Quote:

Why the are you putting a Disco on a RR chassis?

Oh, the irony!


You do realise that the original Disco was built on the RR chassis, don't you?

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Oh, the irony!

You do realise that the original Disco was built on the RR chassis, don't you?

Indeed it was. A Range Rover chassis that was shortly after replaced by something more modern (well, sort of!) for the Range Rover P38. A chassis designed in the late 1960's btw.

However the Discovery then evolved away from being a poor man's RR to being a vehicle in its own right, bringing practicality and capability that the RR had swapped for prestige. The original Disco was on an ancient and past its sell by date RRC chassis, had Morris Marina door handles and much more besides to keep development costs to a minimum, and the money was spent on the Tdi engine.

This situation has nothing to do with those dark days of no cash and declining company sales. There is no excuse for this of a vehicle.

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Quote:

Why the are you putting a Disco on a RR chassis?

Oh, the irony!


You do realise that the original Disco was built on the RR chassis, don't you?

RDR wrote:

We spent an hour crawling over the D5 today and... Im torn

Lovely car and I emphise the word car, the cabin is lovely and exactly what I want (a RangeRover) I like the look externally too, especially upfront it looks really aggressive front on. The technology is nice and modern but nothing cutting edge in design that could see. Storage is good, cup holders ok and I liked the sunroof and new blinds. Driving position for me seemed fine (I'm 6'5") and could see the whole dash binnacle for once unlike on the D3/4 where the steering wheel blocks it. The 2nd row seemed roomy for the kids and they said it was comfy.

We then got to the rear and oh dear
Its so small! No amount of the LR reps quoting numbers could get around how the design fundamentally restricts the space. The numbers around height at the rear are external and include the sharks tail which must be 2times the height or more than the D4s probably on purpose to keep the external heights similar.

The boot opening is drastically smaller and the rear doors huge, the dogs will have to have their heads pushed down as the tailgate slowly closes and then they can put them up as the rear tailgate forms part of the boot space its so deep.

The activity bench is pants and everyone agreed,you could tell they were sick of the question around why they dropped the split tailgate and could not defend it. We spent a lot of time sizing it up and playing with the space in an attempt find positives but its was tough going we did some test role play to see the difference here is the ice cream eating position comparison:





As you can see the height is a lot lower and the kids had to bunch together tight to all sit on the bench, look at the gap between them on my D4 outside. It IS a lot smaller

As I said at the start I'm torn, the looks, cabin and tech are all good but the boot space and practicality is much less that the D4 and going to make it a very difficult decision. Dealers going to work on deal for a First Edition with all the accessories I need (dog guard, load decider,roof bars, tow bar, side steps) I just need to send him a build off the configurator so ill see what it comes out like but I fear it will be too much to swallow for the practicality issues.

A sad day really, the Discovery is no longer my perfect car

Red Merle wrote:

That's lots of sensible stuff being said here but, in just a few words: "McGovern and co are destroying one of the most powerful brand images in the world".

Yep.

Red Merle wrote:

RRSTDV8 wrote:

Quote:

Why the are you putting a Disco on a RR chassis?

Oh, the irony!


You do realise that the original Disco was built on the RR chassis, don't you?

Yes, realised that one too, although I was going to let it pass rather than score points.

IN project Jay, they too the RR Classic's compact, 100" wheelbase, immensely strong ladder chassis, bulkhead, windscreen and doors and built what we all know on a shoestring budget. The basis of the current FFRR is very, very different (and much bigger) than anything that's underpinned a Disco before.

Red Merle wrote:

RDR wrote:

quote removed:

With the great bunch of kids that you've got there, the last thing that you're going to need over the next few years is a smaller (inside) and less practical car! The amount of space that they are going to need, for themselves, friends and junk, is going to get a lot larger very soon!! The relative lack of space will grate, long after the novelty of the temporary modernity of the design has completely worn off.

As a family, we used to own a MINI Cooper S, which we loved. We'd pack the Mrs and myself, our young daughter, the Collie and all our kit in the car and a roof box. All of a sudden, young Rose hit her growth spurt and it didn't matter how much we liked the car, it became all but useless overnight and the car was sold. We never saw it coming and the whole process only took about 6 weeks from the first complaint.

Thanks RedMerle

Lots of discussion with SWMBO tonight, we are already pushing the envelope with the D4 as we actually have 6 little ones to look after if you include these



With the boot full of dog all the time we have to have the roof box on pretty much all the time



And at weekends and just day trips out we end up towing as well



so we really are in a corner and a Custom T6 is looking like it could be the only option. Im going to have another look at the V90 tomorrow as I dismissed it for boot space but it could be very similar to the D5 and I liked the idea of the T8 Twin Engine model.

TBH feel a bit cross after today I was expecting some issues but didn't think it would provoke such frustration in me and really surprised how SWMBO took it she said the D4 is still the best car ever to the LR Representatives

petersw wrote:

A refurbished 110 with the bench seats

Funny you say that I have a itch for a 1975 (my vintage) safari been on the lookout for years





a perfect car for us