Thread: county and defender whats the difference?

County's came out with the 3.5ltr rover v8 and the 3.9ltr isuzu deisel (found in the army 110s)
County's were first introduced around 1984 and the defender took over in around 1990 (someone else will know for shore)
The defenders first came out with the 2.5ltr 200tdi turbo intercooled deisel with drum brakes on the rear (i think) then shortly after that they changed over to the 300tdi and added a disc brake rear end somewhere there


CHEERS TIM.

A diesel defender will be cheaper than a diesel 110 county as they are quite sought after.

same basic body, but the 110 county had carpet.

suspenstion as a few minor changes, and there is different gearboxes etc. chassis rails are different as well I believe.

Counties are in fact 110s or Defender and are both the same basic vehicle. The county is a higher than standard trim level. In the UK there are several trim levels offered, whereas here there have only been one or two offered at any time.

Yes it is a year model thing but have no idea about which years the changeover happened. In Australia the diesel engine in a County is usually an Isuzu 4BD1, a heavy and noisy unit but very desirable by coiler Land Rover enthusiasts.

The early Countys had drum brake rears and an LT95 4 speed gearbox (same as early Range Rover) the later ones lost the ribs in the roof changed the door handles from the series design to a push button handle, and the LT85 5 speed gearbox (Spanish Santana box)/LT230 transfer box.

Look out for rust in the chassis and firewall of any County.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Yes it is a year model thing but have no idea about which years the changeover happened. In Australia the diesel engine in a County is usually an Isuzu 4BD1, a heavy and noisy unit but very desirable by coiler Land Rover enthusiasts.

The early Countys had drum brake rears and an LT95 4 speed gearbox (same as early Range Rover) the later ones lost the ribs in the roof changed the door handles from the series design to a push button handle. Disk brakes all round, and the LT85 5 speed gearbox (Spanish Santana box)/LT230 transfer box.

Look out for rust in the chassis and firewall of any County.

Ditto, also the door frames are prone to rust in the bottom

G'day 2keen

The coil sprung Landrover when reintroduced into Australia in 1983 was badged as Landrover 110, and marketed as the "County" with body side stripes, it was available as a 3.5 litre carbied V8 and a 3.9 litre Izuzu Diesel, with 4 speed manual transmission (LT95) in 1985 that transmission was replaced by the 5 speed Santana (LT85) in both Petrol and Diesel,that vehicle remained badged as the "County" in 1989 (UK) 1990 (Aust) the name was changed to "Defender" the Izuzu Diesel was replaced by the "200 TDI" diesel and the V8 was dropped from the Australian lineup,or only by special order,(The "Defender" name was a Landrover marketing move as the "Discovery" was launched in 1989,[1991 Aust] so all vehicles then had model names,Defender,Discovery,Range,Rover). the interior fittments were not changed to any great extent up until the 2007 model, the UK factory fitted AirCon leaves a lot to be desired in it's capability, the after market Aust fitted A/c sits under the dash in the passenger foot well was far better, it also still has the fresh air vents, which the factory A/c vehicles do not have, the 200TDI motor was replaced by the "300TDI" and in the mid/late 90's rear disc brakes were fitted, they all have a very good towing capability, and the best thing is that they have a "Timeless" appearance, as the exterior body looks very like a 1959 through 2006 model vehicle also there are body parts that will fit from these vehicle (i.e.doors are interchangeable) they are the ultimate recyclable vehicle


cheers

The earliest County you are likely to see in Aus would be 1983 and the latest 1990. The most common seems to be the 1985 model, maybe they sold the most that year.
Some things have improved on the Defender, but some things aren't as good.
For example, the Countys have much stronger CV's and the wheel bearings are spaced wider (who knows why they would change that)
Most Defenders have 4 wheel discs, but Countys have rear drums.
The Isuzu Diesel is a bigger 3.9 litre engine and is super reliable and simple enough for 'most' to work on themselves. The Defender has a 2.5/2.4 litre diesel, either the 200Tdi, 300Tdi, Td5 or the new 2.4L in the latest one. The Tdi's are still reasonably simple to work on, the Td5 has a lot more electronics. Someone else can comment on the 2.4 as I don't know much about it yet.
Up to late '85 the County had the stronger Lt95 4 speed box.
Most Isuzu County owner's tend to hang onto them, so they're not easy to come by, but having said that, they do occasionally come up on Ebay etc and for one in ok to excellent condition range from about $7k to $27k (although sometimes unrealistic prices are asked for them)

Cheers, Murray

1. County is a trim level for Landrovers, used with Series 3, 90/110 and Rangerover, possibly other models.

2. The term "County" is often misused to describe Landrover 110s in Australia before the name "Defender" was introduced. (The pre-Defender 90 was never sold in Australia.)

3. The 110 was introduced in 1983 and came to Australia about 1984. It was a coil sprung replacement for the Series 3 109.

4. In Australia the 110 was sold only as County trim level wagon, cab/chassis, hardtop (with windows), and 6x6 cab/chassis. The cab/chassis was replaced early in production by a locally stretched version of 120" wheelbase. Some 120" wheelbase ones were fitted with extended cabs.

5. All versions of the 4x4 came with either the 3.5 V8 or the Isuzu 4BD1. The 6x6 came with the Isuzu 4BD1T only. The 2.25 and 2.5 petrol and diesel four cylinder engines were never sold in Australia in the 110, although a few have been privately imported.

6. With the introduction of the Discovery to Australia in 1990, the 110 ceased to be sold here. About two years later it was reintroduced, having by then acquired the "Defender" name, and sold only with the new 200Tdi engine introduced for the Discovery. Since then it has been progressively developed, and the differences between a 1989 110 and a 1992 Defender are much less than the differences between a 1992 Defender and a 2009 Defender, but they vehicle remains basically the same as that introduced in 1983, and many parts are interchangeable. Since 1992 the variety of models sold here has varied, but have usually included the 110 wagon and 130 dual cab. The 90 was only sold for a brief period and they are quite rare.

John

6.