Range Rover Sports

keiron · Senior Member

Range Rover Sports

yobarr · Guru

keiron wrote:
Hi, I have just returned from a short trip Sydney - Western Vic - Eastern SA and return, driving my 4.8 litre Patrol (petrol) towing the Jayco Starcraft (2.5 tonne).
I experienced a serious feeling of in-adequacy when climbing hills, as some of those "little" turbo uses flashed past dragging their 2.5 - 3 tonne dual axle off-readers behind.
I was so impressed with my Patrol, that I am now looking to up-grade, and am looking at the Range Rover series of vehicles, starting with the smaller 3.0 litre twin turbo diesel model.
The point of this meme is not so much to whinge about the Patrol (as it is all-in-all a great vehicle), but to seek some first hand experience from others who have used such a Rover to haul a caravan.
Special interest being placed on their reliability, service costs (V's say a Toyota V8 L/C) and suitability to country running, dirt roads, a few corrogations etc.
I have seen some in my several trips, but not a lot, and wonder why??
Anxiously awaiting all comments. Thanks in advance for taking the time to communicate. Cheers, KB

Dont quote me here,as I cant confirm presently,but I think that that is one of the cars where towing weights are halved if the vehicle is being used off-road? Pay to check.Cheers

Whenarewethere · Guru

I have spoken to 2 RRS owners, they both thought their cars were brilliant, one was a petrol V8, he said it was a bit thirsty. Low profile tyres were an issue. I think 19" wheels are the smallest on a RRS.

Whenarewethere · Guru

My Freelander halves the weight for off-road, maybe Land Rover are more up front than some other manufacturers.

The Freelander has up to 350kg towball weight with conditions even though it can only tow 2 tonnes.

The top end Range Rovers have a bit less payload due to electric everything. So you maybe better buying a pauper model.

blaze · Guru

I would also look at disco 5 if new or second hand would look at disco 4, more suitable as a tow vehicle in my opinion. I have owned 2 discos and 2 range rovers in the past but earlier models.
cheers
blaze

blaze · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
I have spoken to 2 RRS owners, they both thought their cars were brilliant, one was a petrol V8, he said it was a bit thirsty. Low profile tyres were an issue. I think 19" wheels are the smallest on a RRS.

IMHO the low profile tyres are great for towing but not much good off road,

changed mine out after 6 punctures at murchusion in WA after a weekend.

cheers

blaze

Flags2 · Veteran Member

Hi Keiron,

Not sure a Range Rover sports is ideal but the choice is yours. If I were in your position I would be looking at a Land Rover Discovery 4 (or 5) Turbo Diesel. We have the 2015 Disco 4 SE and it tows 3.5 tonnes without a blink. We compared lots of new vehicles and by the time we optioned them up for our needs, the Disco (new) was the best buy. It's a really tough vehicle so even a relatively low kms used would be a good buy.

Happy travels

Eaglemax · Guru

Just on low profile tyres, I bought a VW Tiguan new once, the top of the range with low profiles. Terrible ride compared to the stock higher profile tyres. I only realised it near home where the bitumen was rough. Good luck, I do like the RRs and good questions you ask Tony

-- Edited by Eaglemax on Monday 3rd of February 2020 07:53:07 PM

Whenarewethere · Guru

I wanted 17"but Land Rover wouldn't swap the 18" rims. I have bought a second 18" spare, get a price on Land Rover rims as they are not cheap.

Running 255/60R18 Pirrelli Scorpion AT plus (235/60R18 standard on Freelander), 35psi road, about 24psi off-road, about 20psi sand.

You need 60 aspect ratio as a reasonable minimum off-road. Land Rover's fetish with low profile tyres is BS in the outback.

You really need to sort wheel size out before anything else with LR.

keiron · Senior Member

I find this discussion regards Tyre sizes, which includes diameters and ultimately circumferences, interesting.

How does the vehicle speedo, odometer and fuel computer calculations accommodate such variation in Tyre sizes.

I am sorry to ask such obvious questions but I am somewhat of a dinosaur....

Cheers again, KB

Whenarewethere · Guru

You can go up a size and you will still generally be a touch under actual speed. I'm still about 2kph under.

https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/

Increasing width will reduce efficiency a bit, as will coarser tread.

If you look at a RRS tyre forum thread, size is discussed ad nauseam.

Nevd · Senior Member

I agree with Whenarewethere regarding the tyres. I changed to a taller tyre on the same rims on a previous Amarok at the recommendation of my tyre dealer for offroad and beach work (longer footprint). They worked well in both on & off road, with the added bonus that the speedo was only 2 kph out, rather than the 5 kph optimistic reading at 100 kph.

RichardK · Senior Member

Hi Keiron,

We have the LR3 for which I can point out the reliability it has had.

It is my second, both of which I bought new, the current one is a 2009 S model TDV6 with E locker.

OK so have had it for 10 years currently has 395K on the clock and has been across Oz 8 times on extended 6 month trips covering WA to Vic, NSW QLD, the Gunbarrel, Connie Sue, outback NSW and Vic, the high country and etc.

For 9 of the 10 years it has only required suspension bushes, brake pads, discs, radiator, tyres, and general service oils etc. I also changed the air suspension before I retired even though it wasn't required as I could then claim it against tax

This year however we ran into problems with the fuel system, the intank lift pump reached its use by date, the high pressure fuel pump also decided to play up as it had probably been carrying the lift pumps work for some time and the oil cooler succumbed to old age, so all in all it cost around $6500 to put it all right.

I guess if you amortize that it is $650 per year plus the others noted above, as far as I am concerned it has been an extremely reliable vehicle.

If you go the way of Landrover I suggest a recent D4, a very competent vehicle but do your research into the servicing of any before purchase.

Cheers

Richard

Eaglemax · Guru

keiron wrote:
I find this discussion regards Tyre sizes, which includes diameters and ultimately circumferences, interesting.
How does the vehicle speedo, odometer and fuel computer calculations accommodate such variation in Tyre sizes.
I am sorry to ask such obvious questions but I am somewhat of a dinosaur....
Cheers again, KB

Had several cars that I changed tyre sizes on. Legally I think 2 sizes up from what is standard is legal not beyond. Could be corrected there.

Use a Tyre Comparison web site to find out your speedo changes. Put in your tyre size, put in your proposed tyre size and compare the % difference. If you know your speedo reads high for example by say 8% (common) and your new tyre is larger diameter, that adds say 3% then your speedo will read 5% less meaning it is more accurate.

Speedos from new cars from 2006 were illegal if the speedo read lower than actual speed. (The Proton Jumbuck snuck through the gates because I had a new one and it read 5 kph low!) So try this site- https://www.tempetyres.com.au/tyre-size-calculator What you need to do is get the tyre size off the side of your tyre and put that in your original tyre details on the site. Increase the profile- eg if your desired tyre is 60 profile- put that in. play around with it to get the extra profile height you want.

Tony,

2trout · Senior Member

You cannot beat a nice Japenese 4WD. There is a reason that there are so many of them on the road.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Tedious monotony!

Eaglemax · Guru

2trout, maybe Japanese tugs are great but they are so damn boring.

SouthernComfort · Guru

The best tugs I've owned are Disco 2 and my current Jeep GC. Both extremely competent and reliable turbo diesels, could hitch a block of flats behind them and wouldn't know it's there. The only Japanese offering I've had was a Pajero, definitely not as solid, creaks and squeaks everywhere. In respect of the OP's question, I'd have another LR in a heartbeat (most likely Disco) with standard wheels and fuller profile tyres.

Cupie · Guru

2trout wrote:
You cannot beat a nice Japenese 4WD. There is a reason that there are so many of them on the road.

My long suffering GQ Patrol was made in Nippon land.

Is that a good or bad thing?

Boring? perhaps.

Bouncy - yes.

Reliable - certainly (except for the bloody clutch thrust bearing!!! 3 in 280,000km! that's >$5k in repairs)

vince56 · Senior Member

I'll take the boring, you take the roadside assistance!

Whenarewethere · Guru

My 2013 Land Rover has never needed any assistance, but I have helped where I could 3 Toyotas, one with broken a brake line, a Patrol, jump started a Subaru in the last few years.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Forgot!

Recently lent my neighbour an old starter battery & jumper leads for a few weeks for his 3 year old Honda. Eventually they found one cell in the starter battery had partly died, after much inconvenience.

I gave him a list of voltages & current draw data from my clamp meter so he could present facts to Honda.

He got a replacement starter battery at half price after much negotiation.

I was shocked at how small the battery was, probably saving weight.

2trout · Senior Member

Go on Whenarewethere- admit that you would really love a new Hilux, Ford Ranger or Triton- you know that they are the best!

landy · Guru

2Trout I think you might be casting a line for a different sort of bite at the moment. biggrin

Whenarewethere · Guru

Peugeot 504, Lancia Beta, Seat Ibiza, Freelander, my car history!

blaze · Guru

I had a GQ patrol flat tray and wont give ya 2 bob for it, I am only 5'9" and didn't have the leg room and it was gutless. Only good cruiser I had was an early shortie, only thing that made it half a vehicle was a 250 ford motor. The most fun 4x4 I had was an lj50 Suzuki. The cheapest and most reliable was a series 1 disco
cheers
blaze

-- Edited by blaze on Wednesday 5th of February 2020 10:27:38 PM

2trout · Senior Member

Landy, I am shocked that you would make a suggestion like this on this site. biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

landy · Guru

2trout wrote:

Landy, I am shocked that you would make a suggestion like this on this site.

Shame on me 2trout here's wishing you better luck with the real fish. biggrin

Eaglemax · Guru

landy wrote:
2trout wrote:

Landy, I am shocked that you would make a suggestion like this on this site.

Shame on me 2trout here's wishing you better luck with the real fish.

None of you could better my fish catching bag one cold winters day in Alexandra Vic. Cast the line and no longer than 15 seconds I had a huge fish on the end....yeh, fish farms are great.... disbelief

Tony

landy · Guru

Eaglemax wrote:

landy wrote:
2trout wrote:

Landy, I am shocked that you would make a suggestion like this on this site.

Shame on me 2trout here's wishing you better luck with the real fish.
None of you could better my fish catching bag one cold winters day in Alexandra Vic. Cast the line and no longer than 15 seconds I had a huge fish on the end....yeh, fish farms are great....
Tony

Good on you Tony way to go. biggrin