Historical review of four generations of land rover discovery with iconic body structure
[Car History] In June 1970, a model named Range Rover was launched, which subverted people’s impression that Land Rover has always been rough and informal. After the birth of Range Rover, it became another hot-selling Land Rover model, which won an excellent reputation for Land Rover. After a lapse of 19 years, Land Rover built a new model based on the Range Rover chassis under the premise of lack of funds-Land Rover Discovery. From the moment the discovery was born, its uniqueness made it the focus of the world’s attention. After 25 years of continuous development of four generations of vehicles, the positioning of Land Rover discovery has been continuously improved, and the only constant is the iconic appearance structure.
◆(1989-1998)
Originated from Land Rover Range Rover, creating a unique body structure.
In the mid-1980s, Land Rover urgently needed a new model to occupy the increasingly hot SUV market together with Range Rover. However, a new car needs a lot of research and development cycles and funds, which are obviously difficult for Land Rover to achieve. The new car project is imminent. Land Rover, led by Tony Gilroy, used all available funds. The team decided to choose a chassis between the existing Land Rover 110 (Defender) and the Range Rover to develop new models. Finally, the team chose the Range Rover with better road driving performance.
Land Rover’s new car project was named Project Jay, and the sludge model of the car was completed in 1986. The designer built a stepped roof on the chassis of Range Rover, with headlights from Leland Sherpa truck and taillights from Austin Maestro truck. Although designers have racked their brains to make the new car different from the Range Rover, it is inevitable that the car is too similar in size to the Range Rover. In June 1989, Land Rover launched a new model after the Range Rover which was born in 1970-Land Rover Discovery.
The first generation of Land Rover found that there was only one three-door model at the beginning of listing. Although it was based on the Range Rover chassis, its chassis, steering and braking systems were not modified, and the suspension laid a good foundation for discovering and conquering various road conditions. LT230T four-wheel drive is equipped with low-speed four-wheel drive, high-speed four-wheel drive and locking function. It is found that the main difference between the chassis structure and the Range Rover is that it does not use the automatic leveling system of the rear wheel of the Range Rover and the new pressed steel rim, but the carefully designed Land Rover finds that the price is lower than that of the Range Rover. In terms of body size, the first generation Land Rover found that it was 4539mm long, 1793mm wide, 1966mm high and 2540mm high.
Thanks to the unique stepped roof design, the first generation Land Rover found that it has a high degree of recognition, and the invisible B-pillar design of the three-door model outlines the intriguing lines of the whole vehicle. At the beginning, in order to make the discovery different from the Range Rover, the designer integrated the side window design on both sides of the stepped roof, so that people no longer focused on whether the body size was similar to the Range Rover. The rear-mounted spare tire can be said to be a major feature of off-road vehicles, and the unique rear window shape has also become another major feature.
In terms of interior, the first generation found that consumers can choose a variety of interior colors, the most representative of which is the interior color called sonar blue, and its center console, steering wheel and door panel are made of blue plastic. In order to reduce the cost of R&D and manufacturing, it was found that the internal structure was similar to that of Range Rover. All switches and instrument lights came from Rover’s Maestro and Montego models. The first generation found that the interior was quite simple, and the two-spoke steering wheel had a strong grip. A large number of function keys were gathered on both sides of the instrument panel, and the functional area of the center console was not rich. The left side of the air-conditioning panel was an electronic clock, the right side was a cigarette lighter, and the audio panel was located upward below the air-conditioning panel. Although it is found to be an SUV that is biased towards road driving, the handle in front of the co-pilot of the center console still highlights its wild side.
Compared with Range Rover, it is found to be more like a station wagon. The seven-seat design greatly improves the utilization rate of its interior space. The interior ceiling is equipped with a storage mesh bag, and the double skylight design is also refreshing. The charm of Land Rover’s discovery lies not only in its unique design, but also in its price. Compared with the Range Rover with a starting price of 23,784, the price found was only 15,750, and this pricing also enabled it to sell 20,000 vehicles in the first year. However, in order to widen the gap with the higher-priced Range Rover, it was found that it was initially equipped with a 3.5-liter V8 pair with a maximum of 145 horsepower, and there was also a 2.5-liter direct injection to choose from, with a maximum power of 111 horsepower and a maximum power of 203 N m.
Although the three-door version has outstanding interior space, the three-door layout of such a practical model obviously does not maximize the practicality, so it is imperative to develop the traditional five-door version. In 1990, that is, only one year after the first generation was listed, it was discovered that the five-door edition was officially met with the public. It is found that the appearance of the five-door version is consistent with that of the three-door version. The only difference is that the part that was originally "wasted" was replaced by the back door. 3.5-liter V8 fuel injection replaced the original carburetor engine, the maximum torque was increased from 260N·m to 288N·m, and the exhaust emissions were also reduced.
At the same time, in order to meet the different needs of consumers, Land Rover launched a series of optional services for discovery, including and exhaust catalytic converters. As for the transmission system, it was found that only 5-speed was initially equipped, and the 4-speed provided by ZF began to be equipped on V8 gasoline engine models in 1992 and applied to Tdi diesel engine models in 1993. In the same year, the 3.9-liter V8 gasoline engine used in the Range Rover also began to be discovered and adopted. Since then, it is not uncommon for this kind of priority to supply the Range Rover and to be discovered and inherited.
It was not until the early 1990s that Land Rover became interested in its four-wheel drive models, which had a strategic alliance with Leyland. Honda noticed that Land Rover found that sales were extremely hot, and it was particularly jealous of the great success of competitors such as Hehe in the field of off-road vehicles, so it finally decided to produce the OEM model discovered by Land Rover-Ross Road. The car is only sold in Japan, which is also the first overseas model sold under a Japanese brand. Honda Crossroad only has a 3.9-liter V8 gasoline engine with a 4-speed automatic transmission. Except for the logo, Honda Crossroad and Land Rover find no difference.
Also in 1993, Land Rover introduced the discovery of a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine. This power system originated from Rover T16 car. Because of its complex structure and high speed, it is not common in four-wheel drive vehicles that focus on multi-road driving. Although this 2.0-liter engine is powerful, its torque is far less than that of V8 gasoline engine and Tdi turbocharged diesel engine. In the same year, Land Rover launched the Discovery Commercial Edition in order to create a market segment. The car was built on the basis of the Discovery Three-door Edition. The rear seat was cancelled and a closed carriage was adopted, which greatly improved the loading capacity. The mechanical structure was consistent with that of the ordinary version. Consumers could choose gasoline or diesel engines. The car was born just in time for the discovery of a small change, and the headlight size was increased. In order to cope with the new regulations, the brake lights were moved to both sides of the rear bumper, the driver became standard, and the blue interior was no longer used.
At this time, Land Rover found that its position in the market of similar vehicles has been hard to shake, and the sales volume of diesel vehicles is nearly four times higher than that of gasoline vehicles. In order to improve the attractiveness of gasoline vehicles to consumers and balance sales volume, Land Rover launched a new 3.9-liter V8 engine for discovery, and the maximum power of the engine was increased from the previous 164 horsepower to 180 horsepower. Only a five-door version found that this new engine was used, and some people even worried that its appearance would affect the sales volume of Range Rover. In 1994, Land Rover entered the North American market for the first time with this model, and it was awarded the title of four-wheel drive of the year with its richer standard configuration and outstanding performance.
Five years after the first generation of Land Rover was found on the market, Land Rover released a modified model with internal code name "Romulus", which was found to be equipped with a brand-new hood, headlights, front bumper, taillights integrated on the rear bumper and carbon black wheels. The new center console has a more rounded shape, and the overall style tends to be sedan. It adopts the steering wheel style of Rover 800 and is equipped with front airbags. Anti-lock braking system has become the standard of ES flagship model, and other models can be equipped with this safety configuration. In terms of diesel vehicles, 300Tdi replaced the original 200Tdi. Although it belongs to a 2.5-liter turbocharged diesel engine, its performance and exhaust emissions are even better. The 5-speed manual gearbox was replaced by R380 from the previous LT77/LT77S, with smoother shifting and lower noise. After its launch, it quickly became a hot-selling model in the first generation of discovery families.
While the first generation found hot sales, Land Rover also launched several special editions, including GoodWood commemorative edition, Horse&Hound edition, Camel Trophy racing edition and 50th anniversary edition. Among them, the most striking is the Camel Cup. Camel Cup is a world cross-country race jointly sponsored by Camel, a well-known tobacco company. Land Rover soon set its sights on this challenging South American rainforest race. Land Rover Range Rover took a dominant position in the second race in 1981. During the 16 years of Camel Cup, all Land Rover models won the title of champion, including the first generation discovery. It was found that Camel Cup racing car was painted with the iconic yellow paint, and necessary modifications were made for the race, including the front bumper, wading throat, roof rack, and so on. The chassis and mechanical structure were the same as those of mass production models. With nearly the same chassis structure and lower price as the Range Rover, the first generation Discovery quickly became the main model of the Land Rover family from its birth in 1989 to its official suspension in 1998.