But even the folks who wouldn't dream of taking an LR3 off-road will want to know that they could if they absolutely had to. On this point, Taylor describes the LR3 as ''being best-in-class off-road.''
The modern architecture that is the skeleton of the LR3 is designed, Taylor says, ''to offer excellent on-pavement behavior while upholding Land Rover's rigorous off-road standards. Building on the philosophy established by Range Rover, the LR3 introduces a breadth of capability and a level of luxury that sets a new standard for the category.''
Beyond the blah-blah-blah about going off road, the smart consumer should focus on Land Rover's desire to make the LR3 better on pavement than the Discovery II. That would not be hard, but one assumes the upgrade will be significant.
That of course remains to be seen, but it's encouraging that the LR3 will be powered by the 4.4-litre V8 that's good for 300 hp and is attached to a six-speed ''intelligent shifting' automatic gearbox,'' permanent four-wheel drive, fully and independent electronic air suspension.
From an engineering perspective, the big technology jump is probably the advent of Terrain Response, which Taylor describes as a ''new and patented'' technology'' that allows the driver to ''maximize the capability built into their vehicle.''
To make this work, the driver selects one of five terrain settings on a dash-mounted rotary switch, and the vehicle's electronic controls and traction systems are optimized for that surface.
There's a general driving program, plus one for slippery conditions, and three special off-road modes (mud/ruts, sand, rock crawl). Terrain Response then automatically selects the most appropriate settings for the vehicle's advanced electronic controls and traction aids, including ride height, engine torque response, hill-descent control, electronic traction control. and transmission settings.
Taylor says Terrain Response is ''like having an expert alongside you, to help you get the best out of the vehicle whatever the conditions, on-road or off.''
This could be pretty handy in the real (i.e. paved) world, if the driver actually uses it, though I suspect that the best possible technology would be a system that reads the current terrain and makes the changes itself.
It's probably more useful to the average LR3 driver that the vehicle's headlights swivel with the direction of travel to illuminate the road ahead, which means it will light up the curve you're going into rather than the wall or trees dead ahead.