Sand Rover?

Jaredlloydphoto

New member
How well do these LR3s handle soft sand? Of course, driving in the sand is ALL about tire pressure and I run all my vehicles, even the excursion, at 15psi.

At 15psi, I usually do not even need to engage 4 wheel with part time 4 wheel drive vehicles unless the beach gets really bad.

The terrain response is a new monster for me. I hear lots of complaining about the LR3 in the sand and how folks have felt like the TRC was fighting them. YouTube doesn't help matters.

This bit is actually of crucial importance to me. I grew up on the Outer Banks, and still split my time between Montana and our cottage in Carova - which REQUIRES driving 10 miles on a beach to even access.

Any thoughts?
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
In low range, third gear, Sand Mode with DSC off the LR3 is amazing. You'll peg the rev limiter a lot, but its tons of fun. The V8 and the V6 have plenty of horsepower to keep things moving, despite the rig's overall weight.

Most people miss understand what Sand Mode does. It retards the throttle on take off, so you don't spin the wheels and dig a hole, going nowhere, but once you are in motion, it desensitizes the traction control, opens up the throttle, and pushes the tranny down a gear and ups the shift RPM's significantly, so you can full throttle up hills and dales. Used intelligently, it totally rocks the dunes. Though it is heavy!
 

jymmiejamz

Adventurer
This bit is actually of crucial importance to me. I grew up on the Outer Banks, and still split my time between Montana and our cottage in Carova - which REQUIRES driving 10 miles on a beach to even access.

An LR3 is fine in the sand as long as you disengage DSC. My family has had a beach house in Corova since 2001 and we've owned pretty much every type of Land Rover. I'm sure you've probably seen cars on the beach there, so the make doesn't really matter. The biggest issue with the LR3 and RRS on the beach is that they are very heavy and underpowered. Of all of the vehicles my family has owned, by far the best on the sand was my dad's LR2. He didn't even bother airing down the tires.
 

Jaredlloydphoto

New member
An LR3 is fine in the sand as long as you disengage DSC. My family has had a beach house in Corova since 2001 and we've owned pretty much every type of Land Rover. I'm sure you've probably seen cars on the beach there, so the make doesn't really matter. The biggest issue with the LR3 and RRS on the beach is that they are very heavy and underpowered. Of all of the vehicles my family has owned, by far the best on the sand was my dad's LR2. He didn't even bother airing down the tires.

Very cool. How far up are you guys? I spent most of my summers since I was a kid up in Carova - before it looked anything like it does now. I remember when bison used to roam the beach and you didn’t hit houses till the fire station! Very different place these days! My place is around MP 23.

I have lived up there full time on and off for years. We raised kids up there even, taking them to school by boat, and running the beach in nor’easters when there wasn’t enough water in the sound to float my skiff.

If the LR3 handles anything like my 100 series LC does on sand, I’m sure it will eat anything that comes it’s way. My concern has been the traction control though. I’ve driven every comcievable vehicle on the beach up there and Cape Hatteras (including a Honda Civic hahah). Personally, I can’t think of any vehicle that wasn’t “good” on the sand - as long as ground clearance and tire pressure was appropriate. So, when I come across a bunch of off road guys who know all about the importance of tire pressure and ground clearance stating that the LR3 struggles in sand, it makes me a touch worried. I’m about 95% sure I’m going to pull the trigger on an 08 tomorrow morning. But just want to be sure it’s not really the truck that is holding folks back in the sand.
 

Ray_G

Explorer
I don’t think anyone would say the LR3 struggles in sand. It does well depending on your frame of comparison-and will almost certainly do just fine for what you want so long as you have decent tires. Particularly given your experience.

As I’m sure you’ve seen, no way to overcome stupid. That’s why we get memes of trucks that were cool at low tide and write offs at high tide.

What most people in these will raise is they are heavy. I wouldn’t want to dune bash in one-you’d want lighter with more power to weight (that also usually means louder, less comfortable, and cheaper to fix when something to breaks). This will get you too and from in style, comfort, and without drama.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This picture does not do it justice, however, the flag should be an indicator since it's required in the Imperial Sand Dunes! I run 18 psi on the fronts and 22psi in the rear (Keynote, I'm on 17" KM2's) for 90% of my offroad driving. I do air down to about 15psi for sand specific driving since sideloading is not much of a factor, that (15psi) is probably too low for anything outside of straight sand on my configuration. No chance I would run that low on 18" wheels unless you are running a larger diameter than stock.

This picture was taken at the entrance into the dunes, I tend not to stop in the dunes for photo ops, but if I do, I stop over the crest on the downhill. I ran through them all weekend with zero problems and in Hawaii, I drove on the beach almost every weekend with zero problems on factory 18". A little air pressure goes a long way in the sand as I've been buried up to the doors before which was not fun....hahaha The traction control is fabulous so on the beach, be cognizant of where you stop but for the most part, you are free to start and stop anywhere you want within reasonable off-road common sense.

Low-Range, manual shift, 2nd gear to start, 3rd for cruising and you're in it to win it! Shifting between 2nd and 3rd gear are optimal with RPM management at or about 2800rpm is optimal (IMO only!). At or about 2800 seems to give me the best power on demand for momentum over and around the bowls; sometimes lower, sometimes higher it's just about getting what you are comfy with and how heavy your configuration.

My opinion, save your time and money on the locker search and do a V6 brake mod for 17" wheels!
 

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nwoods

Expedition Leader
Very cool. If the LR3 handles anything like my 100 series LC does on sand, I’m sure it will eat anything that comes it’s way. My concern has been the traction control though.

The LR3 is both way more nimble and a lot more powerful than a 100 series. You'll love it in the sand. To the poster who said they are underpowered, I can't fathom what he means when you have 300hp on tap, or 400hp with the LR4. Even the 240hp V6 was a blast in the sand. Just put it in Low Range, turn off DSC and kick in Sand Mode and use all the throttle you've got. Ear to ear Grins are the motto of the day in sand.
 

Ray_G

Explorer
The LR3 is both way more nimble and a lot more powerful than a 100 series. You'll love it in the sand. To the poster who said they are underpowered, I can't fathom what he means when you have 300hp on tap, or 400hp with the LR4. Even the 240hp V6 was a blast in the sand. Just put it in Low Range, turn off DSC and kick in Sand Mode and use all the throttle you've got. Ear to ear Grins are the motto of the day in sand.

I think saying they are underpowered highlights never having driven a D1 with a 3.9 or 4.0!
 

jymmiejamz

Adventurer
I think saying they are underpowered highlights never having driven a D1 with a 3.9 or 4.0!

I wouldn't be surprised if a Discovery had a better power to weight ratio than a V6 LR3.

I'm sure if the only vehicles you have ever driven are Land Rovers, then you wouldn't think an LR3 is underpowered, but in the real world, they are pretty slow. The 5.0 is awesome and has plenty of power, we are talking LR3s... I can't fathom that anyone would think the V6 in a LR3 has plenty of power. We just had one at the dealership that needed a radiator and two tires. The customer wanted $500, and no one wanted it. I think one of the other techs bought it for $300 with the Thule bike rack on the back. Point being, they are such garbage that no one at the dealership who drives different Land Rovers every day would want a V6 because they know how much it sucks.
 

rlynch356

Defyota
Just returned from ocracoke and Portsmouth island before that... easily 75 miles on sand of all types in the lr3
20psi all around, never bothered with low range or even putting it in sand mode.. it did great as well as the d90

d50306d7072850aaa851c495ff9d3840.jpg


I am running MT 33x12.5’s though so... ymmv
 

Jaredlloydphoto

New member
Just returned from ocracoke and Portsmouth island before that... easily 75 miles on sand of all types in the lr3
20psi all around, never bothered with low range or even putting it in sand mode.. it did great as well as the d90

d50306d7072850aaa851c495ff9d3840.jpg


I am running MT 33x12.5’s though so... ymmv
Oh man I love PI and the rest of Lookout. I spend most of May and part of June each year based out of Beaufort specifically for photographing on and around CALO. Most of my time is spent running around to n my skiff over at Shackleford Banks in the south end of the park, but I always squeeze in a few days on the islands themselves camping and fishing. Thanks for sharing!
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
I wouldn't be surprised if a Discovery had a better power to weight ratio than a V6 LR3.

I'm sure if the only vehicles you have ever driven are Land Rovers, then you wouldn't think an LR3 is underpowered, but in the real world, they are pretty slow. The 5.0 is awesome and has plenty of power, we are talking LR3s... I can't fathom that anyone would think the V6 in a LR3 has plenty of power....I think ....no one at the dealership who drives different Land Rovers every day would want a V6 because they know how much it sucks.

Just wrong on so many levels. When I had my 2004.5 model year V6 springer LR3, I also had an ultra light weight 455hp Corvette Z16. And for a few months I had a V8 LR3 as a loaner. Going back to the V6 from those vehicles was NOT a disappointment. I will grant you that at freeway speeds, the V8 would pull harder when passing, but from the line the V6 was faster, and drove rings around 2004 or older Disco’s and Classics and so forth. The tranny is the same between the V6 and V8, but the gearing was MUCH better suited for the V6 than it was for the V8. Tip in response was better. Off the line take off was better, and V6’s general willingness to rev up faster than the V8 was quite pronounced in dunes and hill climbs.

The V6 is not faster, and is not more fuel efficient, but it was a solid motor well suited to the tranny and it never left me wanting for more. If your experience is different, the you should try to reflash the tranny memory and start with a fresh driving profile. I drove mine with a heavy foot everywhere, and it always kept up with my needs. I am the kind of driver that if I’m not passing other cars, it doesn’t feel like I’m moving or making forward progress. I drive to win, even if the guy in the next lane doesn’t know it :)

The V6 was fine
 

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