Land Rover Discovery
The Discovery (now known in the United States as the LR3) is a luxury SUV from Ford's Land Rover marque. There have been three generations of the vehicle, which is smaller and somewhat less expensive than the company's top Range Rover model. The Discovery is the most popular model of Land Rover; introduced in the late-1980s. It is not as utilitarian as the Defender; but again, very competent off-road.
Series I
Introduced into the UK in 1989, the Discovery was initially available in a three door version, the five door versions only becoming available the year after. The Discovery Commercial (a three door van) was never an official Land Rover model, and was only available through Land Rover Special Vehicles. Pre-1994, the Discovery was available with either the 2.5l 200 TDi engine or the 3.5l Rover V8. Early V8s used a twin carburettor system, moving over to Lucas fuel injection in 1990; V8 models are comparatively rare, the majority of Discovery owners preferring the more economical diesel engines. Consequently, resale prices of V8 engined vehicles are lower than the more popular diesel counterparts.
In 1994, there were many changes made to the Discovery I, the 200TDi and 3.5l V8 engines were replaced with the 300TDi and 3.9l Rover V8 engines, the 300TDi introducing a 'drive by wire' electronic accelerator and electronic engine control for certain markets.
As with all Land Rover vehicles, the transmission is a permanent four wheel drive system, with a locking centre differential at the transfer box. In common with much of the rest of the Land Rover range, the handbrake acts on the transmission at the back of the transfer box.
Series II
The Series II Discovery debuted in 1998. The interior and exterior was re-worked to be less utilitarian, but it was still very similar to the Series I.
Series III
On 2 April 2004, Ford Motor Company introduced a new Discovery 3 (or LR3 in the US) for the 2005 model year. It features a new 4.4 L V8 engine (based on the Jaguar AJ-V8 engine), rear independent suspension (based on the double-wishbone design in the Jaguar XJ), and an updated interior. Another new feature is the selectible Terrain Response traction control system. The new Discovery also uses a hybrid unibody and full frame design dubbed body-frame and rides on a chassis based on the next Ford Explorer.
