Discovery 4x4 system

I took my P38 Rangey out for a run this morning with Grabber 2s and although it did a pretty competent job, it wasn't a patch on my Disco 4 with the standard P Zeros but with the dial set to "slightly-slippy". It's the first opportunity I've had to have a direct comparison between the two in snow and ice. I've driven the Disco 4 at various off road events and it was mind blowing, but then again so is the Rangey. Driving over exactly the same stuff with both vehicles today in snow and ice though there was no comparison. In the Disco I could behave like an idiot and make fast starts and brake hard and the electrickery just evened the whole thing out. My beloved Rangey got all Shaking Stevens on me and swung its hips around all over the road.

I agree with all said on here of course, if the nut behind the wheel is loose then you are on to a loser. But I do wonder whether we will hit a point very soon, or even if we are at it already, when even a complete novice will be able to outstrip a well trained driver if sufficiently armed with the electronic assistants available in some of the vehicles around now. The Disco 4 probably being the best case in point. Guys with more enthusiasm than skill would have become bogged down a lot earlier and so when easier to recover than they would now. I don't count myself an expert at all but when taking the various Land Rover courses in the Disco, I did managed to get to all the same places as the guys that I considered to be considerably more experienced than me in the Defender, but with a lot less effort or skill. It's gonna be interesting.

Either way, if we have another winter like the last one, regardless of which ever Landy we've got, we can guarantee there'll be an opportunity for a few sly smiles when an the chance to pull a Prius out of a hiccup comes along. Suddenly I doubt they will mind quite so much about the two tons of CO2 being emitted from the Rangey's 4.6 V8 every minute.

I think you're quite right, I have a lot of faith in electronic systems. Feathering the throttle and cadence braking is one thing but these systems are making these decisions hundreds of times a second. Plus no purely mechanical system will direct power to the most appropriate wheel in all situations. The newer stuff is genuinely good.

Thanks for some of the advice.

MAIN REASON I ASKED THIS QUESTION IS THAT I HAVE BOUGHT THIS WITH ALOT OF FAULT ( JUST REBUILT THE GEAR BOX AND ENGINE). I THOUGHT I MIGHT OF MISSED SOMETHING.

I've done alot of off road driving, just not in a Discovery (I've always had Jap 4x4).
I believe the Pajero did have limited slip diff. Maybe I have started depending on that.

I did get up the hill on my second attempt, but used more speed than I expected.

Any prefrences on tyre? mine has kingpin Mud Terrains at the moment (came with the car) would the pirelli Scorpions AT be better as I have a set

Sean said:

so how will the above help the OP ?

Click to expand...

I had grip on both Drivers side wheels, but passenger side was on Ice.

What i originally was trying to find out is basically if this sounds correct or is there a problem with a diff.

simon95 said:

I had grip on both Drivers side wheels, but passenger side was on Ice.

What i originally was trying to find out is basically if this sounds correct or is there a problem with a diff.

Click to expand...

This is totally normal and means your diffs are working as they should,even with the center diff lock engaged you would lose traction in that situation unless you had difflocks in your axles( shogun/pajero's have a rear difflock as standard)

disco2shaun said:

it all depends what tyres you have fitted. half worn road tyres arnt gunna do you any favours.

Click to expand...

Oh bum, thats me fooked then

going uphill is np in my td5 with stock tyres, taking it easy.. going downhill tho, i found going down in low range with hdc OFF i slipped alot less than when i had it on, soon as hdc was on i started slipping and had to take over immediatly to stop it, now i d8ident engage hdc halfway down i started on the flat with it on and let it pull me down, was in 2nd low, now when i took over i regained traction and let the clutch slowoly out on low range 2, then moved down to one carefully after i gained speed, dident slip once.. whats that all about>? i think hdc is good for steep descents but when its that slippy either dont go down or handle the adjustments yourself, dont rely on hdc and traction control to get you down..

pics of my disco in the snow are in disco section

My pajero never had rear difflock... I recon its cos the pajero was an auto and the disco a manual ( bit of an assumption I know )....

V8jon said:

This is totally normal and means your diffs are working as they should,even with the center diff lock engaged you would lose traction in that situation unless you had difflocks in your axles( shogun/pajero's have a rear difflock as standard)

Click to expand...

Some Pajeros have a rear difflock. It was an option. A fair few of them do have a read LSD though.

Supose it depends on what model and year,mine had one (1991 V6 auto) and what I diference it made! Why can't landrover fit them as standard on the disco's? Now that would be nice!

Rear diff locks were fitted on Pajeros because the articulation is nowhere near as good as a Disco, therefore they are move likely to leave a wheel dangling in the air and requiring some form of intervention to maintain momentum.

Thanks V8jon, mind is at ease now. Been out in the disco again today, no problems, just driving with a bit more mometum.

V8jon said:

Supose it depends on what model and year,mine had one (1991 V6 auto) and what I diference it made! Why can't landrover fit them as standard on the disco's? Now that would be nice!

Click to expand...

Rear difflock was an option on Pajeros and Shoguns, no hard an fast rule as to which had them, and the rear LSD was only fitted to vehicles with what was called a "winter pack".

Land rover have finally fitted rear lockers to D3 and 4'S in HSE spec.

simon95 said:

Any prefrences on tyre? mine has kingpin Mud Terrains at the moment (came with the car) would the pirelli Scorpions AT be better as I have a set

Click to expand...

MT's have less rubber in contact with the surface if it hard, then the AT's, I am keeping my AT's on for the mo as they will put a larger area of conatct then the MT's if there is nowt to dig into.

MT's better on MUD and deep soft snow, think a few on here will agree with that.

Along with other things like electronics, driving style, all these differnetes would have to be taken into account, when you jump behind the wheel.

bang on there Stu - mud tyres are bloody hopeless on iced up tarmac, I ended up facing the wrong way round on an M6 slip road many moons ago cos of "over exuberant " braking in a series3 that had a set of SATS ( now Im getting all nostalgic). My disco on BFG's is WAY better on ice than the s3 ever was.

Personally, HDC has given me more grief on slippy descents than it has helped...first gear, diff lock and experience never fails.

i agree with ya foss

I have only ever had HDC on my Freelander, only used it once when I was in Ireland comming down from taking my cousin up a hill so he could jump off with his hanglider,

Did not like it at all, so did not use it any more.... not got one on my Disco, or had one on my S3, so i'll stick with what I feel comfortable with and know.

trax99 said:

bang on there Stu - mud tyres are bloody hopeless on iced up tarmac, I ended up facing the wrong way round on an M6 slip road many moons ago cos of "over exuberant " braking in a series3 that had a set of SATS ( now Im getting all nostalgic). My disco on BFG's is WAY better on ice than the s3 ever was.

Click to expand...

i have to agree on that, got BFG's A/T's on my disco2 and there brilliant on ice and snow