll know more closer to launch in May 2005.

That overtly boxy styling hides a very versatile interior, which employs a number of cutting-edge techniques to deliver true seven-adult carrying capacity. Seats fold smartly and flatly into the floor to allow various configurations for carrying long loads and passengers.

Discovery 3 borrows two engines from Jaguar and one from Ford, though all come with significant modifications. The 4.0lt V6 petrol engine is straight from Ford Explorer — North America’s biggest selling SUV. Land Rover has tinkered with the engine and replaced the top end to ensure that it delivers the kind of performance (160kW/360Nm) a Land Rover owner expects.

The second petrol engine is a Jaguar-sourced V8, enlarged to 4.4lt from 4.2lt. Revisions include repositioning the air intake to account for river wading; dust- and water-proofing the engine and ancillaries; and boosting low-end torque. The end result is 220kW and 425Nm.

The third engine, another from Jaguar, is the 2.7lt turbocharged V6 diesel. Unlike Jaguar, the Land Rover engine employs only one turbocharger to make 140kW and 440Nm of torque. All engines come with a ZF-sourced six-speed automatic transmission with sport mode and a Command Shift manual selector. Only the diesel engine is available with a six-speed manual option.

You’ll hear a lot about “Terrain Response” when you visit a Land Rover salesman, and so you should — it makes tricky offroad situations as easy as dialling in the appropriate setting from five choices: on-road, grass/gravel/snow, mud and ruts, sand, and rock crawl.

Each setting adjusts the ride height to suit, controls the centre and optional rear differential, adjusts gear-change points and throttle sensitivity, and reduces traction control and ABS intervention to suit the under-tyre conditions.

Discovery has also ditched the antiquated beam axle arrangement in favour of double wishbones front and rear. Base models will have coils and shock absorbers, while higher-spec models will feature adjustable air suspension and Terrain Response. All models are rated to tow up to 3500kg, and the ball’s been up-rated to 350kg.

Discovery’s on-road manners have been whipped into shape too. Poor cabin ergonomics have been rectified, as have sloppy handling and absurd body roll in corners. The removal of the spare tyre from the rear door makes hooking trailers up a less cramped affair.

One issue Disco owners will face is high fuel consumption: this model tips the scales at 2500–2700kg (depending on engine and spec levels), and fuel consumption at the world launch in Scotland ranged between 14lt/100km (diesel) and 20lt/100km (petrol).