Super TestCar reviews - Land Rover - Discovery - rangeLand Rover modelsOverviewLand Rover launches Discovery 3 Down Under - six months before its official release11 Nov 2004 LAND Rover's third-generation Discovery has been launched in Australia, just a few weeks after its international release, but it's not officially on sale here until late April. It's not soon enough for the struggling local arm, which sees Discovery 3 as the perfect model at the perfect time for SUV-mad Australia. The all-new model heralds a new construction method that sees its car-like monocoque bodyshell mounted onto a traditional four-wheel drive ladder chassis - a system that will underpin many future Land Rovers. While it's a given that the famed British brand has instilled the new Disco with all the off-road know-how it can muster, what may surprise is just how competent the new one is on the road. Offering X5-like levels of bitumen handling, with a choice of V6, V8 and turbo-diesel power, and the option of seven seats, Disco 3 offers enough versatility, performance and all-round ability to make it well worth the small price rise over its forebear, which now seems positively archaic in comparison. Model release date: 1 May 2005 to 1 September 2009 All car reviewsAlfa Romeo Abarth Alpine Alpina Audi Aston Martin BMW Bentley Chevrolet Chery Citroen Chrysler Dodge Cupra Ferrari DS Ford Fiat FPV Foton GWM Great Wall Holden Haval HSV Honda Hyundai Hummer Isuzu Infiniti Jeep Jaguar Lamborghini Kia LDV Land Rover Lotus Lexus Maserati Mahindra McLaren Mazda Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG Mini MG Nissan Mitsubishi Peugeot Opel Proton Porsche Renault Ram Rover Rolls-Royce Skoda Saab SsangYong Smart Suzuki Subaru Toyota Tesla Volvo Volkswagen Previous modelDiscovery 3 replaces the Series II Disco that appeared here in March 1999 and received its final facelift - spelling the first significant change to the model's trademark look in more than a decade - in November 2002. While the 2002 upgrade brought mainly cosmetic revisions, the 1999 car was bigger, more commodious for seven occupants, offered far better on-road handling and better turbo-diesel performance. Discovery 3 improves on both iterations on all counts. |
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