My dream defender would be to take an LR4, shave 500lbs out of it like the new D5, put factory 33" tires (with wells to accommodate 35") with the suspension to match, and slam the diesel in there, with an option for a SCV8 (550hp). Done. how hard is that? I bet that diesel would still get 18MPG combined rolling 35"s. There's a truck i would buy.
It's pretty close to what I have....but 30% better.
Would definitely not want to shave any weight off at all.
Its actually that Rolls Royce like weight of LR3/4 that gives us that unflappable Rolls like well-planted, glued to the tarmac (dry or wet), smooth, comfortable ride even at 90 mph even with its largely vertically oriented form-follows-function design and even with those ridiculously contract-grade stock contis. No other SUV in its class (and some even outside its class), even with their horizontally favored aerodynamics, will be able to provide this type of sure footed ride quality at such speeds. Try pushing an Audi Q, X5, or an GX460/70 a little past 85 or 90mph, specially in rain, then get back into your LR4 and do the same, and you'll know what I mean. The top dog, LX570, pretty close in weight if not less than an LR4, would be a distant second but still, in evasive maneuvers such as a lane change in a hurry or catching that exit ramp at the last minute, the truck like ladder frame of LX is bound to flex (just physics), whereas our LR3/4 would feel more compliant, responsive, demonstrating well-controlled movements to driver' sudden inputs due to its IBF' rigidity and that lower center of gravity.
The two things that LR3/4 has got going for itself at freeway speeds, specially during heavy downpours, is its heft/weight and its lower center of gravity. Thats what sets it apart from the rest including its big brother as far as SUVs go.
If you get an LR3/4 to hydroplane, specially with good rubber and proper tire pressures on all four corners, you most certainly are doing something stupid that you should actually not be doing. Its a little bit more work to get this thing to hydroplane compared to its counterparts as well as its own siblings.
I think someone here recently shared their experience which is exactly what my experience has been as far as driving this thing in bad weather situations. Some of my most memorable, enjoyable, and pleasurable drives in LR3/4 over the past twelve years have been in bad weather, snow/rain and/or high cross winds. An LR3/4 really is in its pure element in a bad weather situation, and that is directly owed to its heft/weight and lower center of gravity.
SCV8, yes.
But for me, if there ever was an engine produced for an LR3/4 duty over at the LR engineering it would have been that 4.4 liter TDV8 (yes, thats an "8" in there, not six
) which was offered briefly in the FFRR Vogue in UK (and maybe other markets). That motor was born to serve an SUV like LR3/4. That thing produced 516 lb/ft of torque at only 1,500-3,000 RPM, and 300 plus of hp. What a perfect match it would have been for LR4.
In an LR4, that 4.4 TDV8 would, effortlessly, cut thru any headwind at any altitude at any highway speed with any payload with any boat/trailer being towed and with any drag producing rooftop cargo box, like a hot knife thru butter without ever needing to downshift.
If LR simply tidied that motor up for emissions regulations, mated it to the current 8 speed ZF, threw that lovely powertrain on an LR4 chassis, de-blinged the front end and subtly (as not much is needed there), and more importantly, "tastefully" updated the overall design of LR4 to bring it into the modern world among other technological advancements (such as Adaptive Dynamics) and those long over-due fixes/improvements (such as those exhaust pipes under the rear diff, etc), that would simply be it.
I am going to start working hard to make my first billion so I could call up the SVO and have em produce such a thing for some of us here, and in the process, relieve those talented engineers there of chores like installing household items in the new Discovery. I am pretty sure they will have more fun R&D'ing and producing the above described model vs what they have been tasked to do so far by TATA
