2005 Land Rover LR3 Priced Nearly $13,000 Higher than Outgoing 2004 Discovery

Another major improvement which will allow for benefits in performance and fuel economy is the addition of a 6-speed automatic

Performance and fuel economy will benefit from the addition of a 6-speed automatic transmission with Command Shift manual actuation. (Photo: Land Rover)

transmission with Command Shift manual actuation. The new gearbox is also "intelligent," adapting its shift patterns to a driver's personal style, either optimizing performance or efficiency.

The LR3 should also be a much better performer through the curves. Its rolling stock is completely revised from the ground up, now with a unique Integrated Body-frame architecture which is said to provide "a stable foundation for refined on-road performance, while maintaining the off-road qualities essential to every Land Rover vehicle," in a Land Rover press release. The Ford Motor Company owned British

Standard Terrain Response and electronically controlled air suspension systems will be overkill for most owners. (Photo: Land Rover)

SUV-maker made sure to endow its 2005 model with a low center of gravity, important for high-speed road-holding as well as traversing challenging lateral grades while off-road.

The Terrain Response system, which adds to the standard SE features list while doing its part in upping the base model's entry-level price point, delivers some seriously sophisticated hardware to a market segment that almost never uses its vehicles off pavement. Nevertheless, it should make mom's commute back and forth from the kid's school during winter season much safer, as it will allow her to choose between multiple terrain settings for optimal performance in all weather conditions.