Range Rover Sport Suspension problems...

I'm afraid I can't help with this, but I had to tell *someone*

I was following one of these today (don't know if it was your model, but it was the Sport HSE.

I thought it was supposed to be an off-roader?

The damn thing had 6" ground clearance, and this huge spare wheel holder that was almost dragging on the ground.

You could crawl around underneath the old ones!

Pete.

That's because you frequently have to...

LandRover lost the off-road plot a long time ago if you ask me. The Freelander was the first obvious sign.

They only make Chelsea tractors now.

Extreme fuel consumption? from a 4.2L supercharged engine? You're kidding right?

For future reference: Generally the bigger number before the 'L' the more fuel it uses, words like 'Supercharged' and 'Sport' in the name aren't going to help either, nor the fact that its about the size and shape of a brick shithouse.

Just to add to the inefficiency, weight will not be helping either.

I know of two local people near me who have both had major suspension problems both on Discos. The first on an old shaped one used to dump its air suspension at various times. Once at 70 in a corner was the final staw and ended up back with Land rover engineers coming up to look at it. The second is a new style disco and has been back 3 times so far. I would say if you googled it then you'd get a few with the same problem. Nice car though if you can afford it (wish I could). Good luck.

I don't know if there is a common problem. Even if there is, it is what they call a 'teething problem'. Get it fixed and forget about it while enjoying your new transport. I have a year-and-a-half old Range Rover and, believe it or not, it has been totally reliable with not the smallest fault. Some are not as 'lucky' but I have had two previous Range Rovers, a Discovery and various Defenders and all bar one have been long-term reliable with only minor annoyances. They have definitely improved over the years but consumer expectations have also risen, sometimes to unreasonable levels.

Huw

LOL you bought a Range Rover and assumed it would do more than 15mpg?! lol. You're having a giraffe.

The Range Rovers of yesteryear (classic round headlight model) and Landies are the only ones built to handle anything. The rest are over-computerised, over complicated "trying to be sporty" cars on stilts. Look lovely IMO, and are fairly good offroad but hardly the killers their predecessors are. Why do you think people in the deserts and outback still use basic Landcruisers and old landie 90s? Cos they are so simple they almost never fail, and when they do you can fix it with a bag of spanners and some spare blocks of wood.

You bought a car that has more complexity than an F1 car, for a fraction of the price, and expect it to last? I feel for you, i really do, but its just not happening! The rangies >classic are known to be plagued with electrical faults at least. This is what happens when you try to leave the safety of agricultural drivetrains without investing enough testing.

The suspension is an issue. IIRC a family member of mine did a test drive off-road of one of 04 rangerovers and even on the test run the suspension locked in road-mode and the drive was cancelled. I'm sure its much improved now though, and yours has been a rare incident. Theres always a failure rate of SOME sort in all products, so give it a chance. Just dont expect it to be a cheap car to run or go cross-axleing it as its NOT an offroader!

As cars yes, as off-roaders - no.

As offroaders also, within the limits imposed by the bias of particular models. My Range Rover MkIII is far superior offroad to previous models. The current Defender with traction aids is also the best ever. I've no doubt that the Discovery is also pretty good, better in some ways and maybe not as good in others compared to the offroad ability of its predecessor. As offroad toys they are, as ever, expensive ones. As working tools which double as family vehicles they are peerless.

The Freelander is in a different class. Oddly enough it seems to be at one end of a class which includes the RR Sport and Porche Cayenne at the other end; cars for use where there are some unpaved roads. Believe it or not these conditions are common even in the UK where normal cars would not survive the trip up the farm or estate lane.

Huw

Zimmy ( snipped-for-privacy@y.z) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The R-R "Sport" isn't an R-R. It's a Disco 3 with a R-R-alike body on it.

Which explains the weight and the abysmal ground clearance.

Its a Land Rover, you are to expect problems. Did the handbook not explain that part??

Tim..

Maybe for the casual user, but I've yet to find a "serious" off-roader who prefers the new ones to the old, in fact i know of a couple who have switched back and one who was attempting to disable the 'aids'. The descent control is clever I admit.

As a matter of interest, if you wanted a cheap, reliable, tough off-road vehicle for occasional use, and were not too bothered about its on-road manners, what would you buy?

I'm thinking something like a Daihatsu Four-Trak or a Toyota Hi-Ace would fit the bill. Dunno what the Nissan X-Trail is like, but probably too expensive. Toyota Landcruiser would definitely be too expensive. Old Land Rovers are tough, and can be fixed with bailing wire, but are not terribly reliable.

Thoughts?

Id go with a good old reliable Toyota Hilux pickup or the surf/4runner. Having used one recently alongside 90's an older Surf (imported, cheap as chips) on mud tyres was matching the 90's handling wise and is warm and cosy inside, with air con and electric everything except drivetrain. On road they can be a tad tail happy but just dont drive it like a car and you'll be fine. They stop very well and dont go too slow either.

Ive found the Four-trak to be a little unrefined inside but thats just my taste.

You mean Hilux? HiAce is a van. The Hilux is often the choice of the psycho off-roader! 8-)

Not if you go for an older one. And I can vouch for the fact that they are superb off-road, as well as being what the proverbial brick sh*thouse was modelled on.

Suzuki SJ series are well-regarded for off-road work. And, don't laugh, but so is the Lada Niva. A bit more up-market, the Toyota 4Runner/Surf is pretty good. Based on the HiLux pickup.

Sweet and well built, more reliable than an RR..

PDH

"serious" as in "pisser around" I would think. Serious users such as farmers and surveyors and engineers and even explorers will not find it wanting. With every new advance you will find 'naysayers' and those who say 'they don't build them like they used to', to which I reply "thank God".

in fact i know of a

Why? The stability control can be switched off on the console but why ever would one want to switch traction control off?

My least liked feature and one which I seldom switch on. It is 'off' by default thank goodness. It was 'on' by default on the Mercedes.

Huw

Actually I was referring to some military users who use several different types of 4x4 day in day out on tank training grounds (and boy can those tanks out-off-road anything!).

I meant switched off and removed to prevent issues, i cant claim to know the ins and outs as i dont own one of the newer ones.

You're backwards :-)