New Discovery Concept looks like a Ford Explorer, can be driven via remote control

[umbertob]

I think most of us are struck by how derivative the exterior design seems to be, that's all.

 

[TeriAnn]

Got some info on the Land Rover Discovery "Vision Concept"

I have given up on trying to identify the newer Land Rovers on the road. They have blended in with the looks of the other marque SUVs and the Evoque looks more like a Dodge station wagon than a SUV. I can not longer tell them apart without reading the name badges. And yes I have glanced at Ford SUVs and thought them to be Rangies.

These days with a LR vehicle life expectancy 10 - 18 years they are here today & gone tomorrow. A few months back I watched someone cut up a Disco II into chunks for scrap because it had a partial wiring harness meltdown. Replacing the harness would have exceeded the resale price. He offered it for the recycle price on craigs list and got no takers. It was a good driver before the smoke leaked out of the wiring harness. They don't build rugged vehicles that can be owner maintained anymore. Maybe the new trucks are very capable off road but if you break something you need to throw it away or pay big bucks to get it fixed.

My Land Rover is 54 years old and still sees the trails. I have owned it for 37 years so far. Best $350 I have ever spent. I just don't see any LR products built this century other than those in the Defender line ever coming close to the life span of many Series trucks.

 

[PhyrraM]

.......... I just don't see any LR products built this century other than those in the Defender line ever coming close to the life span of many Series trucks.

The same applies to ALL vehicles. Land Rover is no exception.

However, I disagree. It's our thinking, as custodians of these cars, that has to adapt. We simply need to learn new skills, both for troubleshooting and repair procedures, to keep these newer cars on the road as long as we wish. There is nothing on the car that cannot be fixed (or replaced) with proper skills - even the electronics. It's simply that most of us are used to only learning the mechanical side of things and feel that having to learn other skillsets is 'too much to ask'.

 

[mpinco]

The same applies to ALL vehicles. Land Rover is no exception.

However, I disagree. It's our thinking, as custodians of these cars, that has to adapt. We simply need to learn new skills, both for troubleshooting and repair procedures, to keep these newer cars on the road as long as we wish. There is nothing on the car that cannot be fixed (or replaced) with proper skills - even the electronics. It's simply that most of us are used to only learning the mechanical side of things and feel that having to learn other skillsets is 'too much to ask'.

Agreed. I actually think that troubleshooting/isolation/replacement of ECU's/subsystems will become easier as intelligence increases and more tools like IIDTool emerge.

The Automotive Market is a Mirage for Traditional Chip Makers

"..........But with the forthcoming tools from mobile vendors to make these systems extensions of their phones I believe we'll see the raw processing power of these systems begin to stagnate as automakers focus on integrating higher quality touch screens and more phone-like controls so that in-car entertainment systems will become a conduit for smartphones rather than a separate system.

This won't happen immediately as the plans to get Intel's Atom's, Nvidia's K1, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 602A into at least some cars are well underway. But with this new paradigm of cars as extensions of phones there's no longer any need for cars to have their own 3G, 4G, or GPS connectivity let alone SoC's capable of doing meaningful work. All that will be required of car makers is to provide a system that supports integration with you phone's OS and that has a decent screen and a SoC powerful enough to parse user input and display a UI stream from your phone. Phones will continue their role as conduits to the cloud services we use as cars become dumb terminal for those services thanks to more meaningful integration with our phones.

Thus as interesting as all this noise that silicon vendors are making about the automotive market is we are more than likely sitting just before the peak of this market which should crest around the end of the year. It's been a long 5 plus year slog for SoC companies like Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Intel to work their way into the automotive market but thanks to the ineptness of car maker's efforts and the thoughtfulness of the current major mobile OS vendors the automotive SoC market is leaving us before we even really had a chance to get to know it............"

 

[TeriAnn]

However, I disagree. It's our thinking, as custodians of these cars, that has to adapt. We simply need to learn new skills, both for troubleshooting and repair procedures, to keep these newer cars on the road as long as we wish. There is nothing on the car that cannot be fixed (or replaced) with proper skills - even the electronics. It's simply that most of us are used to only learning the mechanical side of things and feel that having to learn other skillsets is 'too much to ask'.

You can disagree all you want but that still doesn't stop the vast majority of these vehicle heading to wrecking yards before they reach 20 years of age. Most are gone by 15 years.

What happens if there a moderate body damage? You just can not unbolt the old wing or the rear tub and bolt another one on. Very few Rangie or Disco owners will ever learn the skills need to keep one with a good body running let alone the welding skills to replace body sections on the new vehicles.

I've been seeing lots of postings of what used to be hard core Disco I off road drivers replacing them with Disco II or newer Discos. By Series/Defender expectancies these vehicles are still babies. I suspect almost all of the post RRC and the Disco owners are custodians until something breaks that would cost them more than a newer Rover would cost. The old Rover goes into the barn and the Newer one that isn't broken comes in.

 

[Eniam17]

Countless hours will be spent on these forums (mostly by people who never even use their rover to its full capability) talking about how terrible these new rovers are.
Then in 2018/2019 we will be signing on here reading through threads titled " overland journal project discovery 5," and "disco 5 2.5" lift with 33" mt tires". Gap Diagnostic will be releasing tools that can do things we can't even imagine right now. Most who are ******tting on the new vehicles now before they are even released will be salivating over the cool stuff people are doing with the next generation rovers.

It's the same thing every time a new model is released dating back decades. Remember, rover group failed time and time again as a brand by producing boxes on wheels while other manufacturers changed and adapted. Which route do we want them to take over the next 10+ years?

 

[Bhos]

I want them to segment the market! I love my LR4, and would have gladly taken and LR3. This POS will not be in my garage. I like the design of the full size RR, but now that they are all looking like a deformed version of a RR I will pass on the next go round. LR has a slim chance with the Defender replacement, but in all honesty, I will more than likely be going Toyota or Jeep. LR fails to understand the power of segmentation and as such it seems that RR clones is all they understand. Sad, but good luck on that feces! Oh yes, it seems the *** clowns are in charge.

 

[sedat]

I personally think the features in the new Discovery is pretty damn cool. I think the design is a bit far from the original from 20 years ago, but it'll move units. That is what matters to JLR/Tata.


There are those of us here though, that are willing to keep our rovers alive and use them to their capabilities and more, no expense spared. Don't ever forget that.

My red truck was saved from someones backyard with a blown engine. It was slated to be scrapped. I've found and saved countless trucks in this condition. There is nothing as rewarding as saving a dead truck from the crusher. In a way its still recycling.

 

[EricTyrrell]

:ar15:

I'd rather have one of these: http://www.mobiusmotors.com/mobius-II/

Sad when a Mobius is more like a LR, than a LR.

Don't get me wrong, the Discovery concept looks great, for rappers.

 

[roverrocks]

:ar15:

I'd rather have one of these: http://www.mobiusmotors.com/mobius-II/

Sad when a Mobius is more like a LR, than a LR.

Very interesting vehicles and story. Good concept like LR's used to be.

 

[brickpaul65]

Isn't this supposed to be the replacement for the LR2 or at least the concept for that? Ummm...if so, did any of you want an LR2? If not, then you stil don't want its successor.

The new Range Rover looks great and is pretty impressive in the capability department. The wheels and tires could be more appropriate for off road but they are street oriented. Modern Rovers seem to be extremely comfortable and able to handle the bulk of non dedicated trail rig type trails. In the cases that they don't they at least have a significant better time getting to the trail

I don't believe they will be making a defender equivalent (totally barebones and not necessarily road friendly) going forward.

I am hoping the LR4 replacement maintains the two stepped roof and huge interior. If it doesn't, I am still a long ways away from having to decide if I will be buying it or not.

 

[morrisdl]

No love for the LR2 either, but this Discovery Concept is no LR2 successor. This one has the stepped roof, notched tail-gate, and seats 7:

**images from jalopnik http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/land-rover-discovery-concept-is-all-show-not-the-futur-1563225357/+zacestrada


Looks like a full sized ford explorer to me.

 

[Mack73]

Isn't this supposed to be the replacement for the LR2 or at least the concept for that? Ummm...if so, did any of you want an LR2? If not, then you stil don't want its successor.

The new Range Rover looks great and is pretty impressive in the capability department. The wheels and tires could be more appropriate for off road but they are street oriented. Modern Rovers seem to be extremely comfortable and able to handle the bulk of non dedicated trail rig type trails. In the cases that they don't they at least have a significant better time getting to the trail

I don't believe they will be making a defender equivalent (totally barebones and not necessarily road friendly) going forward.

I am hoping the LR4 replacement maintains the two stepped roof and huge interior. If it doesn't, I am still a long ways away from having to decide if I will be buying it or not.

I'm 99% sure this is the LR4 replacement. It technically has a "stepped" roof.... but not as much as the LR3/4 and much further back.

IIRC The LR2 replacement is that long wheel base "evoque" styled mule that was running around a couple months back.

 

[brickpaul65]

The concept has suicide doors...I wonder if this is an actual vehicle or just a blend of the two that show the overall idea. I would hate having to open a front door to let the kiddos out.

 

[morrisdl]

If I recall correctly, the ford explorer concept had rear suicide doors too...

Yup: