Thread: Now a 110 owner

Looks great and love the backdrop and sky ☺

Jc

Flew from Brisbane to Melbourne in the morning.
Had a burger at a cafe along the beach esplanade at Albert Park.
Then the rain and wind started coming down hard and the temperature dropped, so instead of killing a few hours like I'd planned - I got an Uber ride to the dealer hoping they could fit me in early.

I was in luck - and about 40 minutes later, after all the paperwork, I was driving a Defender for the first time.

Pulled over 100 metres up the road to figure out how to find reverse, and get my route set up on Googlemaps on my phone.

Headed out of Melbourne on the inland route and the weather got worse: strong winds and driving rain. At the same time I suddenly felt very tired - perhaps an adrenalin dump after the excitement of the delivery and the early flight. So about 3:30pm and only an hour into the drive I pulled over, got into the back with my sleeping gear and fell asleep. Not as much room as I was expecting but was too tired to care.

Got up an hour later and hit the road again. Put in some hours then decided to have another break at a rest stop. Got into the back again but this time it was about 9pm and not only was it uncomfortable, it got cold. Tossed around, too tired to try something else but not really getting decent sleep.

Finally got up and headed off again. Then the next time I stopped for a break I tried using the back seat and that was much more successful.

Coming into Brisbane, there was an almighty rainstorm that brought the freeway to a crawl, with cars pulling over everywhere because you couldn't see a few feet in front of you. I was too scared of being rear-ended so kept trundling on, but it was really white knuckle time.

Here's some other observations from the trip.

GENERAL:
? Roads out of Dubbo were pretty bad - bumpy surface roads with suicidal roos.
? Roads heading into Queensland were also average. The most trucks and other traffic, and bumpy tarmac.
? Did one breathalyser test where the cops also checked my permit to drive an unregistered vehicle, and asked about the 110.
? The Hume/Newell/Cunningham route is mostly single carriageway which I don't really enjoy. I'd prefer to be separated from oncoming big rigs by more than a white line.
? Didn't see one single Defender throughout the whole 1700km. Saw a few Discos both new and old.
? Most likely to blast through the speed limit or pull a risky overtake - Toyota Land Cruisers.
? Covered the 1700km in about 26 hours with 3 nap breaks, three fuel stops and three toilet stops.
? The truckies along this route were friendly, helpful and law-abiding. On the Pacific Highway a few years ago the trucks were blasting past on on downhill curves like I was standing still. The trucks this time were sticking close to the limit, and indicated when it was safe for you to overtake them. One truckie helped me locate a small diesel bowser in the middle of the night.
? Lots of dead roos along the way - some of them big. Also had 3-4 small grey ones skip across the road near Dubbo.
? Why are bug guts orange? All the ones that splatted on the windscreen left orange stains.


DEFENDER:
? 6th gear is awesome for freeways. Tractable, pulling from 80km/h through to 120km/h and on.
? Going down the ranges from Toowoomba round those steep off-camber turns was not too much fun - felt very floaty again.
? At one point, came up on an S-turn too fast after a few hundred km at 110km/h - and found that braking while turning at speed is a scary sensation.
? Steering is very floaty and gearing is mostly low, but otherwise it felt quite similar to my 1971 Fiat 124: hot, noisy, mechanical - but with the bonus of working air-con.
? Wouldn't try sleeping in the back again without some modification. Not enough room and wrong configuration.
? Don't expect a hi-flow diesel nozzle at full trigger to cut off the flow of fuel like a petrol one - before it all comes sloshing out the spout.
? Have started doing what some on here have mentioned - rolling off from lights in 2nd gear rather than 1st.
? Had to squirm around in my seat a bit because my left leg couldn't get fully comfortable. Would have liked a foot rest or some ledge to lift it up and rest it so the blood flow could return. Or maybe a more ergonomic seat. Or maybe a cup of concrete so I can harden the @#! up.
? Air con worked fine when I was hot or the cabin got hot.

Overall, I wouldn't want to do the hard-charging run over that distance again, but it was a great way to learn the 110's highway manners and the general operation of the vehicle.

Now I need to stop going outside to drool over it. It's not healthy...

Great looking Defender. Also what a great way to start off your ownership of the car. You will find that you quickly adjust to its quirks and love it all the more.

A big trip on your lonesome in a slowish truck,
You didn't fold the back seat forward to make an apartment?

Brand new, must be one of the last
Let the accessories begin

Originally Posted by AndyG

A big trip on your lonesome in a slowish truck,
You didn't fold the back seat forward to make an apartment?

Brand new, must be one of the last
Let the accessories begin

Slowish? The new Defender is quite capable of maintaining the speed limit everywhere on that route without the slightest problem. Very few hills. I have done that route many times in my County with almost 50% less power without ever feeling it was slow except when fully loaded and towing.

I might comment, however, that I would never consider doing the trip in one run like that - not even with any vehicle. But then I'm not as young as I used to be. (Thinking of the time I did a similar drive, admittedly with a second driver, from near Andado in the Simpson to Sydney, non-stop except for fuel, in a Series 2a diesel. That was fifty years ago, and the roads were a lot worse, but a lot less traffic than now.)

John

Best mod!

MUD UK seat rails... or MUGLO seat rails!

Gives LOADS more legroom... no more sleepy legs!

Great truck... congrats mate!

Nice looking truck.

I like the seating position in the Puma's and find it really easy to drive long distances. I haven't slept in mine since I drove it back from Darwin over a weekend.

So what modifications have you got planned?

Richard

El Rey, Good write up, & a pretty gutsy first drive by you.
You can now relax & contemplate many many years of happy "Defendering".
Congratulations, Pickles.