Home for Thanksgiving, and bored as midterms are done....so what should I do? How about a review of the LR3.

So my Dad turned in the ol' 2004 X5 3.0i back in August and picked up a new-2007 LR3 HSE V8. White exterior and tan interior.

The LR3 is a great car - Dad, myself and rest of family all love it to death so far, great performer on road and off. We test drove a new X5 and this just rides so much smoother and quieter - almost as quiet as my Dad's old LS400 from years ago. We loved the X5 when we had it, and believe me it had some great advantages over the LR3. The X5, especially ours being a 6cylinder, was not a huge gas hog, even with city driving. With gas prices going up, the LR3's thirsty V8 really does suck down gas. Freeway driving is respectable, could go 500miles on a tank but city driving is terrible. I don't even know numbers, but its terrible.

The X5 was also definitely sportier on the road - the handling of the LR3 feels excellent for a car of its height and weight, but the X5 sure did have the whole sports-sedan feeling going for it. That said, the LR3 is very, very nice on the road. Potholes and road variations are rarely felt and never heard. The power of the V8 is amazing on the LR3, no matter what speed you are at, drop it into sport mode, floor it and you go. It will drop into 2nd at 65mph and you still have 4 more gears to go before you run out of endless torque. even though it is faster than the old 3.0 X5, the power of the LR3 does not feel controlled on the road in short bursts. As all of you know, the X5 laid the power down well and you always felt in control of the car when "flooring it." The LR3 feels like a 6000 pound bull - full of raw power but spitting it out in every direction.

But now for where the LR3 really shines...off the asphalt. We recently took the LR3 to a new housing development in our area after the workers had cleared out for the day and drove over the dirt, gravel, mud and other forms of road surface that were present. We did almost the exact same thing in the X5 before we turned it in figuring we might as well see how it did handle off road. The X5 was certainly capable in everything we did in this housing development, except for one portion of extremely loose, fine dirt that was at a pretty steep descent. The X5 had absolutely no traction and just slid down the hill taking the find dirt with it, but on more solid surfaces it was fine. the LR3 muted all sounds and rough jolts of the "off-roading" that the X5 fully delivered to your bum - unmuted. And that steep descent involving the loose dirt? LR3 felt solid and never slid at all even after slamming on the brakes - it just stopped and then when we wanted it to, it finished descending the hill. Excellent.

And before I finish this glowing review, as if anyone is still reading...We recently took the LR3 up a backroad in the Santa Ynez/Santa Barbara mountains that is about 20 miles long and is far from extreme but definitely something that you could not do in certain SUVs. At one point, the front right and left rear wheels were off the ground, but the LR3 kept traction by transferring power to the opposite two wheels. The adjustable ride height on the LR3 really does lift the car quite a bit - enough so that you can drive over some pretty serious rocks and angles without scraping anything.

And finally on the reliability issue, being a Land Rover and all. In almost 3 months of ownership and 6500 miles, the car had a faulty hood sensor that kept telling us the hood was open. LR techs came to the house and replaced it for us as we are 30+ miles from the closest dealership.

So, all in all:

Pros:
Quiet, smooth ride on and off the road. Extremely capable off road. GPS extremely easy to use as is all the technology. I used to be a huge fan of iDrive (and still am in terms of coolness), but the LR tech although rudimentary in comparison, does the same job in a less complex way. Endless power even if it feels a bit unrefined. Hate it or love it, the appearance of the car is pretty unique. Customer service reps are extremely knowledgeable, so much that they admit when they don't know something and walk around with you asking others until they find you an answer.

Cons:
Gas mileage is just depressing. Land Rover and Lambo are killing mother earth. Loud (on the outside) - don't plan on sneaking out of the garage in this guy without the next city over hearing.

So, if you want a change from the X5, or just another big SUV with a very usable 3rd row of seating, check out a new or used LR3. Demo models are selling with huge discounts I hear.


Oh, and I still love BMW. But now I love Land Rover too.