Land Rover Discovery 3 was a real SUV, although we were mainly looking for an off-road corner

“The new Discovery handles well on normal paved roads. But what it is capable of off-road: we wouldn’t believe it if we hadn’t experienced it ourselves.” That was clear during our first kilometers with the Discovery 3 in 2004. “Land Rovers traditionally – the original Land Rover dates from 1948 – have very good off-road capabilities, even though nowadays they cover most of the kilometers on paved roads. The new Discovery certainly does not deny its origins.”

First against Land Cruiser, later against XC90

For the first comparison test we go into the snow and we take a Toyota Land Cruiser with us to light a Japanese fire on the Brit’s shins. The cars have in common that they should be the better off-road vehicles in the SUV segment and to see if that is true, we go full throttle over snowy slopes. We find out that Landrover has also prepared the SUV recipe well, while the Toyota sticks more to its 4×4 roots. The Toyota is the best off-road vehicle, but the Discovery is not far behind, while it has the refined driving characteristics that come with a serious competitor for the BMW X5 and VW Touareg.

After the Discovery has fought off an off-road competitor, the next step is a car from the established SUV order: Volvo’s XC90. And here too, the Discovery shows its winning mentality, which it may owe to its relationship with the original Land Rover. “The Discovery convinces us more on all fronts than the XC90. It may have the advantage that the British continued to refine an old concept and adapt it to the needs of the times. You really have the idea with the real thing to be on the road.” The Volvo loses points in terms of driving dynamics and it is also more expensive: Solihull beats Gothenburg.

We mainly stayed in the 4×4 corner

We continue to see the ‘Disco’ playing a role as a real 4×4. That’s why we send him into the woods for the next round with two big Japanese mud wrestlers: Nissan’s Pathfinder and Mitsubishi’s Pajero. “At least these three are still real 4x4s, with a nice angular nose and not the exaggerated curves that characterize modern SUVs.” We think the Nissan is the least of the three: too many raw edges, rounded off with things like a hard plastic dashboard. It turns out that a boy scout often does not come along with the real men. There is no shortage of masculinity in the Pajero: “A mighty monster that can pull 3,300 kilos and can go very far off-road.” Cheers. Only… “Neither of them can compete with the Discovery. It does not shy away from heavy work (towing capacity 3,500 kilos!) and has a very pleasant drivetrain. As far as we are concerned, the Disco is the missing link between old-fashioned 4×4 and SUV. That is the last AutoWeek appearance of generation 3. In 2009 we will already be on the road with the Discovery 4. A trend-sensitive macho does not wait to be overtaken.