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Nothing wrong with the vehicles themselves, just shock absorber failures, if they had fitted the same shocks as fitted to the Professional series I doubt there would have been any issues at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Discomark
It is bad PR but a storm in a tea cup really when you look at what actually failed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by garrycol
Further to that, part of the tender was an undertaking that the selected vehicle would be available for at least (from memory) 10 years and as we are all aware, the Defender is soon to be out of production and a new model was not ready at the time of the tender. I believe this is why Land Rover did not tender for the contract.
There was a professional ute on the Canning trip and it did not have the problems the W463's had. I believe that the shocks were changed for aus vehicles after that ill fated trip (PR disaster) Also they did the route far too fast.
Anyway I beleive that ute is still here somewhere and there are three other utes being built by enthusiasts using imported cabs or cut down cabs.
From an earlier comment, the W461 Professional is Euro-5 compliant but MB Aus stated they wont sell them without a passenger airbag. I believe there is not enough demand for them to bother, they dont want to "pollute" the luxury status, the W461 would still be way overpriced and they make more money on the W463.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/11/895.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/11/896.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/11/897.jpg
I have to agree that the "failure" they experienced on the Canning was negligible to say the least, they were silly to attempt it at the pace they did and without a spare set of shockers (common knowledge to take a spare set I would have thought) and they did not exactly drive to the conditions.
I am mightily impressed with the engine that they are deploying, the V6 diesel 3L is my ideal diesel engine, a real power house of low down torque. Me wants one!!
It is once again a sad state of affairs that we won’t have the opportunityto purchase the G-pro ute, damn you ADR and Euro5.:mad: Looks like we all might have an underground market opportunity here to bring in the Landcruiser 4.2TD cab-chassis – the Nissan patrol 4.2TD and the Merc G-pro from South Africa. If we all pitch in a grand or so we can have the first containers landed by the end of Jan 2014:twisted:(hehe)
Thanks for the info so far, im sad but optimistic. If anyone knows more, dont be shy...
[QUOTE=trayon517;2026020]I am mightily impressed with the engine that they are deploying, the V6 diesel 3L is my ideal diesel engine, a real power house of low down torque. Me wants one!![QUOTE]
A few of us are going for perhaps an even better engine for our old W460's - the OM606 straight six turbo, fully mechanical.
So the other option to a W461 is an old W460 (a local one or they can be imported if before 1989) and spend some money modernising them a bit. Some believe this will produce a better vehicle than the more complex W461 (mechanical locker activation, less electrics, simpler...)
I got a G350 because it was the closest thing to a Defender that could fit into a 2m high car park. It was an ex-demo and a mad bargain believe it or not and I would have paid more to get into a new HSE Disco. I am slowly coming to terms with the guilt being able to drive without water leaking on my foot.Quote:
Originally Posted by goingbush
The more of these we can get on the roads here new, the more will become available for sensible people to buy on the secondhand market. Then hopefully we will see more decent locally developed accessories. 2.5yrs since their re-introduction to the Australian market and still no sign of a local bullbar option.
Is the Genuine MB Bull Bar ADR approved?
Give me the 6x6 AMG version....................
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z39jXZf...%3DZ39jXZfCpf0
Quote:
Originally Posted by solmanic
I would love for this to be the case, as I mentioned, I could make solace with the fact that when it rains I will be dry while driving in my G-pro extra-cab/chassis version. I would love to put my Trayon Camper on the tray and do the Canning again to show them it can do it. They don’t need to develop after market accessories for them or even import a special version for private sales. They are already doing this, over 7500 of them are on their way already (some already here) with all the legit accessories you could dream of already attached.... here is that photo again to prove my point:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/11/903.jpg
All we need is for a massive amount of people to write to Mercedes Benz Australia asking them to make it a reality (of course in reality we all will be ignored – as all motor manufacturers do) Can anyone muster up a proper email address for the inner sanctum of the Mercedes Benz management to whom we can express our interest to? I’m not talking about the email form on their web site (as I’m sure “Sally” their receptionist is under strict instructions to maliciously delete all such emails) Let’s make this happen!! (Mainly becauseI want to see more of these on the road and in my garage with my Trayon Camper on its back:D)
I guess it has to be since it is available as a factory or dealer option. Only the stupid thing just bolts on to the existing bumper. Even though the standard front bumper is massively thick steel (thicker than a std Defender one), a bolted connection is hardly ideal when skippy jumps out to say hello.Quote:
Originally Posted by juddy