As a Td5 Discovery 2 owner, this was not a surprising... eh.. discovery. A lot of the newfangled tech of the D2 can be left by the wayside, and you end up with a slightly larger D1 with a brutish but functional traction control system. For me, it's the perfect balance of being the last of the old-school solid axles, a real competitor to a stock Defender in terrain driving, while being far more comfortable for daily driving. I just wish it would stop rusting. And leaking. And blinking.

Retired Air Force vet here. I love the fact that you chose simplicity and character over refinement and all out capability. Excellent fun video! Thank You for your service!👍🇺🇸🇺🇸✈️✈️

As an LR3 owner I must say that you've managed to capture the essence of Discovery and the evolution of each of the platforms very well. Well presented, no embellishments, honest about each vehicles shortcomings and entertaining. Very well done!

Proud original owner of my 1995 D1 and still going strong!!! Great balanced review...I will say the D1 is truly the most fun to drive on and off road....

Great vid! Despite the comfort and capability of the LR4, the older ones are so much cooler!

Great review. I would be interested to see how well the D1 performed using the front and rear lockers.

Great video, I would go for the discovery II because of the wheelbase regarding where we live near the Grand canyon.

Finally acquired my dream rig (5.0 LR4) a month ago. Already threw an ARB bumper and some Prospeed goodies on it but I gotta say the funnest part so far was pulling a Tacoma out of a ditch in southern Utah.

You will not find Scott’s vocabulary anywhere else. Educated presenter. I enjoy watching him speak

Great review! I have a 2000 D2 with 2” OME lift, cdl, arb front bumper, winch, SD rack RTT, etc. Also have an ‘09 LR3 HSE waiting to get off-road ready. Love them both for different reasons. Really like the creature comforts of the LR3 but definitely have a soft spot for the D2 having owned it for 15+ years. And sure, have done head gaskets and lifters a couple times.

I owned and built a 2000 LR Disco Series 2. Bought it new and immediately installed front and rear ARB lockers, 2" lift, OME suspension, ARB winch bumper, Hella driving lights, and 12.5k Warn winch. Also modified the transfer case to install the rod for center diff lock. It was a great vehicle when it worked. Absolutely loved it off road - rock climbing, deep mud and water, etc.

Love my Discovery 2!!

I got a discovery sd 1997 all stock with 283 000 miles so far I have replaced alternator, water pump, hoses, gas pump and radiator and still running strong engine is quiet and steady! 👊💥🇲🇽

Pitty the USA never got the real pinnacle pf Land Rover Discoveries: The TD5 Discovery 2. And yes, I won one.

Great content! Awesome review! I have an old D1 - well maintained... had once considered a LR4 to my collection but was uncertain...now reconsidering

I have an ex australian army defender and a V8 D1. The D1 is my daily driver. You cant beat the sound of that 3.9 V8 winding up...

Hey Scott! Just going through some of the older stuff... You have got this one perfect! Yep the LR4 should be so much better at things than the D1 and D2 a bit better than the D1, but the D1 is the fun drive, more brain power has to go into the drive, something you loose with the LR4 I think, I went greenlaning last week and followed one, it was effortless, taking not a hint of issue where a Series truck got crossaxled... But if you had the 3 keys on hooks and you could take any of them, I bet the D1 keys would be never there! Loved my 300tdi D1... A good bus, albeit rotting now... 😞

You almost... almost made me want a Land Rover again;).

I own multiple Land Rovers including an off-road built D2. People complain about reliability, if your willing to get your hand dirty and do some work yourself they’re not any more unreliable/expensive to up keep than a Jeep.

Had a D1 auto diesel. Great cars. Very reliable. Now have locked defender with a few other mods. Will never get rid of it.

Moral of the story, get one of each and be happy.

Great break down on Land Rovers. We considered them, but the reliability/durability made it off limits.

In Europe, disco 2 99 and 00 models had actually the center diff locker installed. They lacked the lever, so you had to install a disco 1 300 lever or build a linear or rotary engine with a switch as we do nowadays. But the locker was there.. That's one of the main reasons to go for a 99 or 00 instead of a newer one. The re styling model, 03-04, had the locker only on demand, as an extra, on certain finishes(the expensive ones)... 01-02 were the transition models, with fixed things and improvements respect to the prior ones, but "less equiped" for offroad... Cheers

D1 with no advanced traction aids will of course struggle. Pop those diff locks on tho…

Would left-foot braking even helped on a climb with the discovery 2 having traction control? Better yet would hinder that because I know with abs they say to just let it do its job so I thought maybe the traction control was the same way current so my question is if you literally do left-foot braking will traction control come in and grab even more so? Cuz I own a disco 2 with CDL and traction control and I've never done left-foot braking with it but I've never thought to because of that. I almost thought I would disturb the traction control kind of how can you use the brakes with Hill descent it disturbs it

good god that r380 D1 is absolutely perfect. Ive been lucky in that D1s are basically considered disposable for the last 20 years, and that they retro-inherited the merited shit reputation of the d2s. Id kill to be able to bring in a euro manual trans for the d3 and install it.

It seems silly to not *also* include the Disco1 with air lockers engaged

From South Africa disagree, why no td5 ? With centre diff lock, TC, HDC auto ?

Hmmm... I guess it's different in the US market, where the V8 was never the most reliable engine, but I'd rather have a 300Tdi or TD5 to a TDV6 any day of the week. Spent decades driving Defenders and, honestly, I'm over the whole "barn on wheels" thing but a D1/D2 is as close as you can get to a Defender with a reasonable level of comfort.

And if you go to Africa for overland you also probably want to take the Disco 1. I'd say

well here is something for you i have a 300tdi 5speed auto did they make them? ihave a 3 door disco with 3.9 l i live in australia

and also we got the disco with centre diff lock

Great video. Can I ask you to clarify your comments about reliability with the D2? Do they relate to the v8 only or generally across the vehicle as I'm considering a TD5.

I have a 94 range rover LWB I added tru-trac diff to the rear and a similar Ashcroft diff to the front. On top of that i had an LT230 transfer case built by Ashcroft with a tru-trac type center diff as well. I have traction control on the rear and with the torque biased center diff I have front to rear automatic limited slip (sort of) this makes it amazing on the sand and gravel roads. I felt this made it better than it was originally by a wide margin. The LR4 is quite sophisticated and very capable. But my setup delivers switchless, cordless differential action aided by the traction control (rear) . It is actually driving all 4 tires all the time, self adjusting side to side and front to rear, all mechanically and automatically. Great Video break down. Your right, I want to drive the one I have. Take care..

Land Rover used to be such a fun company! I owned an SE II back when it was new, such a timeless design. Sucks they are so awful to own. Mine was in for warranty repairs constantly, till the bitter end 🤣

Cant stop laughing, lr4 and reliability I have not heard in the same sentence before. Too many electrics to be a true off-roader.

where can i get the roof rack on the D1? cheers

Nothing more to add here, agree that LR4 or Discovery 4 are the best performing one (if it works) but lightnes, simplicity and overall fun was always on D1 side. Even if it's not standard one but fully kitted and from what i remember 2.8 swapped. I own 200 tdi early Disco, and i love this car, even if it got more than 350.000km on clock and already tired drivetrian :D

2,000 manuals total with the Discovery line, or was that in 1995?

1:00 actually the 2003 discovery is the worst ever made, I know this because I own one

so your telling me that from 97 on the discovery you only could get ato ?? or how meny gears did the manuel have thank god i live in australia 2003 discovery 2@ cdl factory with 5 speed manuel

Just bought an 2013 LR4 with 75K, one owner, southern car. This thing is mint! I'm not taking it over that kind of terrain though, some muddy roads at best LOL!

Great video.Why don’t paint them in yellow :)

As the owner of a 2002 discovery I feel attacked 😂

I know the D1 is your choice, but without the diff lock on the D1 engaged, it was still not a fair test. You handicapped the D1. I don't understand why you would test the D1 without the same advantages of the others? Doesn't make sense! The traction control should have been turned off on the D2 and LR4. I love my D1 and have almost 200k miles on with with very little issues. Very reliable 3.9 liter; a bit weak, yes, but it will get you there eventually.

I mena I know the 2004 is the best d2 but saying the 02 is the worst hurts. My 02 has been a reliable tank. Also I put a CDL in. With that being said the D5 is the worst. It’s ugly as all hell.

Its bizarre watching an american, reviewing or even mentioning a british car....and not just slandering it...

Well, this hasn't aged well has it? Disco 3 and 4 are broken garbage. Makes sense that you'd drive home in a D1. At least you'll get home.

So help me god I will never sell my ‘97… unless the price is right. ;)

Wrong D1 is the winner

You lost me when you repeated the word reliability too many times. That word has been the albatross around the neck of LR since some idiot journalist used it years ago. It’s time to stop.

You keep talking to much 🙉🙉🙉

You lost me at reliability. Land Rovers are not reliable they are all built and engineerd by a bunch of idiots. Everyone who claims otherwise hasn't owned one or also believes pigs can fly. That said the solid axle Land Rovers still have a soul, so it doesn't matter that they have electical issues or breakdown from time to time. Because we can play rough with them and they work hard so we love them and their shortcomings. Nothing a bit of elbow grease and some pocket money won't fix. However all those Land Rovers with independent suspension and airride that is a whole different ball game. Those cars are nothing more then luxury shoppingcarts with the best traction control system available at the time. Take it properly offroad and you will break it multiple times. And when you break stuff on these newer Land Rovers you'll pay the price. The everage guy or girl can't work on these cars the prices they ask for spare parts make it that they can't afford it to own them aswell. People who buy new Land Rovers sell them before the warranty expires those who don't like to live dangerously.