Thread: Defender vs Discovery

Originally Posted by mcrover

And they are Comfy as, I drove ours to Alice Springs from Melbourne and driving between 7 and 9 hrs a day I was wrapped in how comfy it was in cruise mode where as the Defenders that I have driven (brand new) were great to drive but you felt like an old man after about 2 hrs in the saddle.

When I bought my Disco1 V8 manual about 5 months ago the first thing I did was drive it by myself from Sydney where I bought it to to my home in Brisbane. It was very comfy and easy to drive. About 12-14 hours I think it took. Had one nanna nap at Cunningham's Gap which is about 1.5 hrs from home.

If it is just a low km second car then get a V8 Disco1 or 2. Cheap and fuel shouldn't be an issue. Will have low resale when the time comes but if you don't pay much for it now then you can hardly expect big bucks when you sell. If you buy a low km V8 Disco 1 such as I did in excellent nick with lots of off road goodies for $8k then taking into account depreciation of $2k per year you could dump it in 4 years instead of having to sell it. Although I would never do that.

I've heard quite a few people complaining about the handbrake position on Defenders, but for me I never even notice it, and I am not short either (6' 3" - no idea in metric) but I am pretty skinny! Maybe that's the difference?

Actually - I have just thought to add that I've had the front seats moved back 2 inches by re-positioning the seat rails. Easy mod, and makes it a LOT better to drive if you are tall.

I must say I have never noticed the hand brake on the fender getting in the way as much as I havent noticed the map pocket in my disco.

Im 5'10" and a bit and built like the preverbial, and I think it's more my stature that makes me feel cramped in the fender's more than anything.

Everything else could easilly be lived with e.g. wind up windows and bad aircon, comfort was never designed into it as it is built for Farmers and Tradies not family weekend holidays.

The Disco is shorter and for bugger all money can be just as capable if not more than a fender.

I am biased but from experience with both, I have pulled Defenders out of places they shouldn't have been and the same with me and my Disco and even worse Ive been recoverd by a Pootrol on more than 1 occasion but I would never say 1 is better than the other off road as both have the same drive train but 1 is shorter and has less overhang than the other.

There is no reason you cant put a set of 750x16 road grippers on a Disco with a 40mm body lift which would cost bugger all and it would be easilly better off road than the fender.

But it then takes away a little on road manners but if it's just a weekender who cares.

Series 1 Disco V8 auto with Maxi drive lockers and axels with body lift and susp lift is the best choice and if you get one with the usuall 4wding bits then you will be unstopable for under $20g's

You just can't cater an army thats all.

Its when the disco is a diesel auto that the problems occur. I fall asleep waiting for it to accelerate across intersections sometimes and the fuel pump has been tweaked. I bought the auto to keep the missus happy. Ah well we live and learn.

why buy either of the discos or the deefer...

for that money you could buy 10 or 12 series rovers and never need to worry about spare parts again...

ask sschmez i think he wants a defender after i showed his disco how to go off road today

I would test drive one of each. I find the Defender quite comfortable. My hand brake was already moved so never had this issue. I did go from a fully optioned 97 fairlane to the Defender and prefer the Defender still. My daily commute is 80km each way for work or about an hour's drive each way.

I pulled 2pootrols and a Defender 110 out of a bog at Gembrook on Saturday, the first poo got stuck doing something stupid then his mate got his stuck trying to pull that out and the 110 slid in trying to get that out.
I stayed at the top of the hill and just ran the winchcable out to them.
Not saying that the defender isn't capable as I could have driven it out of where it is but it is all about whos driving it more than what it is.
There was also an Exploder up there showing a bloke in a paj what to do, that was quite comical.
There is nothing wrong with the Disco 300tdi auto, im normally first away at the lights unless the sprag decides to slip (recent problem) so I never have trouble falling asleep except on long runs because im Sooooooo comfortable.
I'll keep saying it, unless you need to cart half a scout group around or you just cant live without the 80cm TV when your camping then you don't need a Defender.
Unless your talking a 90 then you have to pack light but you wont get one of them under $20g.
Go the Disco you wont regret it, they are the most versitile car in the LR range, go pretty much anywhere a fender will and nearly as comfy as a rangie what else do you want?