What a Spud!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by sclarke

I think Mark is spot on.

You can cover big distances in a defender, OK not like a 100 series.
BUT
the 100 series is crap in the bush compared to the Defender.

We are all forgetting what a Defender is. Its a 4wd designed for its sole purpose to be the BEST 4wd built for 4wding, not touring. The Defender is just a run on of the Series.... and that was a Tool and not a sedan.
If you want to tour in a nice comphy 4wd that is still capable then you buy a Disco or Rangie.

Clarkie

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Exactly that...

Garry, I still stand by what I said. As you correctly say, I do have 1st hand experience of the distances you guys have to cover but no matter what car you choose, there is always going to be an element of compromise. My 300TDi 110 was more than capable while in Oz... I was running at 3500Kg for most of the time and would still happily cruise past most things on the road.

There’s another aspect to the larger engines that we haven’t covered here and that’s the fuel economy. If you stick a larger engine in the Defender, it’s going to consume more fuel. In turn that means you have to fit larger tanks, carry more weight and therefore you end up either reducing the range or reducing the payload capacity.

It doesn’t need a larger engine... It’s a tool, not a fashion accessory.

M

It's been interesting reading all of this after we've just bought a 96 300tdi fender and driven it home from Adelaide on the weekend. These criticisms of lack of power and speed just don't gel with what we've experienced so far.

Now, this is not a perfect example of a defender (as my mechanic's bill now testifies!), but even then it sat on 110 without the slightest problem, and in fact had to be watched as it kept creeping up to 120. And then coming up the hills out of Bacchus Marsh it sat in 5th gear and just pulled up those hills without hesitating. I've never done that before!

Sure, I wasn't exactly trying to overtake anything quickly, but then I didn't need to.

And that was all done, Adelaide to Melbourne, on 3/4 tank! One happy camper so far!

All I know is Sallyanne will pull... I've hooked up a Leopard Tank by A-frame to prove this point. Sallyanne pulled it, trying to turn it was interesting but she did it.

My main point is why have a car, 4X4 capable of going at high speed if the law will only alow so much. Even the NT has a 130kph limit now.

Easo

Now that was good lunchtime entertainment.

More kW and Nm never goes astray but you will pay for it in fuel. Whatever you have you just got to drive it to it's capability. No sense in pulling out to pass a B-Double with on coming traffic if you know you haven't got the grunt to get past with an adequate safety margin.

My 2.7 lt TDV6 might not be a big V8 grunter but she'll return 9.5lt/100km on the Ade-Melb run fully loaded which is pretty good in my mind.

Chris

Hahaha

What a great laugh!!!

No-one used the WRX argument!!!

204ps max limit in Japan...
V8 Killer......

Power isnt always the way!!!

450hp/18 gears/22000kg...... Truck style :)
Gearing makes it happen.....

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Originally Posted by camel_landy

Exactly that...

Garry, I still stand by what I said. As you correctly say, I do have 1st hand experience of the distances you guys have to cover but no matter what car you choose, there is always going to be an element of compromise. My 300TDi 110 was more than capable while in Oz... I was running at 3500Kg for most of the time and would still happily cruise past most things on the road.

There’s another aspect to the larger engines that we haven’t covered here and that’s the fuel economy. If you stick a larger engine in the Defender, it’s going to consume more fuel. In turn that means you have to fit larger tanks, carry more weight and therefore you end up either reducing the range or reducing the payload capacity.

It doesn’t need a larger engine... It’s a tool, not a fashion accessory.

M

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Mark,

But tell me you wouldn't have preferred something like the TDV6 in the new Defender - come on you can tell me :)

Garry

Watcha whining about?

Some bloke drove a 2 seat 'smart' around Aussie a while ago and lived to write a story about his adventures....:D:eek::D:eek::D

GQ

define 'enough' horsepower, torque, highway speed etc etc etc... - this of course varies from user to user, but for me the defender (new or old) hits the spot.

I'd much rather drive a light truck (coz that's what the defender is) on the road than a family car (pretty much all other 4x4's). light trucks are not family cars and vice versa.

depends on how you weight the following factors (if you ask me):

1, on road manners
2, SWMBO friendly
3, Accessories (aircon, satnav, other electrickery)
4, touring range
5, off road manners
6, load/towing capacity

if you answered numbers in ascending order of importance, choose any disco
if you answered numbers in descending order of importance, choose a defender

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Originally Posted by garrycol

Mark,

But tell me you wouldn't have preferred something like the TDV6 in the new Defender - come on you can tell me :)

Garry

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To be very honest... No.

I've driven Defenders, with large engines, off-road and they just become difficult to control. The slightest touch of the throttle just causes massive amounts of wheel spin.

I also tend to find that the larger engines don't have as much engine breaking so it then becomes 'interesting' on the big drops.

M

Hey Mark,

Did you drive the LR mock up of the D110 with the TDV6?