Thread: Which is better Off Road a D3/4 or a late model Defender? ... Puma 110

having owned a D3 and still owning a Defender 110 TD5 as well as well as Discovery 2 TD5. Without modification except good tyres in my opinion the D4 is the more capable truck. This will shift when we start modifying as the options for the Defender are far greater then the for the D4. My trucks are both heavily modified and for technical driving the Discovery 2 is more capable and in my opinion the better truck. For tough touring the Defender is the better truck.

One thing is for certain. Whether you are driving a Defender or a Discovery, no matter where you are, in the middle of the western desert, halfway a cross the Nullarbor plain, or up a mountain cattlemans track, if you get stuck and there's someone in another Defender or Discovery, you'll get out. You'll also invariably make a friend, because that's what makes us Land Rover people.

Technology is a interesting thing, it is ever changing and usually improving.

When I used to race motorcycle's in the 80's if you could lean a bike over enough to get your knee down around a corner you were considered pretty much to be on the money.

Now with tyre and computer traction control advances and design advances in chassis and suspension and braking systems if you go to any ride day you will see dozens of fun riders who have never raced at lean angles that back in the 80's and 90's the likes of Rainey, Doohan and Gardner would have only dreamt about on their world championship 500cc GP bikes.

I talk to many of the old school racers from back then and those who have kept a eye on it can't believe how good road bikes are now compared to their old full house race bikes from back then. They often also say that these young riders have no skill and it's all because of technology that they go so fast and that bikes of their era were real race bikes, new ones are just toys that anyone can ride fast and believe it or not I don't often disagree to much with this comment.

Moving to 4wdriving I reckon it's pretty much the same, Defender old school, D3/4 new school. Both very good, both very different yet able to do pretty much the same when it comes to going off road.
Just like with bike racing many of the old school can't accept that the new way of building a 4wd is any good or even better than the old school technology. No matter what some say many things have been compared through out this thread and some the old school technology is still better if the vehicle is being measured as a all rounder and work horse. But there is plenty of things that the new school technology is also better at.

This brings me back to bike racing, when I talk to the old timers who no longer ride they are the most scathing and dismissive of the new technology, though I believe this is based on lgnorance and just living in the past. Yet when I speak with other old timers who still ride they just speak in awe of what new bikes can do and how good they are and often they say things like "how did we ride those things so fast back then" This group of old timers who still ride in general wouldn't dream of swapping back to ride old bikes if given a choice.

I have repeatedly asked the often more vocal and dismissive Defender owners in this discussion if they had ever driven a D3/4 either on road or off and as far as I can remember none have said yes.

So how do you guys know how good or bad the present generation of Disco's are off road or if a Defender is better, sorry more capable, on a given day on a given track on similar sized and spec tyres?

Originally Posted by rick130

No one in their right mind does that with a transmission handbrake !

What's a transmission handbrake ?
One that a real 4WD utilises.

Its yet another safety feature we have.The vehicle will emergency stop in a straight line.
Andrew

Originally Posted by letherm

So that's what the oars that came with the car are for.

Martin

What, oars come with a D4? After all, it's the one that floats.

Do you think that the safety feature was implemented because of risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol in D3/4 drivers?

After all sitting around eating all that cheese and drinking coffee getting upset because no one takes a D4 around the world like they do a defenders

Land Rover would have to be worried about those medical risks hence why i guess you get blessed with the features

As opposed to the DVT and blood clots forming in the left leg of Defender drivers?

Or potential silicosis from all the dust ingested.

Or the industrial deafness....

They don't ingest dust because rather than Land Rover providing a safety feature they grew beards.

They don't get DVT because the shake and the vibration keeps muscles active. Beside the left leg gets a work out. Another plus, i dont think there would be a single women out there that wasnt attracted to a defender drivers toned left leg and handsomely tanned right arm

Its my understand the deafness is from the wife not the car.