Thread: Rumour 2.2

Originally Posted by spudfan

Rumour has it that the people at Solihull have been in talks with the people at Briggs and Stratton for some time now. Seems Briggs and Stratton have come up with a diesel version of their compact 3.5hp unit. Think of all the extra space we will have under the bonnet. There will be lots of room to work on the power plant not to mention buckets of room for add ons like compressors and stuff. You will be able to remove the power plant and put it on your workbench (or kitchen table) for a thorough overhaul every 30 hours or so. Seems like the days of the fixable Land Rover are on the way back. Won't those poor people in their techno ridden Range Rover Sports and Discovery 4's be green with envy. Interesting times ahead indeed.

Spud, don't forget the grass box can be used as a wading screen !

Originally Posted by dullbird

I agree also but to a lot on here it matters a lot.....

hence why land rover got such a slagging for releasing this so called piddly engine.

I just thought would be even funnier if they brought out an even smaller one.

There are ricers running around with big horsepower, but would it make any sense to use one of their engines for a B-double

Of the many reasons why Land Rovers sell pitiful numbers of vehicles in rural Australia, an important one is the small engine size. Doesn't matter how well the puma performs, they are ruled out sight unseen.

How many pumas are being worked hard, compared to doodling around city roads or touring?

It won't surprise me if they bring out a smaller engine than the puma. From the links posted above it looks like the new Defender will be 4 wheel independent suspension - guess who is keeping their current (25 year old) rover and will not be upgrading

I don't see the problem

Wasn't the original Series I a 1.6l

Originally Posted by dullbird

I agree also but to a lot on here it matters a lot.....

hence why land rover got such a slagging for releasing this so called piddly engine.

I just thought would be even funnier if they brought out an even smaller one.

I agree with all of the above too!

They should have put the 2.2 from FL2 in it from the start. More power and torque and has had next to no reliability issues. However the Defender is a world car and is required to run on some quite average diesel something modern diesels can't handle.

Originally Posted by inside

They should have put the 2.2 from FL2 in it from the start. More power and torque and has had next to no reliability issues.

However the Defender is a world car and is required to run on some quite average diesel something modern diesels can't handle.

yes I managed to drive mine all the way to the dealership on its funky diesel

Hmmm.... There's definitely a strong bovine smell around here.

M

Originally Posted by jplambs

Is this new model for real? I have done a search and can only find 6 news articles on it.

If it is the one thing that I will be very disappointed about would be if they got rid of the current solid axles and substituted independent suspension.

There was some speculation on one of the sites that this is simply an attempt to divert attention from Land Rover announcing that they are closing one of their plants down.

Can the car be improved without necessitating a blank sheet of paper scenario?

-Can driver side and pax airbags be fitted? Surely they can?
-Can other safety features be added?
-Can the driver's seating be improved?
-What is wrong with the current undercarriage? Why change it?
-Why move away from an aluminium outer shell?
-Can an appropriate Euro5 compliant engine [with a bit of guts] be sourced and matched to a suitable tranny?

If LR can come up with an improved on-road version like Chrysler did with the current Jeep Wrangler design [putting the many quality issues aside], without sacrificing the off road capability, would you all be happy with that? If it still looked like a Defender, but a little more contemporary, would that secure the brand for another quarter century perhaps? Note that Chrysler kept the Dana live axles unlike what the reports are saying about LR ditching live axles....

Without having seen the product, I can't comment, but I am sure there are plenty of purists in this forum.