Thread: Defender two wheel drive

Ive had to replace a uni on the front tail shaft so while it was I HAD to go for a drive with rear wheel drive only IT WAS FUN. too much power, not enough weight on rear axle is a good recipe for fun in a big paddock too.

Originally Posted by Rover110

Im just wondering if 2 wheel drive would improve fuel economy. ???

The argument that two wheel drive would improve fuel economy is that you are not turning over the front axle and front prop shaft (if you have free wheeling hubs). Experience with free wheeling hubs on Series Landrovers, however, shows no appreciable improvement in fuel economy. Simply disconnecting the front drive and still leaving it turning over will not make any difference, even in theory, as the amount of energy used to turn it will be essentially the same whether it is driven from the front wheels or the transfer case.

In practice, any slight improvement from disconnecting the front drive and fitting free wheeling hubs would in most cases be balanced by the fuel used to compensate for increased tyre slippage through driving only two instead of four wheels.

John