Thread: All discussions relating to the Defenders end of production

Considering every time someone releases a "modern defender" concept all the purist LR people go "eww" I'm not at all surprised that LR are taking time to come up with something.

As for ridiculously expensive current range..

Holden some years ago said a new Holden would cost a years wage. (This was based on the avg wage)

Well, you can buy a Discovery 4 for the average Aussie wage... Go figure!!!!!

Originally Posted by YOLO110

Yep!

Make it out of Carbon Fibre too... light, strong, will never rust!!

Seriously, the Alfa Romeo C has done this now at 'production' price levels... it's certainly a direction ahead if manufactures can get the costs down...

Brittle, hard to repair, and expensive - not sure that it is a good fit for a Defender replacement!

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic has its place in cars, but it is a fairly small place. They are not stronger than conventional materials - it is more rigid, which makes it possible to design structures that are lighter provided they are structures where ultimate strength is determined by Euler buckling. In tension or bending it is a lot weaker than conventional materials such as alloy steels, and is much more easily damaged by abrasion or impact than even aluminium.

John

Further to my comment above on the "Heavy Duty" market, I reckon Ram trucks have it pretty much wrapped up
4500KG towing with a ball, 6989KG with a pintle
5 Link coil sprung rear end
1084NM torque
Exhaust Brake
Leather seats
etc

Makes a Defender or a Landcruiser look pretty old fashioned

Regards,
Tote

But Tote. A recurring theme here is people complaining about 9-11l/100km.

They'd have kittens with the Ram!!!

They are a nice bit of kit for their purpose.

Capacity is not old fashioned though.

The fact such Caravans are so ridiculously heavy in the days of modern manufacturing and materials, combined with people's insistence on using ridiculous things and then towing them is the issue.

I've seen a custom built van with Granite bench tops, solid hardwood everything...

That's just bloody ridiculous!!!!

Originally Posted by MrLandy

The main reason JLR are currently successful is because they are focussed on selling very expensive cars into a very wealthy and wasteful economy which has very little concern for the environment. The whole idea of producing an aluminium body and chassis that is disposable and recyclable in the short term makes a mockery of the anti-rust longevity attributes of aluminium in the first place.

None of the above addresses the reasons why JLR has not been serious about updating the Defender, except that the market they have chosen to prioritise are those who are so wealthy they don't need to consider vehicle longevity or the environment. A culture of elite leases renewed on new vehicles every three years does not absolve JLR from totally dropping the ball on Defender, no matter how recyclable it may never be.

Geez MrLandy, I think you may be even more cynical about modern society than I am.

I get what you are saying about consumerism, but sadly that's the world we live in. In fact one of the reasons I bought my Defender was as my little protest against modern society and an up yours to the Porsche and Mercedes SUV drivers of which there are a lot around where I live.

I agree that the ball has been well and truly dropped on Defender development, but my point was its mostly been due to circumstances beyond Land Rover's control. Development stagnated after the Series 2 and has never caught up.

The simple reason they have not been serious about updating Defender is because they haven't had the funds to do it. Priorities have been set on luxury vehicles, mostly by owners external to the company who the approve funding, because of the commercial reality that those are the vehicles that make money.

There is a big difference between disposable and recyclable. Everything has a finite useful life. Even a vehicle that lasts 20 or 30 years will consume a lot in fuel, lubricants and parts and there will always come a time when it is no longer economical to run. Technology, safety, efficiency all move on and there are many good reasons why people no longer want to drive around in something that was built 30 years ago.

With that in mind, surely if a vehicle had an economic life of 10 years and was then able to be returned to the manufacturer for recycling into a new, more efficient vehicle, made more efficiently, using more efficient sources of energy, that would be a better use of resources than one that lasts for 20, even 30 years and was then just scrapped?

Anyway, I think one thing we could agree on is that this discussion would be much better had around a campfire, sharing a bottle of Laphroaig.

Cheers,
Jon

An electric Defender would be brilliant, solar powered even better. Same proportions, simplicity, rechargeable, hoseoutable, clean, economical, versatile, affordable ...How do we get around the fuel baron Neanderthals who can't see how fast the planet is heating up?!? and work out how to make it happen?

Technology is brilliant if it aims for simplicity. Design is brilliant when it achieves simplicity. Bring it on Land Rover, I dare you...

Simplicity. You're an enigma. You've contradicted all you have previously stood by!

Electric vehicles are hardly simple.....