Hi All,

I'm a newbie to the forum and have already read a great deal of good advice here. I'm about to upgrade my LR Disco Sport to a FFRR and have narrowed my choices to 2 cars which are very similar (colour, mileage etc) but have the following differing options fitted:

Car 1 (2015/15 EURO 5) has 22" turbines with full size spare and fogs.

Car 2, (2015/65 EURO 6) has a deployable towbar and Incontrol wifi/apps etc.

I'm aware that there are other MY upgrades on the 65 plater such as gesture tailgate etc.

The car will most likely never be driven inside the M25 but it will go off road just a few times a year for shooting etc (car 2 has 20" wheels). Although we don't have a caravan now, we're thinking of getting a small one and quite like the idea of retaining the flexibility of having a towbar.

The cars are very similarly priced too, making the decision even harder! My wife and I both prefer the looks of car 1, but car 2 edges it on modernity.

It's a really tough call so any thoughts and/or advice would be really welcome! Thanks.

If you need a tow bar - the deployable one is around 3k to retro fit - there's a removable one that's about 1k, but neither are cheap.

Wheels can be expensive, but relatively easier to swap afterwards - same with full size spare - you should be able to pick up a set of 4 new turbines & tyres for around 2.5k

I thought all VSE's came with fogs Maybe that changed somewhere along the line, but I'd be slightly suspicious of one without - the only one I ever saw without was a LandRover experience car - so if it's white, run a mile.....

FWIW - I bought one with a deployable tow bar & changed the wheels - mine

Thanks Alistair, loving the pics of yours - I'm a fan of the look you went for. Both cars I'm looking at are black - car 1 is Santorini and car 2 is Marianus - which black is your car btw? Fogs are still an option (£140?) at SE spec but pretty much impossible to retrofit without wasting $$$.

2nd car, the only benefit I see for 1 is the wheels which has been stated are easily replaced!

2nd car.

FWIW, ULEZ are on the agenda for some cities and towns, London is only leading the way IIUC. If you have a 'van then you'll be travelling for hols and may come across them before long. Euro 6 may assist, at least for a while.

Just my thoughts. Cheers
Richard

(there are no such things as an ordinary FullFat, an ordinary cat or too many tools)
2011 TDV8 Vogue Santorini Black
Gap IIDBT

Nooney787 wrote:

Car 1 (2015/15 EURO 5) has 22" turbines with full size spare and fogs.

Car 2, (2015/65 EURO 6) has a deployable towbar and Incontrol wifi/apps etc.

Car 2. No brainier. And stick with the smaller wheels, they look classier in my opinion.

I don’t know if this might be relevant to you, but the deployable tow bar on option 2 is restricted to a 1 tonne towing limit off road, there’s no choice of towball fittings (no tow ball and pin hitches) and you can’t fit a tow bar bumper protection plate.

Last edited by Red Merle on 13th Jan 2019 8:52am. Edited 1 time in total

Neither car,

Car 1 isn’t Euro 6 with the lower car tax, or the other benefits of MY16 features

Car 2 I would avoid a car with a deplorable tow bar, due to reliability problems - not deploying and not latching. I would fit the detachable farmers type with a socket, that way you can remove when not needed and all that can be seen is a 2” square socket and no reliability issues.

I personally like 22” Turbines for looks and handling. But I also have a std set of 20” wheels shod with 285/50/20 AT tyres for the shooting season / winter 2021 L405 Vogue SE 4.4 V8 DIESEL ~ #17

On the other hand, I would be very happy with Car 2 with its deployable tow bar. My experience over 3 years of regular use is good with no problems at all with its operation.

Nooney787 wrote:

car 1 is Santorini and car 2 is Marianus - which black is your car btw? Fogs are still an option (£140?) at SE spec but pretty much impossible to retrofit without wasting $$$.

Mines Santorini

Have you actually seen Marianus in the flesh ? IMHO it's not black - its a dark metallic blue that looks black at night but is clearly blue in the sunlight.

Agree on the fogs - some have looked into it & it's not an easy fit as the switches are part of the stalk on the steering wheel

No issues with my deployable tow bar either but as said, the removable one is good - I had one on my last L322 - the only downside is nowhere neat to store the hitch when not in use.

I’ve found a fix for that

It stays on the car; it makes a great rear bumper (for other people’s parking nudges!), I know where it is when I need it and it’s always ready for use and it’s easy enough to lock in place if theft’s an issue

Thanks for all the thoughts guys. I think that a deployable towbar would be enough for me and the 2yr LR Approved warranty should alleviate concerns about its reliability. According to TOPIX both cars are MY15 but I suppose that the 65 plate one is the unofficial MY15.5 with EURO6, gesture and a few other improvements. Car 2 is Mariana black and when I saw it late afternoon/evening it looked black black - I’ll have another peek tomorrow. Also, is the IR reflective glass a worthy option (car 2 has it)?

TBH this time of year it's going to be black most of the time - here's a video that may help

It's a nice colour, unless you don't like blue I guess