Speaking of Loaner Car Roulette

Someone else took their FoRS in and got a Mustang GT loaner. I took my Range Rover in for a Takata airbag recall and was given a Discovery Sport:

The Disco Sport is what replaced the LR2 which is what replaced the Freelander. It's awful, mostly because you can't see out of it and it drives like a giant rubber band.

I wrote more about it on my (ad-free, dumping ground for thoughts) blog, which you can find in my signature if you are clever. But! The short of it is...

• Throttle response is very laggy even in Sport - has at least a 0.5 sec delay between application and movement, which is delightful when pulling out into traffic
• Brakes have really aggressive initial bite but then feel like crap as you progress through the pedal travel
• Base sound system is fine for most people
• No low range or locking diffs, not like most buyers will care, but does retain Terrain Response to help tame the traction/stability controls
• The key creaks when you press buttons and is made up of 50% shiny black plastic, which was already scratched with 2,300 miles on the car's odometer - not befitting of a $45-50k vehicle to me
• Driving in DC commuter traffic made the front parking sensors freak out when I was just creeping along. You can hit the button to disable them, but the system resets if you come to a complete stop. This was maddening.
• Lane Keep Assist works if it's bright enough out and it can read the lane lines - kind of neat although I think this is a pretty basic implementation as it "ping pong'd" around the lane - it's more for emergencies where you got far too engrossed in Angry Birds while flying down the highway and lost track of where the car was positioned.
• Are all of these "entry level, small crossover" type vehicles this bad to drive? I have to think the X3 and Q5 are better dynamically, and whichever Lexus (NX? RX?) is better at being a rolling isolation chamber

It seems entirely petty and first-world-problem of me to complain that my free Land Rover loaner car isn't very good to drive, but... it's not.

Well, it's still miles better than a Freelander. At least it's able to take you places without the assistance of a rollback.

Considering this is an automotive centric site, run by a publisher, it might be a bit of a faux pas to start a thread linking to your blog for what sounds like an automotive review.

Maybe posting the full blog post here w/ a lnk to your blog at the end would be better.

I'm also not affiliated w/ grm at all, just appreciate this community they host.

bluej said:

Considering this is an automotive centric site, run by a publisher, it might be a bit of a faux pas to start a thread linking to your blog for what sounds like an automotive review.

Maybe posting the full blog post here w/ a lnk to your blog at the end would be better.

I'm also not affiliated w/ grm at all, just appreciate this community they host.

Thanks for the feedback and good call. I updated the original post with the basic thoughts I came away with. The GRM staff/community/publication are great and I am not trying to take away from that. The blog is an ad-free dumping ground for my motorsports endeavors and thoughts so I didn't want to throw 1,000 words on here.

Otherwise just thought it could be an interesting discussion about these small, entry-ish-level luxo-crossovers. Are they all this bad to drive?

Furious_E said:

Well, it's still miles better than a Freelander. At least it's able to take you places without the assistance of a rollback.

One of my friends recently picked up a two-door Freelander, by choice. It's been good to him so far, other than the melted taillight harness and torn CV boot. He's a big car guy, appreciates the weird stuff, and seems to dig it for now. That said, it is sloooooow.

Brake_L8 s

• Are all of these "entry level, small crossover" type vehicles this bad to drive? I have to think the X3 and Q5 are better dynamically, and whichever Lexus (NX? RX?) is better at being a rolling isolation chamber

 

I recently got an 2014 BMW X3 for Mrs. Aspen.  It doesn't have any of the above problems and is impressively quick with the I6 Turbo (n55 in BMW code speak).  It handles competently for a too tall SUV thingy, but is weak compared to a sedan or my beloved 328 wagon.  The 2018 is supposed to drive even better, but I haven't tried one yet.  Most reviewers agree that the X3 handling is about as good as it gets for a CUV short of the Macan. The Lexus NX is much more plush with a couple of degrees more slop in the handling, but it's lane assist feature works beautifully.  I didn't try a Q5 because VW.

Interesting comment on the parking sensor, I was warned not to buy a BMW/Mercedes with the driver technology devices as they frequently break rendering the car undriveable until the very expensive modules shipped from Germany arrive.  I wonder how that stuff will hold up now that many many new cars are coming with auto braking and radar cruise.

Brake_L8 said:

Furious_E said:

Well, it's still miles better than a Freelander. At least it's able to take you places without the assistance of a rollback.

One of my friends recently picked up a two-door Freelander, by choice. It's been good to him so far, other than the melted taillight harness and torn CV boot. He's a big car guy, appreciates the weird stuff, and seems to dig it for now. That said, it is sloooooow.

A friend of a girl I dated in high school had one and it certainly lived up to the reputation. He was kind of a spoiled brat and didn't treat the thing particularly well, but even still it was a total POS. New issue with it every time I saw him until the tranny eventually E36 M3 the bed at something like 70k miles. I laugh every time I spot on on Craigslist now because I know the ad is going to state non-running before I even click it lol.

Edit: Had to check, at least 2/3 on Craigslist right now are non runners 

https://reading.craigslist.org/cto/d/2003-land-rover-freelander-awd/6501472268.html

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/d/2003-land-rover-freelander/6496701204.html

https://lancaster.craigslist.org/cto/d/2002-landrover-freelander/6501243387.html

Would you prefer a black or red canoe up your ass?

Maybe they're raffling off a canoe.

Wow, holy throwback.

My feelings for the Discovery Sport remain the same as the day I wrote everything up above. Have been getting press cars to review in the months/years since. Disco Sport is still one of the most disappointing turns I've had behind the wheel.