Discovery 5 L462 Terrain Response Modes

#Discovery5 #L462

Demonstration of some of the different Terrain Response modes on 2018 Discovery L462s, one with a rear differential lock (eDiff) and one without.

Post questions as comments!

Follow me on Facebook:

Support me on Patreon:

Buy my books:

[landhopper]

I’m 200, 000 miles and 10 years into my diesel Discovery 4 and it’s been bulletproof. Love it.

[TuffRR]

The D4 was the pinnacle of modern LR's for an offroad vehicle IMO. The new 'Defender' doesn't really improve anything - and arguably the lack of aftermarket support means the D4 is still the vehicle of choice between the two if you want offroad capability with comfort and practical touring design. The fact that now 13 years after it was released (even longer if you consider the D3/LR3 was essentially same platform) it is still keeping up with brand new vehicles is testament to the quality of design and innovation at the time (even if build quality and reliability isn't always to the same standard).

[mikeattheimagebusiness]

I’ve had the privilege of owning and using these Land Rovers professionally and personally. I find that most people (as witnessed in many videos) do not make use of Terrain Response and so many Land Rovers are specified with no low range, no eDiff and standard all season tyres with big rims. In my experience, the current models respond best to steady constant throttle for assents and each terrain response setting feels different as it alters a range of parameters including initial locking of differentials, starting gear selection, gear change points in auto and the amount of permitted wheel spin before brake traction control kicks in. Info is on the display screens. Hill descent control and low traction launch tend to be underutilised too. Some settings can be useful on road too of course. Auto Terrain Response also invariably makes a good job of working out what settings to apply and will default to first low with Diffs locked when challenged. I do think the D5 and L663 Defender are great ‘out of the box’ and the D5 is typically underrated as it is practical with only a more limited departure angle than the L663. Then there’s the 900mm wading depth without wet feet! I’m loving your tests, thank you!

[offroadingfoz]

Love watching comparisons like this where you see just how well the cars systems do respond. I never felt wanting in my d3 without rear locker but would have had one if it were available in the used cars I looked at.

[peanuts]

Love the D4, that's a given.
But the Disco 5 is very special. You can pose around the shopping centre car park in the morning and be at a gnarly desert track in the afternoon for a bit of camping.

[MorganMaclellan]

Great side by side comparisons and smart to add a variety of vehicles to benchmark the Discos. Thank you!

[rmnwrkcnt]

I was a little surprised the ranger couldn't make it. Though you can tell that hill is steep even on the video. Great work!

[ritch_j]

Had a 2013 LR4 went to Diso 5, I only hope they bring back a square body Discovery. Great work

[nealesmith]

Very interesting! The Land Rovers did amazingly well.

[jameshoward]

Very good. Disco 4/5 traction is excellent. I grudgingly had to admit that my D5 trumped my Defender in low grip scenarios and that TR2 could do a better job than me finding marginal traction... Also worth pointing out how capable Disco is on road and towing - a very broad range of dynamic capabilities. My issue with Disco is ultimate lack of axle travel, substantial R overhang and the lower suspension arms hanging up early in ruts/soft conditions. Oh and complexity, unreliability, difficulty of maintenance (D4 especially), tyre choice etc etc etc...

[Land_Raver]

Many people ask, "Why would you ever drive such an unreliable vehicle". Because of this video. You can't add capability to a lot of vehicles on the market. But most Rovers come with all the capability you need from the factory. Saves you from having to "build" an offroader.

[bnewb]

Loving these short comparison videos. Thx for posting. Watching the different makes, it appears to me that the speed the BTC reacts to the terrain and traction goes a fair way to determine how far the vehicle gets up. As a 150 Series Prado owner would love to see how this vehicle goes in one of these comparison.

Cheers

[bhpton]

Awesome videos. Some other aspects of TRS are how it manages Stability control. In Mud & Ruts for example, if you are on road tyres on wet slippery mud, you’ll find it will kill the power and make the throttle pedal feel dead. Not an issue so much on dry terrain, but very evident in typical British muddy tracks.

There is also a comfort thing around the throttle too. Was with a friend driving over a ploughed field. He had it in Mud & Ruts (L320 RRS) and found the throttle was too sharp making it an unpleasant bobbing and pulsing progress. I advised him to try the Snow & Ice mode as it desensitised the throttle pedal. Which made for much smoother and comfortable progress. But I guess not an aspect that is as evident on camera, but makes a big difference to the occupants.

[No-thing-ness]

Such a great idea to chuck in the Jeep for comparison

[paulbarry]

Had a D4 with E diff, for almost 10yrs.I found even in soft sand, once forward motion stopped, rock crawl would on occasions get it out.Looking at the GAP tool, which is a scan tool for late model LRs, it is interesting that the E diff does operate at low % at times on the bitumen .It would have been interesting to compare the LRs to an LC200 or 300, which are probably the only other vehicles that are just as capable, and in the same class, particularly the 300.

[MeMurphyFeb]

Thanks again great video, love my D4!

[mischifischi]

Outstanding Video! Thank yo ufor your work & keep it up!

[jerrymyahzcat]

You are aware that the eLocker on these vehicles isn’t an on/off type. It’s a variable progressive one like the centre diff.

I really enjoy my Discovery Sport which has no cross-axle lockers and only the centre variable “diff”. It doesn’t have air suspension but has great wheel travel for a fully independent suspension vehicle. It’s cherry capable and the TR is excellent. It would likely do the steepness of this hill but not the terrain of it due to clearance (so if the surface was flatter or graded I reckon it would go up as can ascend up to 45° with enough traction).

[Bzcoch]

Nice video always wanted that someone will create that, hope we will see more content about disco 5

[davidhowell]

Hi Robert, in my L319 D4 with an e-diff I can see on the 4x4 centre screen display that the diff locking varies depending on the grip available.
So when 4 wheel driving the rear differential dash display indicates first in green then changes to orange when the terrain is more slippery, so partially locked, and then to red when fully locked. Sorry, I can’t explain this in any greater depth but I’m sure there are others out there who know and understand more about this.
The extent of locking is determined by the cars software I believe. Cheers, David