Here is the all-new 2005 Land Rover Discovery!

[Mitch8]

In case you have not seen this yet. Here is the all new 2005 Land Rover Discovery! Scroll down some under "Latest News"

http://www.thelandroverchronicle.com/new_page_431.htm

[crisis]

Looks great. Thats where the story ends. All round independant suspension and no ladder chassis. We can blame the soft roader revolution for this. All Landrover aficionados have my deepest sympathy.

[Mitch8]

No No, it will still be built on a rugged ladder frame chassis. They have not released any info yet other then the chassis - ladder frame bit. In fact these photos are'nt even suppose to be released until April 7th.
Plus a new 4.4 Jaguar V8 modified for off-roading and with around 300hp and lots of torque.

[DieterCabral]

It sort of looks like the Range Rover… don’t you think?? Its nice, I hope the Land Rover 4x4 spirit wasn’t sacrificed to make the Discovery just a bit nicer.

[Spastik_Roach]

Some how for me it looks a little like a Honda Element from the side. I think the grille on this is the new Land Rover family face?

A step forward for Land Rover in the right direction.

[GT500]

Not as "rugged" looking, more Range Rover/Element/dare I say it...Scion. Dunno about that last one though, just reminds me of one. I think they shoulda left it as it was, that was teh best stylign methinks.

[crisis]

Originally Posted by Mitch8

No No, it will still be built on a rugged ladder frame chassis. They have not released any info yet other then the chassis - ladder frame bit. In fact these photos are'nt even suppose to be released until April 7th.
Plus a new 4.4 Jaguar V8 modified for off-roading and with around 300hp and lots of torque.

I read in a motoring magazine that that was not the case. I hope its wrong and you are right.

[Coventrysucks]

Originally Posted by crisis

Looks great. Thats where the story ends. All round independant suspension and no ladder chassis. We can blame the soft roader revolution for this. All Landrover aficionados have my deepest sympathy.

Come on, its a Landrover, it will still excell off- road.
Look at the Range Rover, monocoque chassis, independant air suspension, and it is still one of the most capable off roaders in the world.

[crisis]

Originally Posted by Coventrysucks

Come on, its a Landrover, it will still excell off- road.
Look at the Range Rover, monocoque chassis, independant air suspension, and it is still one of the most capable off roaders in the world.

The name is of no consequence. Let alone it is now owned by Ford who brought us the Exploder. If it has independant suspension it is now compromised although traction control will lessen the impact. The Range Rover likewise has fallen victim to the sports SUV fashion. The reveiw I read lamented the fact that one of the worlds great true luxury off roaders was no more. Again thanks to BMWs misguided perception that SUVs (what used to be 4x4xs) are big 4 wheel drive sports cars.
I am interested in what attributes you consider neccessary for a capable off road vehicle

[Spastik_Roach]

BMW with the X5 were merely filling market demand. Uts a huge seller, and it may me a bit pointless in some opinions, I think it looks good and is a very good car.

[Gallardo-2005]

First of all, the new Discovery is fine. Second of all, i do feel that Land Rover is cheating it's customers! I mean at first the land rover changes in 2000 (or 99, not sure), then it changes again in less than 3 yrs in 2003, next thing u know it, they're designing a new and improved land rover Discovery that is absolutely different than the one before it! Shouldn't they go easy on the new looks!

I mean other companies would wait for atleast 5-6 years and then introduce a new concept or whatever. This is one of the things which i hate about Land Rover.

[DavidC]

In 50 years of business Land Rover made the Defender (still going strong) the Range Rover (Series-1 1970-1996!! P38a 1996-2001, L322 2001-current), Discovery (S1 1989-1998, S2 1998-2004, S3 2004-????) and Freelander (just 1 facelift so far).

That's hardly a history of rapid obsolescence is it?

[Coventrysucks]

Originally Posted by crisis

The name is of no consequence. Let alone it is now owned by Ford who brought us the Exploder. If it has independant suspension it is now compromised although traction control will lessen the impact. The Range Rover likewise has fallen victim to the sports SUV fashion. The reveiw I read lamented the fact that one of the worlds great true luxury off roaders was no more. Again thanks to BMWs misguided perception that SUVs (what used to be 4x4xs) are big 4 wheel drive sports cars.
I am interested in what attributes you consider neccessary for a capable off road vehicle

I will freely admit that I don't know everything about what a capable off roader needs, apart from the obvious aspects.

However, I think that you fail to realise what Landrover are trying to do.

They have the image of being a tough, go-anywhere car, an image provided by the Defender.

As part of Ford's PAG, and as a business, Landrover needs to sell cars to people. The market share of people wanting a tough go-anywhere car, with no comprimises with respect to interior luxury, comfort, and on road performance is very small.

What the majority of people want is a car that looks tough, but gives them all the ameneties of a regular car.

Let's face it, the vast majority of the people that own SUV's will never take them offroad, excepting the odd kerb, or field.

So to be a profitable company, that will continue to exist in the future, Landrover must meet the needs of its customers; in essence an SUV, rather than a full off-roader.

This is what the Freelander, Range Rover and new Discovery, are doing. Giving customers what they want; a vehicle that fits their perverted need for a huge unstoppable luxury barge.

The new Range Stormer is part of the need to keep Landrover as a premium brand, against BMW, Mercedes, Porsche et al.

The customers who want a true off roader still have the Defender, which is precisely why it is still available, many decades after its conception.

However, despite making these sacrifices to the demands of the consumer, they still take pride in their heritage.
You can bet that they have tried to extract as much off road potential as possible from the Range Rover, and Discovery.

That is why there is still an extensive and demanding off road course, developed and used by Landrover. You won't see that from BMW, Mercedes or Porsche. (or Ford, who were resposible for the Explorer, not Landrover.)

I am sorry if you feel saddened or angered for the loss of off road capability, but if 90% of your customers want image first, off road performance second, what would you do?

[360GTC]

Not to be a downer but with their boxy looks and ugly designs, i think landrovers look like crap, and what they are doing by making a new design every year is just a desperate attempt to regain costomers, but sorry land rover, ur cars/trucks are just ugly. well thats what i think

[Rijoh]

The front looks, good but the back is just terrible