(Disclaimer: The number plates haven't been blocked since its a dedicated test drive vehicle.)

Its official.
The box is back.

For manufacturers, understanding the term "SUV" is often a difficult task.
SUVs often portray different images for different personalities.

• For some, it means devouring all the other so called hapless cars for lunch and feel like being the king of the road. In other words, poseurs.
• For some, it means letting the driver do all the drive and let the memsahibs enjoy playing her favourite Bollywood ishtyle film behind the scenes (in other words, rear seat entertainment). In other words, poseurs.
• For some, its a fashion statement. Vadi gaddi, vade log, vaddi vaddi baatein. In other words, poseurs.

For some, it means utility, pure utility. And exploring all its capabilities to its limit. In other words, aficionados.

Its often sad to see the first three categories existing more than the last one. As if SUVs which run on petrol have not earned the image of gas guzzlers, some models often come with supercharged 500 plus hp engines which are meant to scare the hell out of any hapless supercar owner driving down a long winding road.

Let me make a point, though. I ain't a fan of SUVs. I prefer small cars with big engines, not big giant sized behemoths. But for some reason, SUVs go to unexplored places where the so called caaaars can only dream of.

Or perhaps, time to re-discover the SUV?

what if we get an opportunity to explore its limits on a purpose built test track?

Welcome to the Land Rover Experience.

Not for poseurs.
Not for the faint hearted.
Only for hard core LR fanatics. Rest, keep away.

Welcome to Ludhiana. And welcome to dada motors, the JLR dealership located some 15 kms from Samrala chowk near Sanewal.

Last Sunday, I was invited by a friend of mine who works at the said dealership to come and experiance a vehicle that made Land Rover what it is today.

Time to explore the Land Rover discovery 4, 3.0 V6 Diesel. In a specially built test track inside the dealership premises.

Time to get ready for the LR Disco 4 Experiance R and D (Ride and Drive).

The Discovery 4, globally launched in 2009 made its India debut in mid 2010 along with other LR vehicles, the Range Rover, the R Sport and the Freelander. The evoque was only recently launched.

Park the discovery against its competitors and LR's own family of vehicles and its purpose is evident. While others are luxurious off roaders that are more purpose built for on road applications, the disco is exactly the opposite. And this is what has worked against it in India. The disco is not exactly a sales star per se but those who have it, love it to its core.



The design is unashamedly boxy, purpose built and utilitarian. Old school it may be, but critics hav hailed this vehicle as the most capable land rover ever when it comes to its off roading prowess, other than the legendery defender.





Like the exterior, the interior too carries the utility theme yet lookc stylish and different. Materials quality and build is first rate and this is a genuine 7 seater. Utility quotient is of high order and boot space with last two rows foled can move your gargantuan sized equipment with ease.

The truck stands tall with its min 190 mm GC, which can be lifted to a max of 300-310 nm (experts correct this if I may go wrong) by using the air suspension with lift feature.



Powered by a Jaguar sourced 3 Litre V6 common rail turbo diesel engine with 245 horses, it's mated to a 6 speed automatic gearbox with tiptronic function. Most of the torque is available from as low as 1500 rpm onwards.



The model pictured here is a 2011 model; 2012 MY will see the power upgrade to 256 hp and an addition of 8 speed rotary drive Jaguar sourced gearbox.

Given my limited knowledge of 4 by 4 vehicles, I'll keep this writeup short and simple. The disco is quipped with an intelligent computer controlled terrain response control system which judges the position of vehicle, the wheels and the location where the driver is exploring the vehicle's limits. The distribution of torque and transfer is determined by the driving style and for each style, there are 5 modes as shown below from the control selector knob.



Mode 1 is normal, mode 2 is "grass gravel snow", mode 3 and 4 are for sand driving and mode 5 is for rock crawl.



This is the AT shift lever which also has buttons for low range and hill hold function next to it.
A screen located at the central console shows the various parameters and directs the driver on the behavioral aspects of the vehicle.


As part of the demo by the chief service engineer, he showed us each options and its understanding. The grass gravel snow was chosen first.


The screen showed its driving conditions.


while choosing the "sand" option, the screen showed the ideal conditions for sand driving.


since our test track consisted of a cylindrical rock, a 45 degree incline and staircase, the best option chosen by the chief service engineer was rock and crawl.

And here we go.