WICK, SCOTLAND -- The fifteenth century castle that was to be our home for two nights loomed in the foreground, as our lineup of 2005 Land Rover LR3s maneuvered over rocks, across formidable sand dunes, and along the hard-packed shoreline of Scotland’s North Sea. Following a full day of design and engineering presentations in Gaydon, England, our small cadre of auto writers had been flown to northern Scotland to put the newest Land Rover -- the LR3, which replaces the Discovery in the U.S. -- through its paces over a period of two days, driving on paved roads and dirt tracks, and through technical off-road/4WD evaluations. The task was to evaluate the LR3’s new smoothness and control on the road and its improved 4WD prowess in the areas of traction, suspension articulation, hill descent, steering, gearing, breakover angle, and angles of approach and departure.

It took some getting used to, from the LR3’s new alpha-numeric name and the Land Rover presenter’s boasts of “high technology as a re-occurring theme” to the LR3’s unique electronic wizardry called Terrain Response -- “a smart technology that makes drivers expert in the cabin.” Maybe that was great for the masses of people that hadn’t been on Camel Trophys, participated in 4WD adventures, attended four-wheeling driving schools, and competed in numerous off-road races around the world -- as had many in our small group of journalists. For the Sunday adventurer, this level of luxury and vehicular intelligence from bonnet to boot would surely swivel their heads and open their wallets.

But surely, not professional drivers. NO way. Two days hence, the humbling conversion was complete. on winding and slender paved roads, as well as on dirt tracks and over highly technical, off-road courses set up by some of the best-of-the-best to be the some of the toughest-of-tough, it was time let go of solid axles, manual transfer cases, pushrod engines and body-on-frame construction. The 2005 Land Rover LR3 was unflappable. Capable and luxurious. Able to tow and stow more wellies, wax-cotton jackets and fly rods…and able to bring more of your buddies or girlfriends along for the ride to the mountains or the museum.

With increased power, improved throttle response, upgraded steering and braking, and an on-road ride and handling prowess that rivals the more expensive Range Rover, the Land Rover LR3 is able to ford 28 inches of water, traverse 35-degree side slopes, and climb and descend slopes of up to 45 degrees thanks to improved angles of approach, departure and breakover. But, more than that, Terrain Response comes from the engineering analysis of fifty different surfaces that included grass, gravel, low mieu, mud and ruts, snow, sand, forest track, and rock crawling. It’s the technological equivalent of ABS: no matter how good you think you are, Terrain Response improves the driveability (and therefore, safety) by automatically making adjustments that control your ride height, gear selection, throttle mapping, Hill Descent Control, and locking differentials. Perhaps best of the lot is an LED display that provides a picture map of the vehicle, including steering wheel angle, so you have a visual representation of positioning when driving over difficult obstacles or across rough terrain. It helps to know what your coming up to and how you’ve positioned your vehicle to handle the challenge. The display also lets you know whether the LR3’s differentials are locked or open, a great training mechanism for beginners It has great potential for bringing newbies into the four-wheeling fold.

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