Defender - is black (hot?) in summer?

Thanks all for the posts.

Really appreciate all the advice.

One thing I know for sure is that at least there will be some air con irrespective of the colour I go.

Never had that as a kid with the series 2 and 3 utes I grew up with on he farm!

Even the 2 defender utes we had later weren't too good as dad never believed in fixing the a/c up after it stopped working. A true scot - he'd prefer to open the front vents and tell us it was saving diesel.

Such a shame they lost the front vents in this last configuration of the defender.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cooperrat

Yes it does show scratches and dust, but Heck , its a defender…...

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exactly what I was thinking, my 11 month old black 110 has been pinstriped and missing paint off the wheelarches. Its only been washed twice, both times by the dealer. Still looks a million dollars.

as to the heat, barely notice it. Air on struggled on one hot day, so we got it tinted. Got a sunroof we can crack to let some heat out as well.

Thanks Lee

Actually I was wondering about the sunroof.

I did think it might let out some heat but was worried about whether it might make it hotter, be noisier and also whether it might leak (saw some posts about that).

Do you think it is worth putting one in?

Cheers

My sun roof is from the factory, no water leaks ! ( not from the sun roof anyway...lol)

It does work well to allow built up heat to escape and when driving actually will draw air up and out aiding in the circulation of the air conditioned air.

Down side, in direct sun ligh it can get hot where the sunshine touches and won't fully open when the roof rack is on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Drover

But.....this is the test that you posted ? Now you've got me confused .......

Do you not like the results of your own evidence ?

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The test in the link I posted shows that the black car was hotter. I am happy with that.

My point about Defenders not being cars was explained in an earlier post. There is good reason to believe that the enormous sloping windscreen on the cars used in the California test would have a significant impact on the temperature inside the car. That would mask the difference between paint colours.

My argument is that while tests on cars show that black cars heat up faster a test on a vehicle with small vertical glass surfaces would show a much greater difference between black and white.

My Puma 90 is black although I didn't really have much choice in the colour when I bought it, I don't mind the black. My previous vehicle was a white Honda Accord and I don't really notice that the black Defender is any hotter than the white Honda. I did have the windows tinted on the Defender and I think that makes a big difference. White cars look cleaner even if you haven't washed them for some time, whilst you notice the dirt more on black cars.
cheers
Andrew

Well I have taken the plunge. Put my order in today for a santorini black Defender!

Another one! But I changed my order to the silver pack

congrats, You'll love it!

I liked the silver pack but wanted the black roof.

Have ended up with most of the silver pack - ie silver grill, silver dash insert, dual alloys etc and have made it a bit special with the premium all leather seats.

I wanted the sun roof but my wife put her foot down and said that would be the straw that breaks the camel's back! She didn't like the fact we couldn't block out the sun.

Don't intend to do any other major upgrades. Might look into the noise and heat insulation ideas I have read about in this forum.

Now I just have to wait until Sept (and hope it really does arrive then).