Well I finally got the courage to go test drive an LR3 at the local dealership (the only one within a 300 mile radius). And selected a gold LR3 HSE. I have test driven a couple discoverys primarily because they are in my price range a bit more but, LR3 had always been at the top of my list primarily because of its features. In order for me to make a sound judgement on my purchase, I needed to see if i enjoyed driving the LR3... and OMFG IT WAS AMAZING! I have never driven a vehicle I have enjoyed driving more than the LR3... It is definitley at the top of my list now and I can't wait for the day I do go out there and get one. The dealership was very nice and took it up the test track which scared me a bit but, it took the obstacles with ease. My biggest concern is the fuel economy... Yes, I know that fuel prices are low but, whats to say thats not going to change. While I was test driving I pushed the information button on the turn signal and had to rub my eyes and look again when I saw "7.5mpg" I knew this could not be correct under normal operating conditions and figured it was from all the other test drives going up the obstacle course and what not. But, just out of curiosity what have you guys been averaging? I do about half city and highway driving and would be just fine with averaging 16mpg but would hope that it would do a bit better than that.

 

you should get 16mpg city I get that around town and on the hwy I get 18-20mpg.

 

With 79k miles, I average around 13 overall. I have some hills, freeways, lots of town driving. On Highway, I average 15-18 and I have 285x60x18 offroad tires. I didn't buy it for the mileage....[8D]

 

Thats encouraging!... I know it sounds silly, if you can afford the car you can afford the gas right? Well I can right now but, if it gets up to 7 a gallon (I HOPE TO HELL THAT DOESNT HAPPEN) I'll be in some trouble. I'm not buying it for its mileage, believe me. If I were doing that I'd go waste my money on a prius, I'm just trying to make sure I don't get raped with the fuel bill... OH and did anyone else get that "THIS TRUCK IS MINE!" feeling after you were done driving one for the first time?

 

I did get that feeling the first time I drove an LR3. My Discovery II was in for a service visit and I requested an LR3 as a loaner. I loved my Disco2 but love my LR3 more!

 

I know what you mean; I've always wanted a Rover, whether it be Range or Land, and could not be more impressed with the handling and ride of the LR3.

Gas mileage; for the 2 weeks that I've had it - 19mpg hwy on a 450mile trip and 14-15 with mixed city/hwy; $40 to fill it up (with premium, of course!) is not so bad either (at least for now).

 

We've had ours ('06 HSE with 30k miles) since the end of August, and for the most part my wife drives the car around town, lots of hills and starts and stops. She averages around 12-13. We just returned from an 850 mile trip and it did pretty well. Five passengers, luggage and 80-90 mph average, yielded 18.3 mpg. I think if I had the patience, I could have coaxed 20 from it. The trip was from SF to LA.

I will say all passengers were happy, it rides great and the seats were comfortable, even the third row, which my wife used the whole trip as my mother rode shotgun.