Fivespddisco
Supporting Sponsor
Lucky8 was lucky this week for sure! We were given the opportunity to tear into a brand new 2017 Land Rover Discovery 5 over the 4th of July holiday. The goal of this exercise was to come up with some tasteful modifications that would complement the new Discovery.
The list of mods we are shooting for are as follows:
A beefier front skid plate that integrates nicely with the factory bumper. The stock plates are good but we think that we can do better.
Hidden winch mount. We are hoping to do this with little to no cutting of the factory bumper. The initial measurements and test-fitting were very promising.
Driving light mounts. I know that this might sound superficial, but having auxiliary lights on fire roads and trails can quickly change from a “poser luxury item” to being an accident preventing piece of safety equipment.
Roof rack. This is nearly complete. It just needs to be a tad bit longer.
Lastly, rock sliders. Our initial findings have proven one thing: This mod is going to be difficult.
Due to the short amount of time we had with the truck, we had some limitations on the mods we could explore. Most regrettably we were not able to get a more realistic tire size in hand to run on the stock wheels. In true Lucky8 fashion we did try and see how large of a tire we could stuff under the truck. Did you expect anything less?
Finally, I would like to address some of the hate mail that we have received over this project. I have been around Rovers long enough to remember that the Discovery 2 (D2) was the end of Land Rover. That's right, all that technology in the D2 was the death of the brand. Even sitting here typing those words sounds utterly ludicrous, but I remember it vividly. Then the LR3 on the other hand was a complete abomination. With the launch of it Land Rover completely destroyed the brand and all of those electronics were nothing but a hindrance. Let's not even discuss that “awful” air suspension. Yes, that was most people’s initial view and reaction in 2005 to the LR3. For many years I believed it myself. Now everybody is clamoring to hang on to the last real Rover being the LR4. Who can blame them? The reality of it is that I've done more with Project LR3 than I have with the D1, D2 or even the Defender and all while being comfortable and still able to do 80mph down the thruway on 35's.
The truth is that Land Rover Discovery 5 (soon to be nicknamed D5) is here whether you like it or not, so why not embrace the new technology? Smile, get your scissors out and start the modifications.
The list of mods we are shooting for are as follows:
A beefier front skid plate that integrates nicely with the factory bumper. The stock plates are good but we think that we can do better.
Hidden winch mount. We are hoping to do this with little to no cutting of the factory bumper. The initial measurements and test-fitting were very promising.
Driving light mounts. I know that this might sound superficial, but having auxiliary lights on fire roads and trails can quickly change from a “poser luxury item” to being an accident preventing piece of safety equipment.
Roof rack. This is nearly complete. It just needs to be a tad bit longer.
Lastly, rock sliders. Our initial findings have proven one thing: This mod is going to be difficult.
Due to the short amount of time we had with the truck, we had some limitations on the mods we could explore. Most regrettably we were not able to get a more realistic tire size in hand to run on the stock wheels. In true Lucky8 fashion we did try and see how large of a tire we could stuff under the truck. Did you expect anything less?
Finally, I would like to address some of the hate mail that we have received over this project. I have been around Rovers long enough to remember that the Discovery 2 (D2) was the end of Land Rover. That's right, all that technology in the D2 was the death of the brand. Even sitting here typing those words sounds utterly ludicrous, but I remember it vividly. Then the LR3 on the other hand was a complete abomination. With the launch of it Land Rover completely destroyed the brand and all of those electronics were nothing but a hindrance. Let's not even discuss that “awful” air suspension. Yes, that was most people’s initial view and reaction in 2005 to the LR3. For many years I believed it myself. Now everybody is clamoring to hang on to the last real Rover being the LR4. Who can blame them? The reality of it is that I've done more with Project LR3 than I have with the D1, D2 or even the Defender and all while being comfortable and still able to do 80mph down the thruway on 35's.
The truth is that Land Rover Discovery 5 (soon to be nicknamed D5) is here whether you like it or not, so why not embrace the new technology? Smile, get your scissors out and start the modifications.
