Thread: Troopy or Defender ?

This topic should provide little dispute amongst the ranks!

They are both good trucks - and both will fill the same needs. The Troopy will have advantages, such as dealer support - the Defender will have a host of it's own pluses....

-payload
-economy
-character
-longevity

But this is a Land Rover forum - and unsurprisingly, I'd go a Defender (hang on, I already have! )

Out of those 2 I guess I would go for the Defender, but some more info would be good. Is he looking at new ones?

Why has he limited it to these 2?

Rgds
Peter

Has he considered a cab chassis with one of the slideon campers?
More room, large variety of packages to choose from re sleeping/living/kitchen layouts.
Can go 'as cheap as chips' canvas/mesh canopy to ridiculous opulence with every thing that opens and shuts.
cheers

The 79 Series Toyo Wagon is coming out with a new dash, ( SRS airbags ) so that might be worth a look. But they are ugly. But then they do have that V8 turbo diesel.
Still leaf spring rear though, as opposed to Defender with coils all round.
Defender out of the box is still a better car.

I mostly learnt to drive on a troopie, they aren't bad. My family's troopie was leaf sprung with a lazy 4.2 litre six cylinder diesel. Seats weren't the greatest, and being a leafer it wasn't the smoothest ride compared to the Defender we had before. Didn't have any mechanical issues with it in 4 years of ownership.
My Dad used to say the Defender was more enjoyable to drive, a little quicker plus the better suspension.
The troopie wasn't as easy to load for touring, because the body isn't slab sided like the Landie and the fridge gained a special frame because of the uneven floor lining. The shape doesn't lend itself as easily to drawers and false floors like Defenders do. Getting at gear stowed deep inside a 3 door troopie can be hard, 5 door vehicles don't have that problem.
As a one car family, my Mum drove these vehicles and preferred parking the Landy at the shops.
When we sold the troopie, even though it was replaced with a god awful kia pregio, it wasn't really missed, it had never become a part of the family like the County, GQ Patrol or 300tdi Defender that came before it.
But I am on this forum so expect bias
-Mark

Yeah, i know its a landy forum and guessed most would say the defer,
But having read this forum for quiet some time,
I have found the advice of most people here to be invaluable ! and in some regards, to be completely unbiased,
thats why i asked here,

Thankyou for all the replies, and ideas,

Steve

Hey Steve,
I drove a troope with a safari camper conversion three quarters of the way around oz. What a truck! Really convenient with the camper set up. One sad sad day i sunk it in a creek at the top of cape york It was then i bought my 1st defender 300 Tdi (now i have 2). As far as off road adventure goes, i reckon the defender will pick up a troope, chop it up, and feast on it for breaky!!! It has better suspension and more stable on its feet. I believe the troope may be a little more comfortable on the hard stuff and maybe a little less road noise while cruisin' at 110 clicks, but if the old man wants to get off the beaten track (there's a lot of dirt roads out there) the Defender is what he wants

i started off with tototas (secondhand) and moved onto a secondhand rangie and then onto a secondhand defender, i look after them all mechanically and they all have given me good service

defenders are just too cool..........