Thread: How do you drive a Puma

Originally Posted by trout1105

So you don't subscribe to the idea of gaining first hand experience to learn how any particular 4WD behaves.
OK so what is the other alternative?

No, Bull about totally controlling a Tdci Defender..

You may pick the gear it’s in and the direction the wheels point. The vehicle is still making calculations on where the power goes, how much etc...

Old cable throttles and mechanical only drivelines ended at TDi.


Learning the performance traits of each vehicle I absolutely endorse! . I’m lucky I’ve have both the Bread Box and the Fridge to play in!

I hear you Tombie. My old SWMBO used to drive both of our Defenders (TD5 and Tdci) like the old 200Tdi and it used to give me the irrits. No idea about what the cars systems were doing and didn't want to know either. She simply didn't 'get' drive by wire or different throttle inputs to get the best out of each vehicle. Many an argument when driving the Puma in sand were to be had. I did however find that the self unbogging of a Puma Defender is a wonderful teaching aid....

Thank you everyone for your thoughts - I was better prepared for the trip based on your comments.
We completed the Madigan in 5 days and it was a bit easier than I thought because the track is now well worn. I was with the false belief that the track was very faint and that the GPS would need to be relied on. Many of the steeper dunes were chewed out near the top which made a lot of 'rock n rollin'. The Defer was really good - I used low with the centre diff locked most of the time. I could travel in L3 for most of the journey with L2 being used for some of the steeper dunes. In L2 I could go slowly over the chewed out sections with enough power left to power over the top of the dune. The suspension on the Defer was excellent - a very comfortable ride, very compliant. The Kumho MT51's did a great job - no punctures - I let them down to 15psi all round. There were some rocky sections and I didn't get any sidewall damage at the low-pressure. The Colorado was shod with brand new Desert Duellers and two tyres were shredded (un-repairable) - one on the Old Ghan Track and the other on the Birdsville. The 200 series was shod with Coopers ST and was free from punctures.
For Big Red I let the tyres down to 12psi. I easily got up the 'easy track' but failed on three attempts to get up the harder section. I made it right up to the top only to bog down at the last metre - so close. I tried different gears as well as high range. I gave up but afterwards I was kicking myself for not trying again with a bigger run-up. To dent the ego further our friends in the 200 series made it look easy. Our other friends in a Colorado didn't make it up big red either and not as high as the Defer (phew). Anyway putting the ego aside it was a great trip. The scenery was superb and varied. Not much wild life was seen other than camels.
We headed home via the Birdsville Track. My only criticism of the Defer (Puma 2012) was the amount of dust that entered in through the doors and back door. Also the battery box and computer boxes under the seats were covered in dust.
My next Defer project is to add additional rubber seals around the doors and sikaflex any holes.
Cheers