Ed Evans

New ain’t necessarily better

A newer, lower mileage Land Rover is not necessarily better than your old high-mileage machine – indeed, it may not be anywhere near as good. I’ve just test-driven a four-year-old, 40,000-miles Discovery 4 offered for sale at a Land Rover franchise with a full LR service history. I drove to see it in my 14-year-old, 140,000 miles Range Rover Sport to make a direct comparison, given that both cars have similar mechanical and electronic underpinnings. Surprisingly, my Sport was smoother, quieter and handled better. I expected the Sport’s handling to be superior because the suspension is firmer and the wheelbase shorter than the Discovery 4, but smoother and quieter? I was perplexed as to why.

Thinking about it, the answer was obvious. Many of the sources of NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) including suspension bushes, wheel bearings and propshaft joints have been replaced on my Sport during the last three years and have covered between 2000 and 20,000 miles, whereas the same components of the D4 were presumably original and had covered 40,000 miles.

Over the years I’ve ensured the Sport is perfectly set up in respect of suspension and steering (only recently I’ve had the front wheel alignment tweaked from zero to 1 mm toe-in with a pleasing improvement in steering weight, cornering response and feedback). I haven’t replaced any engine or transmission parts on the Sport, but they have been correctly serviced, though I would say the D4’s auto box was marginally quieter. Against that, when attempting to accelerate on the motorway, the D4’s powertrain took a moment to think about it before dropping a gear and picking up slowly. Sure, when it finally got itself together the extra torque and power was impressive, but the moment had been lost, and the driving experience degraded. By contrast, my ageing Sport accelerates hard instantly and smoothly.

It costs money to keep your old motor in tip-top condition, but it’s a fraction of the cost of trading up for a newer model. And an old truck is no more expensive to run because parts wear out just as quickly on a new car as they do on an old one. Mind, a major failure is statistically more likely on my Sport than on a newer Land Rover – fingers (and toes) crossed.