Thread: Air con or not

Originally Posted by leeds

How essential or not is air con in a defender for a trip to Aus between say April and October next year?

Regards

Leeds

It really depends on where you are going, in the south (Victoria, South Australia and Southern Western Australia) during those months you are more likely to need a heater, but then again you are from Yorkshire

However up at the top end, AC makes it more comfortable - additionally driving through some dusty areas - having the windows shut keeps some of the dust out (remember it's a Defender)

I like having the Air Con (but I am a pommy namby pamby southerner )- but there are some real die hards around who won't have a bar of AC regardless of how hot/humid it gets.

For the top end the humidity can be an issue - but not too bad during those months.

I guess it depends on how 'hardy' you are.

Originally Posted by leeds

How essential or not is air con in a defender for a trip to Aus between say April and October next year?

Regards

Leeds

No just make sure the vents on the front work

But as Ladas said. The south area of Aus will be in winter so like uk spring really. But can get cold down there. But the north will be hot but ok.
Our 90 does not have A/c and we were fine. I know it is a soft top but we did not roll up the sides or take the roof off once on our trip (manly due to the fact we never needed to and beacuse of dust on some tracks). We used to drive around with the windows wound up and the front vents open. Lot of people thought we had A/C but we did not and it was alot more comfortable like this
But the best thing i can surgest is to tint your front windows as we have done this and this helped heaps as you don't get hot/burn't when the sun is streaming in the drivers or passenger window. Also keeps the truck cooler


BTW on another subject don't bother with the engal base it will do nothing really as the handles are designed to act as tie downs and i did not have the springy base and it not make any differance on all the bad corrigated tracks we went down. My fidge is still fine and was in the back of the car for 7 months turned on all the time. But if you really want one then don't buy it in the Uk get it here

Its not but you probably feel the heat.
Most 4x4 built into the mid 90s (not sure about later stuff) were usually unusable when the conditions get both rough and really hot.
I drove Land Cruisers for years on tours under rough conditions and the A/C was a common failure item.
With early Range Rovers and the like the A/C was generally undersized and inadequate when the temps go beyond 40c, I personally always consider the comfort of the engine before the comfort of the passengers.
I figure that by turning the A/C off and allowing the engine run cooler I will get where I am going. If I keep the A/C on and the engine overheats one too many times I still have to put up with the whingeing of the passengers and a stuffed engine.
About 9 years ago I drove across to Broome from Katherine in late October I was in a Classic Range Rover (1981) and towing a 30 odd foot caravan. At the WA Border it was 53 c trust me the A/C wasn’t working.
The front vents in a Defender or S3 are imperative and a tropical roof is a good thing, insulate the aluminium floors so the heat of the transmission doesn’t kill all the occupants.
Seriously though if it all gets too bad travel at night and rest in the day that’s what the native animals do.

Originally Posted by djam1

Its not but you probably feel the heat.
Most 4x4 built into the mid 90s (not sure about later stuff) were usually unusable when the conditions get both rough and really hot.
I drove Land Cruisers for years on tours under rough conditions and the A/C was a common failure item.
With early Range Rovers and the like the A/C was generally undersized and inadequate when the temps go beyond 40c, I personally always consider the comfort of the engine before the comfort of the passengers.
I figure that by turning the A/C off and allowing the engine run cooler I will get where I am going. If I keep the A/C on and the engine overheats one too many times I still have to put up with the whingeing of the passengers and a stuffed engine.
About 9 years ago I drove across to Broome from Katherine in late October I was in a Classic Range Rover (1981) and towing a 30 odd foot caravan. At the WA Border it was 53 c trust me the A/C wasn’t working.
The front vents in a Defender or S3 are imperative and a tropical roof is a good thing, insulate the aluminium floors so the heat of the transmission doesn’t kill all the occupants.
Seriously though if it all gets too bad travel at night and rest in the day that’s what the native animals do.

Strange as it may seem, the newer vehicles, with electric condenser fans, the engines run cooler with the AC on, as additional air is being pushed through the rad from the said cond fans.

On the later Discos (not sure about Defenders) the condenser fans also cut in automatically if the engine temp rises when the ac is off.

Originally Posted by djam1

Its not but you probably feel the heat.
Most 4x4 built into the mid 90s (not sure about later stuff) were usually unusable when the conditions get both rough and really hot.
I drove Land Cruisers for years on tours under rough conditions and the A/C was a common failure item.
With early Range Rovers and the like the A/C was generally undersized and inadequate when the temps go beyond 40c, I personally always consider the comfort of the engine before the comfort of the passengers.
I figure that by turning the A/C off and allowing the engine run cooler I will get where I am going. If I keep the A/C on and the engine overheats one too many times I still have to put up with the whingeing of the passengers and a stuffed engine.
About 9 years ago I drove across to Broome from Katherine in late October I was in a Classic Range Rover (1981) and towing a 30 odd foot caravan. At the WA Border it was 53 c trust me the A/C wasn’t working.
The front vents in a Defender or S3 are imperative and a tropical roof is a good thing, insulate the aluminium floors so the heat of the transmission doesn’t kill all the occupants.
Seriously though if it all gets too bad travel at night and rest in the day that’s what the native animals do.

It's the only way to travel in the desert.

Just watch out for the roos.

the simple answer is yes. a/con will keep you cool when its hot and will de-humidify the vehicle when the heater is on. I run the a/con in the disco all year round.

the biggest hassle with the aircons is they make doing radiator lean outs a bit more bothersome and in the case of my deefer td5 the pipes run exactly where I want to put my hands or the ends of the spanners...


If your not doing your own repairs/maintenance probabley better to have it and not use it than not have it and need it.

Gotta have Aircond in Australia. Crazy not having it if you can help it. I fixed mine in my rangie when I bought it..even before I transfered the rego