Took a Landrover LR3 out on a Jeep Run Saturday . . .

[lupinsea]

This Saturday I organized an "intro to offroading" run where we were joined by a fellow in his Landrover LR3. It was an interesting vehicle (I'll get to it in a bit) and we hit a mild / easy trail up in the mountains to the north of Cle Elum, WA and Roslyn, WA (where they filmed Northern Exposure). The weather was cooperating enough at the beginning with nice blue skies so I dropped the top for the day. Despite some intermittent cloud cover there was no rain and the day was warm, even at 6000 ft of elevation. The trail followed a draw up between some mountain peaks to reach an alpine lake. Territorial views into the interior of the mountains were great. But with the cloud cover we didn't catch sight of Mt. Rainier on this trip.

For more photos, click here.

For a trip report of the run itself, click here.

The Landrover LR3 Set up
This is actually a pretty cool vehicle. When the driver first mentioned what he was running I did some quick internet research. The LR3 is packed with some nice features for various 4WD modes and terrain, a low-range transfer case, a trick air suspension to raise the vehicle about 2.5" for more ground clearance, and a V8 engine. It features an independent suspension with some sturdy lower control arms.

However, I was still concerned about ground clearance, particularly with the plastic bumper covers and rocker guards for break-over angle. In addition to that the LR3 was running "low profile" tires. THey weren't as low profile as some modern SUVs and cars (which was a good thing) but certainly had much less sidewall than a typical Jeep tire (less "room" between sharp rocks and the tire rim for side wall compression). In addition to this the tires had a street tread.

The interior layout and arrangement on the LR3 is very cool. The SUV is quite boxy with a tall aspect ratio for the passenger / cargo compartment. The 3rd road seats stow very flat creating a nice cargo floor. And it has a real fold down tailgate, something that is less common these days with most SUVs having big lift gates. We had to fold it down to access the spare tire release (more later). And while cool for tailgate parties or a work bench it does make accessing the interior cargo area more difficult as it pushes you out about 18".

Trail Performance
It was very interesting seeing the Landrover put through the paces on this trail this weekend. It handled everything competantly and had plenty of power for motoring up the mountain. Traction wasn't much of an issue except at one rocky hill climb with loose gravel and rock chunks. The driver had to back down and make a run for it with some momentum. The Jeeps just walked right up. Though this might have had something to do with the tire selection and differential setups (dual LSDs in mine, locker in the other Jeep) vs. the LR3's electronic traction gizmos. I got out a lot to act as a spotter to make sure the LR3 didn't get into trouble. This gave me the opportunity to watch the details. Approaching obstacles it had a reasonable amount of clearance up front. However, by reasonable the bumper would come to within 1-2" of rocks or roots. Given what it was driving over this was good. But it was much closer compared to my mildly lifted Jeep where my front bumper would have a good 12"+ of clearance. The rear overhang was another issue, too. It only scraped a few times but I was mindful the plastic bumper cover wouldn't be torn off. And despite the added ground clearance from the raised suspension, the LR3's chassis did kiss a few rocks, but only lightly. This was due to the "shallow" breakover angle from the long wheel base coupled with a not-as-tall-as-a-Jeep ride height. The rocker panels also came down about even with the chassis so there was reduced clearance after driving a tire over a rock, a common technique used to lift the chassis over the terrain. Compared to a Jeep where the bottom of a rocker panel is slightly above the top of the frame rail for plenty of clearance.

Finally, the lower profile tires with their thinner sidewall construction were a concern as we traveled the trail. Suddenly rocks and other obstacles looked a bit more menacing as I considered the LR3's tires. Eventually on the way down a rock tore a 3" gash in a sidewall and we needed to change tires. It was an opportunity for the driver to learn about the Landrover's jack, tire changing procedure, how to lower the spare from the storage compartment, and a few other things. Perhaps not surprising the spare tire was a "temporary spare" with a narrower section width and warnings not to exceed 50 mph. It got us down off the trail and back to civilization but it also made me VERY glad that the Wranglers carry full-size spares . . . even my el-cheapo discount used spare tire will go well over the speed limit, has at least another 15,000 miles of tread on it, and is strong enough I don't need to worry about it on a trail.

The Trail vs. LR3 - Conclusions
Overall I really liked the LR3 and could see that there were some thoughfull touches throughout the rig. It's ability to raise the suspension was very slick and the various offroad modes were neat. Cargo / passenger layout was nicely done, too. But it was also apparent that while it did very well on this trail, this trail was also very very close to the LR3's limit. And this trails was considered VERY easy by Jeep standards. The lower profile tires were a concern as was the more modest breakover angle. Some cheap steel wheels and more dedicated offroad tires would help here. And "I" was worried a lot about tearing off the plastic bumper covers. In the end I think Landrover knows exactly where it's customers go and what they do. There's enough traction and offroad goodies to handle more than what most people will throw at their SUVs and it's great for general back-road exploring. But it's also a big leap from the Landrovers to the Jeeps.

And a big, big applause from me to the driver to having the guts to take his shiny, new, leased Landrover out on a 4x4 run!

A side note: The older stock ZJ and WJ Grand Cherokees would have a MUCH easier time on this trail than the Landrover. A bit more clearance all around and more "normal" profile tires would have helped. So Bren, FC, no worries for you guys.

The driver and his son snapping some photos at the start of the trail.





Climbing through a washed out section of trail, you can sort of see how
the LR3 is lifted up a bit in the wheel well gap and in the way the front
suspension is pushed down below the bumper.





Stopping for lunch at the alpine lake. Lots of frogs and BIG tadpoles
around the edge of the lake. And the mountain huckleberries in the area
were freak'n delicious!





Crossing another wash on the trail.





A section of trail cutting across a gravely slope.





Hamming it up for the photo op at a lookout point. Zoe's head is barely
visible over the folded soft top next to me.





The start of a steep hill climb with loose gravelly rocks that roll from under
the tires. . . makes things interesting.





Charging up the hill climb on the second attempt. This time, a little extra
momentum carried him all the way up.





Nearing the top of the mountain at 6,000 ft.





Changing the tire on the Landrover.

.

[FC]

Cool!