I am writting this in response to the many posts I have answered under many threads about simply not understanding the inner works of that cool looking **** on LR3s and all late model Rovers that controls the Terrain Response. Not understanding the way it works and what it does to you systems will most certainly cause you to not take advantage of the full capabilities of your vehicle at best and will get you stuck when you shouldnt have been at worse. I will attempt to keep this as simple and as short as possible - you should know by now that I like to write - and if any of you experts out there would like to add to it or clarify any of it, please do as this is only intended to help out other fellow late model owners better understand the capabilities of their Rovers.

First thing is first. If you are reading this post and have not yet changed the factory H/P GY tires on your LR3, do so. They are equally usless in all surfaces alike, but really show their uslessness off road. Nitto terra Grapplers, Silent Armors and Zeon LTZ's seem to get the most votes these days for good All Terrain tires.

Now, that said, I intend to discuss TR as well asDSC since they are usually used in conjunction when off road. DSC *and this is very important to know* works in conjunction with ETC (Electronic Traction Control)by looking for wheel spin, applying the ABS to that particular wheel and allowing the usable torque to continue to the tires with better ground contact and traction. It will alsokill the engineso it feels like the engine is dying out on you if the spin is severe and you are trying to power out of the situation. You either have an LR3 with Heavy Duty Package or you dont. If you do, you have electronic lockers at your rear differential on top of the Center locker that we all have. That means that when it is activated, you have the exact same torque being sent to both rear tires. There are situations where it is beneficial to allow for some wheel spin such as in deep sand, snow and/or mud. In those cases, turning off the DSC can be very beneficial. HOWEVER, to take full advantage of turning off the DSC you should have rear lockers, otherwise, the LR3 will tend to continue sending power to the wheels spining and will be very slow at redistributing that power to the tires with better traction. Especialy in situations that require considerable ammount of articulation (how far your wheels extend away or into the tire well). If you do not have rear lockers in your LR3 and you turn off the DSC you are ALMOST turning off the Electronic Traction Control as well. So keep this is mind when deciding if doing so would be beneficial or just plain counter productive. Also, in order for the ETC to work correctly, when you experience loss of traction, you should train yourself to be steady and reasonable on the gas pedal. Too much gas will cause the DCS to kill your engine power anyway. All those moves you see in Hollywood about trucks powering up a steep incline with dirt flying everywhere (roostertailing) behind the truck will not work on the LR3. Slow and steady on the gas will allow the ETC to do it's job and you will find yourself back on traction and moving forwardsoon enough.


The first setting on the TR is Normal Mode or "Special Programs off". Only thing of importance to remember here is that your LR3 is still in full time 4x4 with an even 50-50 split of power (front to back) when this is selected.

Second setting is Grass-Gravel-Snow. It is probably the most misunderstood setting of them all. Because it has the word snow, most people assume that it is the best setting to use in the snow and this is simply a mistake. It is intended to be used on hard packed surfaces that can be expected to be very slipery such as an ice covered road (not trail), the interstate during a rain storm, wet grass, and so on. It will cause your transmission to start out in 2nd gear (3rd gear when in low range). Will remove some sensitivity from the gas pedal andwill become very agressive at looking for and controling wheel spin. It will alsoremove some articulation inan effort to maintain better control.Never, ever use this setting during off roading. It is conter-productive to do so.

Next is mud-ruts. This setting allows the transmission to start in first gear even when using low range, thus allowing more torque to make it where it is needed. It will increase articulation and be a little more forgiving of wheel spin. Use caution if off roading in low range in this setting as it is a very strange feeling to be in first gear/low range until you get used to it. Better suited for mud, ruts, pot holes, gravel covered trails, snow covered trails, great setting for most off road situations with the exception of the next two.

Sand mode. Use it for what it is intended. It is the best setting for the deep, sugar sand like a trip to the beach. Dog-gone californians will not let me take my LR3 to any of the thousands of miles worth of coast hereexcept for Pismo Beach [:@]. It will cause your transmission to "hang on" to the lower gears longer before allowing for an up shift. That translates into more torque, something essensial in deep sand to keep the tires moving. It will also desensitise the DSC even further to allow for some wheel spin, all inan effort to make sure you keep forward momentum.

Finnaly is rock crawl. It will greatly remove control from the gas pedal, will allow for the greatest amount of articulation and will force the vehicle into Low Range. Use mainly for what its name implies.

To sumarize, buy good all terrain tires. Demand heavy duty package if you intend to off road at all. Use controled, steady gas when you loose traction to allow the ETC to do its job. Heavy on the gas is counter productive with very few exceptions such as when in mud and trying tospin the mud clear from your treads or when in sugar sand when high rpms are desired.

Hope this helps someone!

 

THANKS FOR THAT!

We have the same truck, Blk/Blk 06 LR3 HSE w/ HD. Just picked it up yesterday and figuring it all out... actually want to use the truck for what it is made for offroad (when I can). Had the dealer take me on the LR course which was informative and fun, but this is great to have as well laid out in laymans terms!

As for tires, I have the Michelin Syncros, dealer installed brand new, reviews seem to be favorable for on road and light off, (just not snow). On road (in LA) is 95-8% of my daily driving, but want to get the truck out a few times a month on some trails, etc. Thought I would stick with these tires until I felt a need for something more extreme, as the electronic systems are so advanced on this truck. Thoughts? I want to keep the 19" wheels, I like em! not sure what the options/sacrafices are of the tires you mention, noise, wear, etc.

OK, thanks again for this post.

 

That is a great write up, Thanks.

 

Thanks, Mike. I think most of us in this forum have come to trust your vast experience andknowledge of evrything Land Rover. I know I certainly have. So if you found it informative, then I am certainly pleased with the end result.

Sparrow: Congrats on the LR3. You will love evrything about it. Best vehicle I have owned to date. About the tires, if you intend to get serious about off roading, then new tires will be in order soon. I tried to get by with factory tires on the trails until I hit a little mud and got miserably stuck where I shouldn't have. I had all terraintires on my LR3 the following week.

You will find that trying to stay with 19 and finding good all terrain tires is a frustrating job. I went down to 18 and put Silent Armors on mine. The improvement in ride confort was increadible. The already impressive off road capabilities just went through the roof. The main concern with all terrain tires is on how they behave on the higway since we mainly use our LR3 as our daily comuters. Noise and vibration are at the top of all terrain tire concerns. The 3 I mentioned before have been found to be the best compromise between off and on road. Terras have been around for a little while now and some claim are king of the off road. Silent Armors and Zeons are newer but so far have an equaly impresive record for being quiet on road, yet great grip offroad. Your choice, but I recomend going to 18. You can look around but I don't believe you will find a tire worth your time off road in the 19" range.

 

WELL PUT. AND THANK-YOU FOR REMINDING OTHERS OF HE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IN YOUR LAST PARAGRAPH I CAN'T COUNT HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE PULLED PEOPLE DUE TO THAT SIMPLE FACT

To sumarize, buy good all terrain tires. Demand heavy duty package if you intend to off road at all. Use controled, steady gas when you loose traction to allow the ETC to do its job. Heavy on the gas is counter productive with very few exceptions such as when in mud and trying to spin the mud clear from your treads or when in sugar sand when high rpms are desired.

 

Has anyone had the Heavy Duty Package added on after the purchase? If so I would like to know what the price was for the Locking rear differential.
Thanks

 

i looked into it. and it is stupid expensive . starting price just for the parts is over 3k and that was just a quick over the phone number; he told me when i checked on it. he told me it was rediculously expensive

 

Jantiz,

Nice write-up. It's pretty sad, though, that most people who own an LR3 will never get to experience what a HUGE difference the modern Terrain Response makes to the novice off road driver. As most have seen, it really is the EASY button, and I know that many drivers of older generation LR's scoff at a computer doing so much work, but they almost always look at me with lust in their eyes when I scramble over an obstacle that they had to run and gun to get over.

LR really set the bar higher when they came out with that system, and although my year, 2005, was plagued with some bugs, they have worked themselves out, and it was well worth the hassles to get things ironed out.

Keep up the great work giving people the benefit of your experience as well.

[IMG]local://upfiles/6612/688B77BA50C14AB8A97A6B6CA681C8A9.jpg[/IMG]

 

The LR3, and the late model Range Rovers are such awesome vehicles. It's a shame as you say that people will pay such prices for trully awesome vehicles and then use only 1/3 of the vehicle. I think every single LR3 owner should be required to atend at least one Wheels event during the first year of ownership. You can not possibly appreciate the totality of just how awesome this vehicle is if you only use it on the comute to work.

Do yourself a favor. If you haven't done so yet, let your dealer know that you want to be included in the next wheels event. These events are well planned far in advance to keep it challenging, instructional, increadibly fun, yet perfectly safe for your new vehicle. They will not tackle any obstacles that the LR3 can't handle easily. They will just tackle obstacles YOU DIDN'T KNOW your LR3 could handle easily! It's quite an eye opener for new owners and I promise you will not come back with anything on your vehicle that doesn't wash off. Trust me; you will thank me later and hopefuly you will be hopelesly hooked with off-roading like the rest of us. Hope to see you soon on the roads less traveled!!!

 

Jantiz

Thanks for the reply a few posts back...

Yes, love the new LR3, so glad I have the heavy duty, watched both lockers (including rear, which I was told I would never see lock up by the dealer) lock up several times today. Went out on some property today my grandfather owns... went thru ruts and mud (filled up the tread on the tires, till they were useless, so I see your point) then after they cleaned up going thru a stream, I tackled a nice (soft, due to recent rain, but no tire spin in Mud-Rut mode) hill that took us up quite a steep incline and over an apex that crested and dropped 3-4 ft where all wheels were articulated and both lockers were in full use... then turned around up top on level ground and came down over the crest and dropped back down in hill descent, (with 5 people, including my 92 year old grandfather and my 2 year old daughter in a car seat and the dog in back!) So much power to spare going up, no troubles going down, felt completely safe and in control... minor scraping on one under door panel over the apex on the return descent due to soft soil, (so glad I do not have running boards!), should probably have used Rock Crawl on approach for more articulation???... otherwise amazing and fun!

As for the tire cunundrum, don't know if this is the wrong place to post, since we touched on it earlier here, but I found these for the 19's, listed for Discovery 3 (LR3 Europe)...

Michelin 4X4 A/T 255/55 R19

Here is where I found them,
http://www.euroshina.com.ua/en/tyres/Michelin/4x4-a-t

Anybody have an opinion and/or idea where to get/order them???

Lastly, where do you find out about / do a wheels event???

Thanks all!