Stability and Traction Controls

G'day Wayne-o,

We'll be at Karratha until July 25th or so. Then we're going to slowly head North for a couple of months.

I agree about the tyre pressures. We run BFG A/T's which like a bit of pressure in them but I let mine down to 22 front and 26 rear and I'm sure it helped, but all the same, the vehicle behind me did too and he really struggled. (Notice how I'm still not going to buy into the brand-name war with vehicles?)

See you around somewhere,

Russ.

G'day Robin,

yeah, I don't like the Brand wars either. In my experience, any car driven within its design limits will do the job it is meant to. And that's where the trouble starts, I guess, when people try to do things the vehicle was not intended to do.

I hadn't thought much about the 3 wheels on the ground as opposed to 4 thing that you mentioned. What you described first happened to me in my NP Pajero a couple of years ago. I was crossing a deep, deep rut and looked out the driver's window to see the ground fully 6 feet or so below me and the RH front wheel a couple of feet off the ground. It spun me out at the time.

Having said that, the car felt OK and I was able to inch forward slowly and eventually was back on all fours without incident. I guess it's the old story about a three pointed object being more stable on an uneven surface than a four pointed object is.

I guess my point is that even with loose rocks and a steep incline, the Landy (and other vehicles with traction/stability) really did it easily compared with the commotion and effort of other vehicles. I think the earlier point about tyre pressures is also valid and picking the "best line" helps too. I'm not sure about limited slip diffs. I've never been in a vehicle with one fitted so I have no input about them, but I guess that they should be a help.

It would be interesting to get together sometime and do some objective testing of how these electronic aides afect the ability of vehicles, but from a purely subjective point of view, they seem to be the answer. My last two vehicles have had traction/stability and I have to say, 4WDing has never been easier. (Except that one time where I forgot to turn it off in the Paj before I went into some deep sand. The wheels started to spin and the brakes came on and I stopped....oops.)

Keep an eye out for our submissions as we travel around and give us a shout when we get closer to where you are. We'll be in WA until early Oct, South Oz 'til Christmas, Vic for Christmas and most of January, New South from then 'til Easter and who knows after that.

Cheers,

Russ.

Robin,

Sorry, I forgot to answer one of the main questions in your post. My subjective impression of the Landy so far, and it has only done 10,000Km, is that it is the most capable 4WD I have driven. Having said that, it has not yet been through mud or wet river crossings.

I have driven most brands of 4WD at work and apart from one Patrol that must have had a defect and was gulping fuel, all of them have done the job if driven according to the conditions. Some have been better than others and one Prado I hired let me down when doing a creek crossing that I'd done many times before in the Paj, while a new Navara kept going down in sand that had never troubled me before.

With both vehicles I just mentioned, I did not have a lot of time to familiarise myself with their characteristics before they were thrown in at the deep end and neither had traction controls that I had grown used to in the Paj.

But you do get a "feel" for vehicles and as I said, I'm more than happy with the Disco so far. I haven't had any issues with the air suspension that you may have read or heard about. When we get to the Kimberleys in the next couple of months the vehicle will get more of a test and I'll have a better opinion then.

My prime reasons for getting the Disco were the ability to carry quite a weight within the vehicle and the ability to tow up to 3.5 tonnes. The air suspension came next, the excellent V6 diesel after that, quietness, comfort, fuel economy, looks and price followed. To this day I do worry a bit about the distance between dealerships so let us hope I don't need one in a hurry.

So far the Disco has lived up to my expectations, just as I think the Landcruiser that I thought of getting possibly would have too. The only reason I didn't consider a Patrol was the horror stories with the 3.0L engine and that's all we could buy at the time.

Time will tell and I'm quite happy to compare notes with anyone. I'm completey over the "my car is better than your car" stuff that you sometimes see here. I started a post about the poor fuel economy I got with the hired Patrol and some people took great offense to it. All I was trying to find out was whether this was normal. I didn't criticise the vehicle in any way, other than to mention a weird front-end bounce that happened a couple of times, and boy did I cop it.

As I said, it would be good to catch up and try a few things to see what the Disco can do.

Cheers,

Russ.

Thanks Russ , I'll follow your experiences. There is an outside chance that I will be in your situation within a Year.

On paper they read well as does D4D and until recently sort of didn't consider much because of their weight , and was a little surprised to find that more basic models actually weigh less than my GU. As you note they have acceptable power and can apparently get sub 10lt /100km cruising.

I see you have fixed up the small tank weakness.

If going down that path it would be a hard descision for me to decide between traction controls as opposed to aftermarket locks, as well as auto / 6 speed.

Robin Miller

P.S. Note your comments elsewhere about internal size compared to D4D

Robin,

rear locking diff can be fitted as a factory option for just $1000.00 in the Disco. It cannot be retro-fitted and I regret not having ordered that option when we got our vehicle. At the time, our vehicle was on the ship and on it's way to Fremantle if we took it as-is. If we ordered the diff lock it would have added another four months to delivery time. Having said that, I still haven't been in a situation where I might have engaged a locking diff.

I can thoroughly recommend the auto box in the disco. It is as smooth as silk and apparently very strong.

Cheers,

Russ.

G'day Tom,

I like your choice. I did drive one and it felt good, but when it came down to it, the Prado was too small for what we wanted. We'll effectively be living in our vehicle for the next several years and we have to carry ebverything including the kitchen sink with us.

In fact, the only vehicles that we completely ruled out right from the outset were the Patrol (for no other reason than the 3.0L diesel engine issue) and another Pajero (not because I didn't like the car, but because I am of the opinion that Mitsubishi Motors Australia are difficult to deal with when it comes to warranty issues.)

Basically we were committed to getting a large, strong, 4WD with traction and stability because I have grown used to the technology and it has made the 65,000Km I do each year a lot easier.

As I said, I liked the Prado (although I'm not too keen on the way the gearshift works on the automatic version) and it was quite high on our list when doing the numbers.

Cheers,

Russ.

Russ,
when deciding to buy the Prado, I did look @ other vehicles, one was the TDV6 SE. went for a drive, great vehicle, but price was a little beyond me @ the time, even had second thoughts about the VX. did think about the S version, but no lift kit available.
One thing that did worry me about the TDV6, was their unexplained ability to stop suddenly. something to do with electronics.this was mentioned in one of the 4WD mags. understand Landrover has now sorted the problem in the recent models. probably the same as yr computer, need to reboot, now & again. anyhow good luck with the 4BY.
cheers Tom

Tom,

when I researched the D3, I read about the electrical issues. In the main it was to do with the air suspension. At worst it appears that the vehicle would drop to "access height" and then you would have to limp home. Susbsequently I read that all you have to do is turn the vehicle off, wait a couple of minutes and start it again.

I haven't heard about the engine stopping. To date, we've had none of these issues.

Cheers,

Russ

G'day Captain,

To date we have not had any issues. On one occasion the park brake indicator lamp did not extinguish after we had locked the car but it was gone the next morning.

Last time I checked, the resale of the TDV6 versions of the D3 were holding up very well, the same percentage as a Landcruiser after 3 years, but the petrol engine values were abysmal with something in the order of a 73% reduction in value after 3 years.

We don't intend to sell ours until it is six years old as we have purchased an insurance contract that doubles the new car warranty. By then, I'll take what I can get for the vehicle as it will have done a lot of work.

In the past I had to use fourbies for work and when I got home the last thing I wanted to do was drive. Since we got the Landy, my wife and I both try and find excuses to take it out. It's that kind of vehicle. Mind you, check with me after we've done the GRR and the Tanami Rd - I might have a different opinion.

Cheers,

Russ.

Hi Russ,

Look forward to your GRR and Tanami trip report. These electronic issues make me nervous but I took the "gamble" on the 3.0TD and have been very happy so perhaps the D3 should be on my shopping list.

Cheers

Captain

The D3 works differently, it's the computer that decides everything, all you do is choose what mode you want (ie) ruts, sand, rocks and the computer does the rest, even to the point of deciding whether to lock it into 4WD or low range.

I have seen the D3 offroad and i must say, it's very impressive in how it tackles things with very little effort.

The electrical problems stem from the suspension and apparently has been fixed in the later models and is also a call back for the early models to be fixed.

The traction control in my TD5 is bloody brilliant and i would never turn mine off, it works too well when offroad, in fact sometimes i don't even need to lock into 4WD.

Baz.