Though commanding a premium price, nothing about the 2005 Land Rover LR3’s interior says luxury. Our test model was black and gray inside, with a light colored headliner serving as the only thing breaking the monotony of the cabin’s appearance. Simple, industrial forms create a no-nonsense ambience, entirely in keeping with the LR3’s character but not quite what luxury buyers might expect.

At least the LR3’s control layout is dramatically improved over the old Discovery, which had a penchant for perplexing its driver on a regular and ongoing basis. But despite its greater ease of use, there is work to do on this front.

Take the stereo, for example. What looks like a large, rubbery tuning knob is not, making life frustrating. But the large, rubbery power and volume knobs are terrific, working exactly as expected. We also liked the nine presets for favorite radio stations, with large buttons that are simple to use. However, the radio’s display screen is flat and not angled toward driver, making it hard to see in bright light.

Like the stereo, the climate controls are much better than in the old Discovery. Three round, rubbery knobs regulate driver, passenger and fan settings for the dual-zone automatic climate control system. Equipped as our test truck was with a Cold Climate Package, the switches for the two-stage seat heaters were flanked by buttons for the defogger and heated windshield, system mode, air recirculation, and system-off features. Sounds great, right? It is, except the controls are located down low in dash where they’re hard to see and reach.

Similarly, other controls operate in a brilliant yet confusing fashion. Automatic down/up convenience is offered for the driver’s window only, almost unforgivable in a vehicle than can easily approach the $60,000 mark. And for that kind of coin, you might resent a power mirror switch looks like it came out of a Ford Focus, but it’s a handy twist knob mounted to A-pillar so you feel guilty complaining. The turn signal stalk is sensitive, making it easy to accidentally “bright” other motorists (which can get you killed on some Los Angeles freeways these days).

We really liked the pull-out fog lights with a separate setting for the rear fog light, and the location of the controls for the DSC, park control system, hazard flashers, and central locking that are arrayed atop the stereo system where they are easy to see and use. The four-wheel-drive and suspension settings are placed in the center console, logically grouped behind the gear selector with the electronic parking brake release. The power sunroof features one-touch opening, and the power seat controls are located on the lower left side of the seat base where they belong, rather than on the inner panel of the center console as on the Discovery. Handy twist controls allow for perfect setting of the front seat inboard armrests.

Navigation system buyers should know that the touch screen requires deliberate presses with substantial effort to get things to work. But when off-roading, the breadcrumb feature is indispensable, allowing you to drive deep into the boonies with little worry that you’ll get lost. This special off-road navigation system also offers latitude and longitude positions, the LR3’s heading in degrees, and an altimeter. On-road features include a bird’s-eye 3D perspective. The screen also houses a handy “4X4 Info” display that shows the real-time status of the LR3’s off-roading systems. Other system features include points of interest, stored locations, route options, and an SOS emergency feature that can summon rescue personnel. Our main complaint, other than the insensitive touch screen, is that the display washes out in sunlight, making all this cool stuff very hard to see.