So today I was driving down the highway and a BMW was following me. The BMW of course kept trying to pass me. I never got in its way but traffic just kept getting in his way and I always ended up ahead of him. Now some miles later we get to a toll and he was still behind me. We both had ez pass so we didn't have to stop. After the toll its 6 lanes to 2 lanes. I knew this guy was totally going to pass me now so as I glided through the toll I hammered the gas and what do you know I beat him to the 2 lanes. Just barely. He had to give up and merge behind me. He looked so defeated and angry. I was just laughing as somehow my 4.4 mustered up the power to go that fast! I'm just curious if anyone else has a story in which they were really impressed with there 4.4L.

 

So, to be clear, guy was trying to pass you for whatever reason and you didn't let him, because...

 

Remind me never to follow you on the highway

I was impressed mine did Pikes Peak with ZERO issues after having spent 99.9% of its life driving around sea level (This was loaded to the gills with stuff too).

 

The 4.4 is undoubtedly a great engine....but the LR3 is NOT fast by any measure. The Bimmer driver must have just sucked.

 

No he could have passed I never blocked him. We were both stuck in the traffic. When he got ahead of me then that lane would slow down and back and fourth. I never deliberately tried to hold him back

 

That is also true because it was a nice BMW. I just think I suprised him so he wasn't ready

 

Actually BMW designed the 3 to give their cars something different to chase.

In theory the 3 was supposed to have the 4.4L BMW engine that went into the 2003 FFRR, as well as the X5.

For whatever reason, that proved not to be so good an engine in the FFRR, hence when Ford got involved, the Ford built 4.4L Jag engine went into both the 2004 FFRR and now newly introduced 3. For whatever reason the 4.4L BMW engine worked OK in the X5 but on the Autobahn, the 3 was now marginally faster than some of the light Beamers.

This was not actually how BMW had planned it to be - well the whole Land Rover acquisition for BMW went sour and the fact the Jag powered 3 accelerated faster than some of the light Beamers just added to the distaste of it all.

If you are wondering about the X5 contribution, just compare the curve and finish texture of the dash of the X5 to the 3.

 

The FFRR didn't get the AJV8 till '06 MY, and also there was NEVER any "Ford-built 4.4L Jag engine"

The only thing close is the 3.9L which was Jag-designed and rights were sold to Ford to be built in the USA for Lincoln and I think the Thunderbird revamp thing. The entire engine family was designed by Jaguar engineers. All Jag and all LR engines since the AJ are built in South Wales (still technically Ford-owned facility, but the actual LR/Jag machine shops are owned by and staffed by LR/Jag employees.

Also the statement about the LR3 being marginally faster on the Autobahn than many lighter BMWs seems not only impossible to back up, but nearly impossible from a physics standpoint - not only with the immense rotational mass associated with the HD AWD components and less than idea gear ratios, but also considering the fact that the LR3 weighs a minimum of A THOUSAND POUNDS MORE than the X5 and sometimes up to 1500lbs more. Furthermore, that was the heaviest BMW in production - so all others would fare even better. Same applies to your statement on acceleration.

Furthermore, I doubt the dash design had anything to do with BMW. While the final rights to all Rover-related brands were purchased by Ford in 2006, Ford had owned the LR side since 2000 which encompassed the entire R&D period for the Discovery 3 / LR3 model.

On the flip side though, take a look at the side-view mirror "joystick" in the LR3 and compare it to the 2005+ Mustangs and other Fords of the period. Also the trailer brake controller plug under the driver foot-well area is Ford-standard and plugs right in to any unit or adapter for Ford trucks/SUVs.

Many little things like that. BMW was long gone really.

Oh and I absolutely love my LR3 and maintain that it was one of the most advanced and highly-engineered vehicles in its class in the world at the time it came out - but speed was definitely not one of its selling points. I will say that it is a very stable car with good road-handling manners, a neutral handling feel and has surprisingly tactile feedback. You'd absolutely never guess that it weighed as much as it did.

Another note after owning the 4.4 powered RRS... even the ~450lb increase in curb weight going to the LR3 is fairly noticeable unfortunately.


As far as times that the engine has impressed me... I've really gone out of my way to dish out more than I'd expect an average SUV to endure and it's done it all with ease. Then again that's also why I didn't buy an average SUV.

I've had a 2h Featherlite trailer (about 3klb empty) loaded up with two horses (2500lb) and about 800lb in camping gear, feed, supplies etc.. two of us and a dog in the car. I'd say trailer weight was a little over 6000lbs and GCVW was over 12,000lbs. This rig kept up with the flow of traffic on 65 MPH highways (so most of the time people in all lanes going over 70 and merging on at 70) with ZERO problems and MPG stayed around 11 AND it was over 90 degrees out!!! My friends 2013 RAM 1500 gets 8-9MPG towing a 4000lb boat (shaped like a knife-edge compared to my extra-tall horse trailer!)

My RRS with the 4.4 towed my (now sold) 5500lb 24' Donzi boat at highway speeds getting over 15mpg.

On another road trip with LR3 packed to the roof in all rows, I averaged 20.3 MPG and pulled into the gas station 404.3 miles later after a non-stop leg of the trip. I was really shocked and never expected the LR3 to be capable of either of those numbers lol. It had about 94,000mi on it at the time also!

On the horse trailer trip I did notice that there were times when (in command shift) I had my foot all the way to the floor and was losing speed.. usually I'd downshift and it would be fine in the 3500-4krpm range, but I think a couple times even that wasn't enough (a little closer to redline) in which case I usually backed off to prevent excessive thermal loads / wear etc and just went up the hills at my own pace - but I'm talking pretty steep hills and probably 65MPH so that's to be expected with most tow rigs.

In all these situations I'd say the LR3 suspension, steering and frame design were actually the real stars, but this engine has done very well for me so far *knocks on wood.*

Also while not really the "engine" I think it should be mentioned that LR did a seemingly great job with the cooling system and cooling capacity in the LR3. I can only imagine the heat that engine was putting out going up those hills and passes with sustained 4krpm revs, very hot day, with A/C on, and at 12,000+ lbs gross. The temp needle never even budged (actually and this and my RRS both stay slightly below centerline for some reason).

As far as stupid stories go, I beat some a$$ in a hummer once when I had the RRS. Baaarely.

 

I think my version of the "facts" makes a more entertaining story but the post above better fits the LR story and is consistent with the Wikipedia version per the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_AJ-V8_engine

What I guess we can agree on is that the current V6 petrol engine that LR is now putting in the USA LR4 is not made in the new LR constructed factory where the Ingenium diesel engines that now power the Sport/Freelander are built.

What I did wonder was if the current LR4 turbo/super? charged V6 is some version of the Ford EcoTech or EcoBoost engine? If so, it is probably not too bad an engine. Land Rover just seems so silent re the current LR4 petrol engine.

 

...about a year and a half ago my wife and I bought an Infiniti Q50S for her to use as her daily driver. WOW! It does not make me miss the LR3 when driving around town and on-pavement. This speaks to the "LR3 is slow" aspect of this conversation.

I love my Rover to death, but unless I'm going camping, wheelin' or on a LONG road trip (needing cargo space and great stability) I'm taking the Infin every single time.