All the dealers in Western Australia told me the same thing when I was looking
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I'm not sure why people say the defender is unstable and unsafe
I have 2 1986. 110 defenders
One is a 2 door panel van with a 5litre rover motor and the other a 2 door ute with 600 hp that I race off road
It does 200 km hour off road
It's stable and handles better than my 2012 sr5 hilux off road.
The only unsafe thing I can see is in a roll over
The race landy has all stock running gear also
stumbled on this it may be relevant 2015 Land Rover Defender special packs | carsguide.com.au
Cheers
The point I was (badly) trying to make is that on average, a safe driver crusing around in a 2 door RRC would be safer that a bad driver with poor concentrationin a brand new Rang Rover.
There would be very few instances where the electronic driver aids would make a meaningful difference in outcome of a situation where an animal or another driver pulls out in front of you. Airbags and chassis design play a much bigger part. Whether a defender has DSC or not will not change the effectiveness of the airbag set-up, or structural integrity of the cockpit space in the event of a crash.
If you are worried about safety, buy a car with a top safety rating. If you want a defender, buy a defender.
ESC will require a lot more than software updates, a few more sensors for a start. Let's hope it's switchable as can you imagine lifting a wheel off road and it starts braking wheels. Probably an end to any after market suspension upgrades as well :(
GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Defender's last stand? - motoring.com.au
" The new colour won't be available from the start of MY15 production, but will come on stream in August. Unfortunately, that rules it out for Australia, since the last shipment of Defender for the Australian market will be built and exported before the new colour comes on stream. And the Aussie-spec vehicles are due here in September of this year.
It's the last chance for local buyers to get in for a current series Defender. "