Thread: Puma didn't let us down

Originally Posted by dmdigital

Sorry Mrs H. We bypassed Brisbane and got to Townsville.

I have noticed that one not that I look to often on here

Mrs hh

Well after a 1015km day we are almost home. Only 890km to go

Manage to get hit by at least 3 birds today (might have been 5). I think that puts the Puma's bird kill at somewhere between 45 and 50!

It sound like you have a good trip in the PUMA,

How many K's will you covered by the time you get home ?

Fuel figures ?

Cheers
Grant

All noted down but yet to be reviewed. I'll post them up once we are back home and stopped driving for a few days.

I've also got a few thousand holiday pictures to sort through and a new wheel carrier to install.

Well made it home just before 5pm yesterday. Another long day of driving.

The roadkill count went up again, another two birds, a blue tongue lizard and a wallaby. The wallaby hit the side step towards the rear and went under the back wheel. No damage to the Defender, but the same can't be said for the poor roo, at least it was a quick ending.

I think I might start referring to the Puma as the Feral Cat, it's certainly made a dent in the native wildlife



Anyway here's the statistics for the trip:
Total days driving: 22
Distance covered: 10,533km
Fuel used: 1,412L
Did not need to top up engine oil or other fluids

Fuel consumption:
- Average: 13.6 L/100km
- Best: 10.9 L/100km
- Worst: 19.5 L/100km

Fuel Prices
Best: $1.377/L (Mt Isa)
Worst: $1.950/L (Elliot)
Average: $1.603/L


Issues:
Turbo heat shield came loose from one mounting bolt on the way down.
Wheel carrier broke on way down (Rijidi one to be fitted).
Brakes have become a little spongy on the way back. They worked really well until we left Townsville. Fluid level is unchanged so I will be bleeding them and checking the pad wear.

Good effort and thanks for the figures! We should have more info from fellow Puma drivers who's vehicles perform as expected. Those minor issues are sbsolutely nothing in comparison to the distance and I would bet that if you had inferiors along for the trip, their end of journey bills would far exceed yours!

Defenders remain Defenders regardless of their generation. Cheers!

Thought I should resurrect this thread.

My Puma has just returned from a 13,000k trip to WA as the service/support vehicle for my "assault" on this year's Australasian Safari.

I'm happy to report I have nothing to report, the Puma smashed it - no dramas at all (with the truck anyway - managed to snap the trailer's suspension) depite shocking headwinds across the Nulla (both bloody ways) a heap of questionable fuel in the middle if the desert and a good 2000ks of corrugations.

Got a few minor warranty issues to get fixed (interior trim mostly) and the egr is a little squeaky, but that's it. 62,000ks to date.

As for fuel, the truck was serviced and retuned prior to the trip and returned high 16s towing 1.2 tonne. Following another service and retuned on the tri back she got high 12s.

Fair to say I'm changing dealers...