Puma colours

[jc109]

G'day,

I know advice on this has been asked of you all before, but when I chimed in there weren't any responses.

Any preferences for the colours available with the new Defenders?

I'm leaning towards black, but I know the heat may be an issue in summer. The other thing I'm wary of is metallic v solid colours. Mind you, I also tend to think I should just get the one that appeals most.

Can I have a show of hands for the options out there please?

[spudboy]

I wanted a "flat" dark green. Not possible though, so I had to get a metallic dark green. Makes a nice change from a white one, although I ordered mine with a white roof to keep things a bit cooler in the sun. Not sure how a black one would look with a white roof though....

[pc3]

I have the stornaway grey and like it. The other colour I like is the dark green, in a 130 for a bush truck that would possibly suit better than stornaway.

[pc3]

Forgot to add I love the black too but am lead tobeleive it's high maintance.

[miky]

If you spend most of your time in Tassie then black, but if you are in a warm area (think hot) part of this grand country then a light colour.

My preference is white.


.

[sashadidi]

I wanted a "flat" dark green. Not possible though, so I had to get a metallic dark green. Makes a nice change from a white one, although I ordered mine with a white roof to keep things a bit cooler in the sun. Not sure how a black one would look with a white roof though....

here is black with a white roof on sale

Land Rover Defender 2.4D 5DR 6M 4WD SW 2010 for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Land-Rover/Defender/auction-309603187.htm)

[ososlo]

I have a black D90...you get real good at washing it..

I had a Zambezi Silver TD5 D90 before this and would have spent half the time keeping it clean.

The black one has tinted windows and does seem to stay as cool as the silver one.

I am on the east coast of NZ and we do get hot here in summer

[newhue]

classic white, or silver.

The dark colours tend to show the wallows in the body work. Statically too, dark coloured cars have a higher % of accidents I believe. Can't see them as well, especially at night.

[juddy]

I don't really like black cars but I think the defender suits it
very well. Black is very hard to look after and unless you are having a
defender limo service I would try and go for a more longer lasting colure

the brand new 110dc I had recently from Bruce Lynton looked very bling
but even on that you could see scratchs and swirils on the paint work
i would not be too happy at paying 50k plus for it to look like that.

[patclan]

I have Santorini Black, I love it looks brutish with the tinted windows, it does get dirty and looks like a matt black, I don't really notice until it goes in for a service and come out like new, when its clean and shiny it looks amazing and I have had people stop their cars at the lights and comment. that said it only looks like that a few times a year. Is not hotter than any other car I have had but I have had a couple of black ones, the aircon keeps it cool anyway to the point it is too cold sometimes, I am thinking of putting some sound proofing in for acoustic value and when I do it I will use the foiled backed stuff in the roof to mitigate any solar heat from the black roof. Any car sitting in the sun will be like an oven when you get in, as long as you can get it cooled down quickly, its all worth it for me as I prefer black cars.

[austastar]

Hi,
I wanted white for heat and light reflection (i.e. cooler and easier to see), but I ended up buying by price from what was in stock and ended up with silver.
It seems easy to clean, doesn't show the dirt too much, haven't scratched it yet, and the colour is growing on me - now I quite like it.
Silver has a high WA factor (Wife Approval) too.
cheers

[spudboy]

here is black with a white roof on sale

Land Rover Defender 2.4D 5DR 6M 4WD SW 2010 for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Land-Rover/Defender/auction-309603187.htm)

Looks better than I imagined. Maybe that's the best compromise?

[ATH]

My sister in law loved her RR Vogues in black but they were shockingly hard to keep looking clean.
That was in the UK and Europe though but dirts dirts wherever you get it: And scratches show up worse on dark colours as my brother scratched one of her brand spanking new Vogues on some barbed wire when we took it for a test run:o
She was not a happy vegemite!:D
Alan.

[KarlB]

Santorini Black now comes with a white roof as standard where as in the past it come with a black roof. Galway Green and Stornoway Grey also now come standard with a white roof. Not sure when these changes come in but certainly the case for 11MY Defenders. Rimini Red, Zermat Silver, Tamar Blue, and Izmar Blue still have matching roof colours. Keswick Green still has white roof.

Cheers
KarlB

[jc109]

Santorini Black now comes with a white roof as standard where as in the past it come with a black roof. Galway Green and Stornoway Grey also now come standard with a white roof. Not sure when these changes come in but certainly the case for 11MY Defenders. Rimini Red, Zermat Silver, Tamar Blue, and Izmar Blue still have matching roof colours. Keswick Green still has white roof.

Cheers
KarlB
That's great news. I had no idea they'd done that.

[dullbird]

Tonga green I believe is no longer available...so at least I have a unique car now:lol2:

[Disco44]

Black or any of the darker shades absorb heat and you then need a good air-con and that means more fuel used. White is my colour for it still looks clean even when covered in crap,it also deflects heat in our hot summers.

[dullbird]

Black or any of the darker shades absorb heat and
you then need a good air-con and that means more fuel used. White is my colour for it still looks clean even when covered in crap,it also deflects heat in our hot summers.

personally I think that is rubbish!

I still get the same fuel economy as everyone else that has a puma (I have my aircon all the time in summer)

The strange thing with mine is when we were up the top end and I was running a scangauge which gave me instant and average fuel economy the fuel economy actually improved when putting the aircon on...NO JOKE! the only thing I could put it down too was that the aircon must of been drawing more air flow over the radiator...and that helped in such a hot and humid climate..

[Josh_WA]

Santorini Black now comes with a white roof as standard where as in the past it come with a black roof. Galway Green and Stornoway Grey also now come standard with a white roof. Not sure when these changes come in but certainly the case for 11MY Defenders. Rimini Red, Zermat Silver, Tamar Blue, and Izmar Blue still have matching roof colours. Keswick Green still has white roof.

Cheers
KarlB

Does this mean that they will try and slug us extra, ontop of the 2 grand for metalic paint if we want to have a body coloured roof.

Cheers

[KarlB]

Does this mean that they will try and slug us extra, ontop of the 2 grand for metalic paint if we want to have a body coloured roof.

Cheers

The only way you would get say a black roof on a black Defender now would be through a special factory order and I image LRA would be very reluctant to do it and would charge far more than 2 grand. The only sensible approach would be to buy with a white roof and take if off to the body shop for a respray.

[juddy]

The only way you would get say a black roof on a black Defender now would be through a special factory order and I image LRA would be very reluctant to do it and would charge far more that 2 grand. The only sensible approach would be to buy with a white roof and take if off to the body shop for a respray.

I think you will find, unless its listed as a option, theres no chance in getting a black rook.....

[spudboy]

The only way you would get say a black roof on a black Defender now would be through a special factory order and I image LRA would be very reluctant to do it and would charge far more that 2 grand. The only sensible approach would be to buy with a white roof and take if off to the body shop for a respray.

I got the roof on my (second-hand) all grey defender resprayed in 2 pack white for $500 cash. They took the alpine windows out too (i.e. instead of just spraying around the rubbers) so quite a reasonable job. Improved the look a lot, and cooler to boot.

[Josh_WA]

The only way you would get say a black roof on a black Defender now would be through a special factory order and I image LRA would be very reluctant to do it and would charge far more than 2 grand. The only sensible approach would be to buy with a white roof and take if off to the body shop for a respray.

Thanks mate. This seems like a bit of a brainfart from LRA if it's true as 90% of the pumas sold so far would have body colored roofs. And people like them this way. Silly to change to something so outdated to save a few bucks on paint.

Cheers

[Disco44]

personally I think that is rubbish!

I still get the same fuel economy as everyone else that has a puma (I have my aircon all the time in summer)

The strange thing with mine is when we were up the top end and I was running a scangauge which gave me instant and average fuel economy the fuel economy actually improved when putting the aircon on...NO JOKE! the only thing I could put it down too was that the aircon must of been drawing more air flow over the radiator...and that helped in such a hot and humid climate..

I like the english you use like "rubbish" Wouldn't the more polite way to say would be something like " I disagree with you because".Politeness doesn't come at too much of a cost you know.
John.

[dullbird]

I like the english you use like "rubbish" Wouldn't the more polite way to say would be something like " I disagree with you because".Politeness doesn't come at too much of a cost you know.
John.

Its just a figure of speech :lol2:....would it be polite to offer you a concrete scrumptious cupcake as a "lets make friends" gesture :D:p

[jc109]

From a dealer today:

"The MY11 changes are minimal, if you ordered one now it would be an MY11 spec anyways, no the land rover bulletin doesn’t say anything about the roofs. The tyre brand changes, the ABS module changes to a different brand, the badging goes from green and gold to green and silver. Think that’s about it."

[dullbird]

Has anyone else heard the same?
I wonder why they are changing the badge colour.....I have black and silver badges on mine only because I think they look cooler:cool:

[Disco44]

Its just a figure of speech :lol2:....would it be polite to offer you a concrete scrumptious cupcake as a "lets make friends" gesture :D:p

Cup cake accepted Tar they taste nice.:twobeers:

[dullbird]

Cup cake accepted Tar they taste nice.:twobeers:

:BigThumb::beer:

[VladTepes]

Back on topic we have a black citroen and it looks really good but gets dirty REALLY quick. One assumes you'd drive a Defender off road so it would get dirty INSTANTLY.

I believe it's stll the case that the undercoat LR use is white so a Lantana scratch on a metallic paint Landie is REALLY obvious and a bastard to fix.

So while undoubtedly other colours can look better (I'd love a metallic red 110 Dual cab) the colur white is by far the most practical ina well used off roader.

Tis a shame LR don't offer a wider range of "flat" paint colours for the Defender.

[P38ace]

Has anyone else heard the same?


Yes, all true, plus the traction control revision as mentioned in an earlier post.

Collect my new 11MY this Saturday and will report back if any more differences.

Keswick Green BTW, which obviously I believe is the best Defender colour. :BigThumb:

[JohnR]

Black Rock's and the guy from Car groomers likes it two :angel: Once a fortnight he gives it a scrub and it comes up looking like new, no matter how dirty it's been. :D
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/324.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/771.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/572.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/573.jpg

Oh and no issues with temperature. These Pumas have got Aircon that makes your Freeze!!!!

Cheers,

[chops110]

Thanks for the pics, it looks great.
What wheels and tyres do you run? I'm about to replace my '09 Puma (110 with factory boost alloys + 235/85/16 Gen Grabbers) and yours look bigger (wider at least). Have you made any suspension mods or different offset wheels from the OE ones to make them fit?

Looks cool anyway

Cheers

Chops110

[JohnR]

Thanks :D The Tyres are Mickey Thompson MTZ 265/75R/16 and the rims are 16x8 steels with 1" off set. The suspension has only had a 2" king spring lift which (with all the extra junk) only equates to approx. 30mm lift but still worth it. I have a fair bit of stuff on the way from England at the moment to trick up the suspension a bit :angel::D

As far as tyre choice goes. I am very happy with the MTZ's but I do run two sets of tyres, Grabbers for the road and the MTZ for trips. My next set of tyres might end up more around the 33" size, just to get a bit more height for the deep ruts off road that all those nasty Toyo and Nissan's make with their 37"'s :mad:

Cheers,

[JamesH]

I spend hours stressing over what colour my next Defender will be. More time wondering what colour than I do wondering when it will happen!

My current one is the usual white. I'm lazy with washing and it only gets a clean about half a dozen times a year and I know how dirty dark colours can look in the hands of lazy owners like me. I live in WA and white would be a sensible choice but I really feel like a change. I'm not a black car bloke but Ive seen a black 110DC and whoah baby it's traffic stoppingly beautiful.

I think Keswick Green and a white roof...

[jc109]

White won out in the end. The new Fuji White to be precise, and it looks pretty sweet. Photos will be provided when I add it to Members' Rides or Show us your Deefers some time in... March!

One quick question: as I intend adding a bar straight away should I order the HD coils in the front or should I just wait and see how it all goes once I take delivery?

[Gav110]

Depends what bar and if you install a winch, plus other stuff (e.g. 2nd battery etc.). I have the RovaCraft tubular winch bar which is very light (much lighter than ARB etc. but with consequently less animal strike protection); plus a [again light] 23kg 12000lb Tigerz11 winch (with plasma rope which is heaps lighter than steel), 2nd battery and some extra bits - and I found that the factory springs sagged immediately. The dual rate factory front springs are apparently 155/215 lbs, and the 155lbs rated section is just too soft.

HOWEVER, when I replaced these with the HD/130 springs, the weight was not really enough for their 225lb spring rate (which is quite a rise on the base rate) so they are much bouncier than the backs (standard), although it has great clearance and sits up nicely.

If you have an ARB bar and a 40kg winch however, I am sure you will find the ride more compliant than mine - there are lots of happy vegemites on this forum with the HDs.

I am about to change out both sets for a new set of White Tiger springs from Graeme Cooper in Sydney (Les Richmond in MEL) with 180lb fronts and 270lbs rears (plus polyairs in the rears). 180lbs seems to my mind to be the right middle ground for lighter frontal set ups like mine, but only time will tell.

What I like about the White Tiger springs is the wide range of rates available - 180lbs should be perfect for my fronts, and the backs which are sagging due to extra tank, compressor, mantec swing away carrier, steel roof rack etc. should do better on the 270lbs than the stock 180lbs, but not too springy when unladen. They also do a 300lb rear spring, which I think may be a little too firm for my needs except when towing and fully laden, but the PolyAirs should give the perfect balance. Also, they make a large range of lengths too.

See this chart: land rover spring specifications (http://www.members.shaw.ca/jbarge/springinfo.html)

... but there are more sizes and rates not shown when you call LR Automotive or Graeme Cooper for more details.

This table on LRA's site seems to have the full selection: Coil Springs (http://www.lrautomotive.com.au/contents/en-us/d665.html)

Am getting the new springs next week and then running down to MEL on them so should know if they are right. I will keep the 225 HD fronts just in case.... !

Hope that helps, Gav

[jc109]

It does help Gav. Thanks heaps.

I'll just be putting an ARB bar on initially. Most of the weight will be back aft. I'll eventually (12-24 mths) fit a winch but I'll probably go with a plasma line due to weight and familiarity (from work). My second battery will be a year off too and will probably go next to the starter.

So, based on what you've said and the fact that replacements aren't too expensive, I might just go with the standard springs and then upgrade once it's all decked out.

[Gav110]

Great point JC - I should have mentioned the winch has plasma rope as it saves a heap of weight over steel. Sounds sensible - and feel free to check in with me when you're ready to make the move ;) Gav

[jc109]

Thanks Gav. Will do.