LR3 Model/Tire Questions

[Colin Hughes]

So my wife has come out and said it, she doesn't like driving my D1 300TDi. Last week when I took her car in to have the winter tires installed, she drove my daughter's Sunfire instead of the LR! Talk about a burn
Anyway, she is open to selling the diesel and getting something newer, ie: LR3. I want to pick the brains of current owners. I'm looking at couple of 2006 models right now, one an SE, one an HSE. It does appear there is a bit more going for the HSE, front and rear park assist, memory seats, upgraded sound system, etc but I do like the 18" wheels on the SE and I don't need 7 seats. Thoughts from those owning either model and reason for your decision to purchase.
If I end up with the HSE, tires will be needed soon as we live in Eastern Canada and snow is on its way. There doesn't seem to be much choice on Tire Rack in the standard size. Mostly road tires. What are folks with 19" wheels running and what sizes. I'd like something that would allow for light offroading/wildcamping trips. Seems there is more selection for 18" wheels. The SE I'm looking at appears to have a brand new set of Scorpion ATR's.
Any and all advice appreciated.

 

[Some Dude]

Mine's currently rolling on Nokain WRG2s. This is my first year with them and I can't even believe how good they are on ice and snow. I've always run an AT through the winter because you can kind of get away with it, but the difference is night and day. I run Nitto Terra Grapplers in the summer.

 

[Red90]

You are pretty much screwed on finding "good" winter tires in the 18 or 19" sizes unfortunately at least in my opinion. Your only real choice are Pirellis and they are no better than an all season in my experience with them. You can modify the brakes to the V6 spec to accept 17" wheels. You could then run a 245/70/17 General Arctic Altimax LT, which is very good winter tire.

 

[Colin Hughes]

I think I'd go for a good AT tire that I would run all year. All my previous LR's have run on AT's in summer/winter and have been fine. I do take it easy driving in bad weather.

 

[PhyrraM]

As long as the SE has the 4.4 V8, I would say the choice is a wash.

The memory seat on the HSE also adjusts the side mirrors, so that may be a little tip to one side if you both drive it regularly.

The front parking sensor is a 50/50 wash between convenience and annoyance as it tends to go off at odd times (drive thrus, passing motorcycles, etc.)

The Adaptive HID projector lights are nice, but many SE have those. Same with the factory info/Nav screen.

Even though it wasn't a shopping priority, with twin 13 year old boys and friends/Boy Scouts, the 3rd row has been lifesaver many times.

I chose an HSE and then found a set of OEM 18" wheels on Craigslist. Still haven't chosen tires and swapped them, so I'm no help there.....

 

[riverratrover]

The beauty of the 7 seater is that all the seats lay flat. I can sleep in the back very comfortably at 6'2, and makes moving ski's, surfboards, etc way easier. I have yet to put on any other tires then AT's (General AT2's) I live in Jackson Wy and do my fair share of snow driving. The LR3 is by far the best vehicle I've ever driving in the snow, if it gets really slick out I just put it in "Snow" mode and the AT tires work just fine.

 

[Eniam17]

A lot of people like the Cooper LTZ's in 19's for an aggressive A/T. If you are more concerned with the features of the HSE I don't think it would be hard to find a set of 18's for it. For example I just found a set of 19" RR Sport OEM wheels with brand new All season tires that a customer left at the dealer and sold me for 600 bucks. I'm sure you can find some easily enough. I am very happy with my SE that has cold climate, 7 seats with rear heat/AC, Xenon headlights, but no Nav. Memory seats would be nice but not a huge issue for me. Unless you are very particular I don't think you'd be unhappy with either model.

 

[Colin Hughes]

Thanks for the info. When I had my D2, it came with 18" wheels and I swapped a guy for 16". Likely could do that again. Prices are pretty close here between SE and HSE. The SE I'm looking at had brand new Pirelli scorpion tires on it, Tonga green/tan. The HSE is grey/tan, my preferred colour combination. Eniam, how do you find the sound system in the SE? That would be another reason to hold out for an HSE. Hoping to see them next week.

 

[Eniam17]

I have always liked a good audio system in my vehicle or home so it's definitely something I care about. I think the LR3 system is good but not excellent. That being said, I don't think any of the Rover sound systems from the 2008 MY are excellent. Now the 2013/14 sound systems, they are unreal!

My wife has a 2008 RR Sport HSE Lux w/ the upgraded sound system and compared to the LR3 the two big differences are bass and volume. At "normal" levels there is very little difference in my opinion. The Sport system sounds a little fuller but not by much. The subwoofer is noticeably more powerful in the Sport and the system sounds better overall at higher volumes. But personally I never listen at those volumes anyway. While I'd say the upgraded system is a little better, I wouldn't consider it a major deciding factor. Everyone's ears are different but that is my opinion.

 

[Colin Hughes]

Thanks for that info. I upgraded my D1 to an 800 watt setup with 125 to each speaker and a 300 watt sub. Not for boomy sound, just to get a clean setup. I did find a company making an adapter that goes between the lightning port on my iPhone and sends a line out signal to the mp3 jack which should help improve the sound in the LR3. Normally I listen to the radio for news and traffic and all other tunes are from my iPhone. Does your SE have Bluetooth or is that an HSE thing too.

 

[PhyrraM]

If the steering wheel has the phone buttons, then the truck has bluetooth for the phone. *NO* LR3 had bluetooth for audio from the factory. Also, the factory AUX (headphone style jack) input attenuates the volume to a lower setting than any other source.....the result is that the Voice Control or NAV voices scares the crap out of you when your listening to the AUX-in.

A few folks have used a small bluetooth adapter plugged into the AUX to simulate a true Bluetooth audio connection.

The HSE has 3 speakers in the front door. That's the identifier for the upgraded sound. It's caller "Logic 7". Either factory system is on the hard side to upgrade as the audio is sent straight to the the amplifier (w/internal processing) by a fiber optic cable and there is no pre-processed "clean" outputs to tap into. Speakers can likely be upgraded, but then the factory crossover points and processing might not be ideal.

 

[Eniam17]

I have Bluetooth and voice command , I think it was listed as an optional package on original sticker. I don't know of a way to get iPhone to play through music through Bluetooth though, is that possible? This brings up one of only three things I dislike about the lr3. The aux cord going into the rear of the console!!

 

[Colin Hughes]

I'm only curious about the Bluetooth for answering the phone, not for audio. I have found a connector that will allow the iPod to pay using the apple lightning connector, instead of the headphone jack which will improve the audio quality considerably as it outputs at a line level signal. I work part time as an audio engineer with fairly good sound systems so it's tough to listen to crappy systems in my vehicle

 

[Eniam17]

I am interested in that connector if you could share the name that would be great. Also interested to see what you think of the two different systems once you have listened.

 

[Colin Hughes]

Sendstation.com I've been told to stay away from 05's but there is a 2 owner one with full service history and about 150,000 kms. HSE with recent suspension work. Wouldn't most of the issues have been identified and corrected by this time?