Defender in Africa

[mns488]

Hi puma owners,

Off to Africa in mid June for 6 weeks in Africa for our honeymoon, and as part of that we are hiring a 4wd to travel Botswana/namibia/sth africa.

It seems the main two contenders are either Landrover Defender Puma or Landcruiser 76 series (with a 4.2 diesel engine not v8).

While i'm not concerned with either vehicle's capibilities offroad as they will be similar although the toyota comes with factory difflocks what I am concerned about is highway driving so I thought I would get some opinions from Puma drivers.

Puma drivers, how does the car drive on highways at 100k/m or above? Contrastingly i know from experience that the toyotas (76 series including v8) seem to always sit on high revs over 100.

I'm hoping the 6th gear in the puma makes all the difference and will cruise easily?

I'm imagining there will be a fair few k/m travelled on tarmac in addition to offroading.

Thanks

Matt

[The Cone of Silence]

2008 110 Wagon (2.4TDCi).
No discernible tail or headwind.

At 100kph = around 2,200 rpm.

At 110kph = around 2,300 rpm.

There's plenty more to come from it too. It's lovely, that sixth gear. The Pumas are surprisingly quiet too (for a Landrover).

Do it. You won't regret it and you'll be spending your trip crossing Africa in a Land Rover- living the dream!

Bobby

[TeamFA]

G'day Matt!

We were in southern Africa (SA, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe) for 4 weeks last October.

Our initial hire was a 110 Defender. We thought we'd be getting a TD5 like our own Defender, but it was a Puma.

6th gear is very, very nice indeed. She seemed effortless cruising at 100kph, though I don't recall the RPMs.

Due to a clutch failure in Harare, we were then given a 76 series Landcruiser, dual-cab ute, with the 4.2 diesel.

It was only a 5-speed, but only seemed effortless cruising at 100kph.

To be honest, the Landcruiser was the better vehicle for the family - 3 kids came along with us. More room in the ute with canopy, and more accessible. Not as cool, though...

Our Landcruiser has the fitted diff locks all around, which we actually used in recovering a 2WD that was bogged in sandy tracks (5 times!) in Hwange National Park. We couldn't have done it with the Defender.

How serious is the 4WDing you're thinking of doing? I would guess there will be no kids along with you, so the Defender should be plenty big enough.

Who are you planning on hiring the vehicle through?

Cheers!
Michael

[S3ute]

Hello from Brisbane.

Heresy stuff, but it really doesn't matter a lot. They are both pretty good - its not like you are buying it.

Probably more important is the reputation and back up of the company you are hiring from.

I have travelled in both - prefer Land Rovers but only because I prefer them rather than any specific technical aspect. I had a new Landcruiser on the Nxai Pan in Botswana that went through mud that I really thought was impassable but also tooled around deep sand tracks in Hwange in a bucket of bolts Defender that just didn't want to stop.

As far as road conditions go - when they are good, they are generally very good and when they are bad they are usually really bad. Crusiing speed will be dictated by day or night, the number of police roadblocks, donkeys and kids on the road etc. Best to just go with the flow and enjoy it.

Cheers,

P.S. Watch out for dodgey fuel when refilling.

[mns488]

G'day Matt!

We were in southern Africa (SA, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe) for 4 weeks last October.

Our initial hire was a 110 Defender. We thought we'd be getting a TD5 like our own Defender, but it was a Puma.

6th gear is very, very nice indeed. She seemed effortless cruising at 100kph, though I don't recall the RPMs.

Due to a clutch failure in Harare, we were then given a 76 series Landcruiser, dual-cab ute, with the 4.2 diesel.

It was only a 5-speed, but only seemed effortless cruising at 100kph.

To be honest, the Landcruiser was the better vehicle for the family - 3 kids came along with us. More room in the ute with canopy, and more accessible. Not as cool, though...

Our Landcruiser has the fitted diff locks all around, which we actually used in recovering a 2WD that was bogged in sandy tracks (5 times!) in Hwange National Park. We couldn't have done it with the Defender.

How serious is the 4WDing you're thinking of doing? I would guess there will be no kids along with you, so the Defender should be plenty big enough.

Who are you planning on hiring the vehicle through?

Cheers!
Michael

Thanks for all the responses. I was hoping that would be the answer with regard to 6th gear...



Hi Michael, Sounds like you had an interesting experience. Actually using the difflocks i wasn't expecting you to say. From my reading i was expecting moremi (in Botswana) to be the toughest (from 4wd perspective) but haven't looked at Zimbabwe at all as we are not going there, i think we do an overnighter at vic falls that is it and it is pre-hirecar.

We are going through the motions of finalising our itinery but the campsites seem busy in botswana as is peak season. Hire company we are looking at is Bushlore i recall amongst i few others I can't remember as I am at work. Who did you use?

I do like the romantic idea of travelling in a defender through africa... and 6th gear sounds perfect for the hwy driving.

Thanks again.

[S3ute]

Hello again.

I suppose in my earlier response I didn't clarify what I meant about the roads.

In South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe - where I have fair familiarity with the roads (never been to Namibia) - the main roads are generally very good bitumen roads. In South Africa they are excellent and (in my opinion) better than ours in the most part. For the other two countries it depends where you are, but mostly the highways are well surfaced and signposted. Secondary roads vary a lot - single strip bitumen and badly pot-holed or corrugated roads are not uncommon, although again in South Africa the rural roads are generally pretty good, especially outside the former homelands. Get further off the beaten track and the roads can become fairly ordinary - especially in the wet or if big trucks have been chewing them up. Wildlife, people and domestic animals become a significant issue - especially at night.

My guess is that for most of your 6 weeks you will be traveling on half decent major roads and will mainly only encounter the really tough stuff in terminal destinations (e.g. in the Okavango itself). Most of the South African national parks are more than accessible by many 2WD hatchbacks - including Kruger and Pilanesberg.

Whatever, I am sure you will have a great time.

Cheers,

[philandmickey]

Hi
I think you have got the answer you wanted re the car.

Thought I'd add we hired from Bushlore last year doing roughly what you are planning and they were really good, looked after us from the get go, very professional and made us feel very comfortable through out the trip.

You will have a ball!

Cheers
Phil

[White 110]

Many years ago we hired a 300Tdi through Safari Drive in Namibia for two weeks. Was the best holiday of my life. Full on 4WD adventure in a Defender, being used as they are meant to be. About as good as it gets in my book. No air-con, ONLY 5 gears but who cares?!? Would have thought that a Puma would be the icing on the cake.

Get out there in the Defender. As cool as it gets for a holiday.