Finally a good review

[eksjay]

Check this out....

Tour of duty (http://smh.drive.com.au/new-car-comparison/tour-of-duty-20111001-1l28n.html)

I think the Army made a huge mistake buying up a German 4WD.

In a come-as-you-are war in any operating environment, the final decision should have been based on either the Anglo or the American solution.

[dobbo]

I wouldn't take any of them stock vehicles into a warzone.

[Nero]

the final decision should have been based on either the Anglo or the American solution.

Why we have had German made tanks for many many years which served us well, as well as 4WD trucks, the Euro tiger is obviously a euro effort. American solutions of late have run way over time well over budget and failed to deliver on requirements in recent years I can understand why we are starting to shy away from them.

[2stroke]

Well I don't know anything about war scenarios but just last week I towed a 4 door JK Wrangler (stars and stripes, metallic paint, Cooper tires.com all over it and warn winch and big tyres) with attached camper trailer off the beach at Straddie. The Jeep was unable to shift the trailer and kept bogging. Ended up towing the both all the way to the road, wondering why the poor 130 was struggling and the jeep only idling, turns out he left it in neutral. Should have left him there but I guess towing him anyway put his shiny jeep back where it belonged!
I realize this is entirely irrelevant to this thread but I had to tell somebody.

[William]

The article compares the G Wagen, FJ cruiser, Defender and Wrangler.....and the winner is.......:D

Tour of duty (http://theage.drive.com.au/new-car-comparison/tour-of-duty-20111001-1l28n.html)

[PhilipA]

The most successful and widely used military vehicle in the World today is>>>>>>>










The HILUX UTE.
have a look on the news any night and you will see all the winning sides use the simple old Hilux. It is sooooo versatile.
See the ones with 105MM recoiless fitted, see them with rocket pods fitted, see them with anti aircraft guns fitted.
The BS the Australian army goes through in selecting their "optimum" light vehicle , only to come up with "gold plated" Mercedes vehicles is laughable.
At 100s of thousands of $ each , they could have probably 10 times the number of Hiluxes or save the country millions.
Regards Philip A

[Ausfree]

Have to agree with the verdict, the G Wagen is waaayyy too expensive, the FJ is too gimmicky, so that leaves the Wrangler which does have a long parentage and is a good vehicle, but of cause the Defender gets the Kudo's!!:D

[Pedro_The_Swift]

did he get paid to write that??

[KarlB]

This thread is a duplicate of: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/136480-jeep-wrangler-v-lr-defer-war.html.

Cheers
KarlB
:)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

we've written more words than the article---

[rockyroad]

Wow, the car whose manufacturer has the biggest advertising budget wins these things.

[djam1]

What a eunuch of a report said NOTHING.
Just an excuse for a couple of journos to get some free 4X4s and go for a drive.

[austastar]

The most successful and widely used military vehicle in the World today is>>>

Hi,
Have you seen the Top gear series How to kill a toyota

I first saw this when I was broke and wanted a 4wd, it seemed such a cruel thing to do to a vehicle.

cheers

[Beckford]

The most successful and widely used military vehicle in the World today is>>>>>>> The HILUX UTE.

Hilux's (Lolux's) are widely used because they are made in their thousands and are readily available. Not because they are the better 4wd. I drove one for ten years for the same reasons. If the Lolux is a better 4wd than the FJ Cruiser, why did Toyota not throw it into the mix instead?

The article was supposed to be about 'military-inspired heritage'. You can not dispute the heritage of the Defender in the Australian army.

And don't get me started about which vehicle opened up Australia.... (it had four legs and sometimes 1 hump)

This is the second article I have read about the G Wagon falling apart when bush.....

[Beckford]

I first saw this when I was broke and wanted a 4wd, it seemed such a cruel thing to do to a vehicle.

Have you watched the Top Gear special in Bolivia? Did they forget the hand brake beacuse it wouldn't have made it to the bottom of the last hill?

(My Toyota 4 Runner is parked under a tree in the back paddock, as it would be too cruel to send it to the wreckers. Plan to fix it, after I have finished setting up the Defender.....)

[ugu80]

What a eunuch of a report said NOTHING.
Just an excuse for a couple of journos to get some free 4X4s and go for a drive.

Yeah, I'm jealous too.

[wardy1]

I drive a D2a but this comment amused me.....

Add to that the Jeep Wrangler, a US-designed off-roader with an honour roll so long it runs all the way back to World War II. Then there's the Land Rover Defender, another long-serving veteran of conflict but without the wartime legacy of its US colleague.

Not quite sure what he means by the Deefer being a long serving veteran of conflict but without the wartime legacy.

In the same paragraph they say that it has been in use by the Australian defence forces for 25 years........ So our army just used them for holidays????????

Why do they use totally uninformed journo's to test 4wd's?

[87County]

A review in the smh that paints the deefer in a good light

there's a video on the drive site as well

Tour of duty (http://smh.drive.com.au/new-car-comparison/tour-of-duty-20111001-1l28n.html)

[vnx205]

The last Open Road has a good report on the Freelander in a comparison with an Audi and BMW.

NRMA Open Road (http://openroad.mynrma.com.au/Index.aspx)

Pages 44 to 46

[PhilipA]

How can ANYONE take the pile of camel dung of an article seriously when the main criticism of the Merc AFAIR is that its Bluetooth is hard to use!!

I am sure Our brave soldiers may be put in mortal danger when they cannot get their mobile to link!

Regards Philip A

[Ausfree]

The last Open Road has a good report on the Freelander in a comparison with an Audi and BMW.

NRMA Open Road (http://openroad.mynrma.com.au/Index.aspx)

Pages 44 to 46 Good to see too, coming from such a staid journal as "The Open Road"!!:) I normally don't pay much attention to their reports even though I have been a member for 49 years!!:o

[MBZ460]

Are there actual real armies which are using the Hilux as a mobile gun platform? Beyond a ragtag militia who need to use whatever they can get their hands on.

The G-wagen is the only one which started life as a military vehicle, only later becoming a civilian one. Its used by over 63 armies worldwide.

The the recent PR disaster which was the Canning Stock Route trip by Mercedes, was mostly using the civilian blingy variant (W463) not the more "basic" W461, which is quite close to the military ones (which did not have a problem on the same trip)

I dont know if the G is a better military vehicle than the LR but they certainly share a lot of military heritage.

(note: I am completely biased as an owner of an old G-wagen and also believe the new ones are ridiculously priced)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FfyVfeX6Lds/TU-Q8_VhQmI/AAAAAAAADAg/9iz6r_DSbVA/s640/d091114jm1079oppatroui20ek.jpg