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

Are you Defender owners enjoying talking to yourselves? As you basically have been for four or five pages by the way.

In case you hadn't noticed we Disco owners aren't really responding anymore, not since it was shown unequivocally that a late model Disco is superior ( that means better) off road than a Defender.
So even though we were winning the debate easily your collective fates were sealed when Steve chimed in with his vast experience having owned and seriously taken off road both vehicles.

So the Disco camp won, any further conversation between yourselves is just background noise, the correct decision has been made and the Disco is numero uno.


Oh! by the way I nearly forgot, Frantic, you failed to add to your little inconsequential list what seems to be just about the most important thing for many of you Defender owners. That being that you guys can carry 27 bags of cow poo in the back of your 110's.

So it's not all bad for you guys as we accept that your Defenders definitely win the full of BS prize. ...

Anyway I'm off for my early morning cappuccino. ... Ciao.

Originally Posted by AndyG

Biggest mistake I made was modding the Defer at all. stock does everything I want. Even the right tyre size.

Hm that would only be true if you use the Defer as a shopping trolley or for fire trails, if you start using a Defender seriously off-road and think you get away for long without modification and upgrades you are kidding yourself, I know people with Pumas who are on the 3rd diff, haven't upgraded as still under LR Warranty. Don't get me wrong, I love my Defender and Disco but some seem to wear Pink Glasses if they hear LR and everything is only roses.

The Defender (and Disco for that matter) out of the box is not a incredible strong truck and will need upgrades if you want a reliable remote or tough tourer.
If you get away with a non modified Defender without breaking stuff you just don't drive it hard often enough , which is OK by the way...

The beauty of the Defender is we can do this, on the Disco you have very few options to further strengthen the truck. I became friend with Chris who purchased the D3 of me
and know the further history of the truck and he has by now replaced half his truck and is looking for a second Landy D1, 2 or rangy as a play truck...

I leave it like this here....

Originally Posted by frantic

Actually, the op admitted in the first post the only way a D3/4 can match a stock defender is if it's modified with the largest possible tyres. so that would make it an admission of defeat on page 1, post 1?

Seriously though, lies, damm lies and statistics. lr's own numbers show defender better approach, departure and ramp. Narrower body, significantly lighter weight and better payload. Search online, defender fewer fatal accidents per 1000 2 vehicle smashes than disco, also defender better RTI.

Now here's a challenge for TerryO, insurance. What's the comprehensive cost on a new $65,000 defender and a new $80,000+ disco? This will tell you several things, how many are in prangs, how many do your theoretical tumble, and how often their at.fault..... See with virtually the entire alphabet in caps lock 3 letter block, inside a Disco, they should almost never be in an at fault accident, roll or have their occupants injured, so the Disco premium should be way less that the Defender.

Wife's D90 costs more to insure and than my D4...

And using stats the *percentage* of Defenders is significantly higher than the *percentage* of Discoveries...

Originally Posted by Steve223

Hm that would only be true if you use the Defer as a shopping trolley or for fire trails, if you start using a Defender seriously off-road and think you get away for long without modification and upgrades you are kidding yourself, I know people with Pumas who are on the 3rd diff, haven't upgraded as still under LR Warranty. Don't get me wrong, I love my Defender and Disco but some seem to wear Pink Glasses if they hear LR and everything is only roses.

The Defender (and Disco for that matter) out of the box is not a incredible strong truck and will need upgrades if you want a reliable remote or tough tourer.
If you get away with a non modified Defender without breaking stuff you just don't drive it hard often enough , which is OK by the way...

The beauty of the Defender is we can do this, on the Disco you have very few options to further strengthen the truck. I became friend with Chris who purchased the D3 of me
and know the further history of the truck and he has by now replaced half his truck and is looking for a second Landy D1, 2 or rangy as a play truck...

I leave it like this here....

I agree with everything you have mentioned, but.....
A puma with a rear locker, 33s, shocks upgrade, HD flanges and hi tuff rear axels plus all the bar protection (bull bar etc). Is in my opinion a pretty good setup for touring and weekend trips. The fact that you are using 35s changes everything. 35s put a lot more stress on the drive train compared to 33s, my opinion.

Ps; Love your videos and your a bit of an idol Stefan. Love your work:thumbup:

Originally Posted by TerryO

Are you Defender owners enjoying talking to yourselves? As you basically have been for four or five pages by the way.

In case you hadn't noticed we Disco owners aren't really responding anymore, not since it was shown unequivocally that a late model Disco is superior ( that means better) off road than a Defender.
So even though we were winning the debate easily your collective fates were sealed when Steve chimed in with his vast experience having owned and seriously taken off road both vehicles.

So the Disco camp won, any further conversation between yourselves is just background noise, the correct decision has been made and the Disco is numero uno.


Oh! by the way I nearly forgot, Frantic, you failed to add to your little inconsequential list what seems to be just about the most important thing for many of you Defender owners. That being that you guys can carry 27 bags of cow poo in the back of your 110's.

So it's not all bad for you guys as we accept that your Defenders definitely win the full of BS prize. ...

Anyway I'm off for my early morning cappuccino. ... Ciao.

Goat poo, not cow poo, thank you.


Oh, I must have missed the bit when the D4 won.

Originally Posted by TerryO

Are you Defender owners enjoying talking to yourselves? As you basically have been for four or five pages by the way.

In case you hadn't noticed we Disco owners aren't really responding anymore, not since it was shown unequivocally that a late model Disco is superior ( that means better) off road than a Defender.
So even though we were winning the debate easily your collective fates were sealed when....

Don't you mean it was won on page one post one when you declared your manifesto.

Your view was already encased in concrete and your ears stuffed with wool.

The OP lost it for the disco when parameters were: Mod the disco, don't mod the defender. Only compare with puma generation , yet allowed both d3 and d4

You tried to tee it up but in doing so you managed to shoot yourself in the foot.

The defender won.

Disco owners retreat.

For more than 15 years my Defenders have lived and worked in some of the harshest environments in the world, the western deserts of WA, the kimberley, the territory, as well as major trips in the high country, tassie, flinders ranges, strezlecki, simpson, nullarbor, oodnadatta, tanami, the harshest rocky tracks, sandy beaches, sandy deserts, you name it, I've driven over 500,000 km.

There is no way I would have felt confident in a Discovery. Clearly Discos are fantastic for predominantly urban based adventurers and those willing to rough them up on weekends or the occasional long trip and no doubt they are more luxurious, but more capable over the long term in that mix of constant terrain? I don't think so.

Horses for courses. The Defender is built predominantly as a heavy duty working 4WD. Discovery is built predominantly as a luxury urban centric vehicle, albeit very capable off road. If the question were tweaked to ask which is the best and most capable long term 4WD proposition, Defender is the clear winner for me. That's not to say that for others it's not the Discovery.

Cheers all.

PS: Defender mods - upgrade to Koni or bilstein shocks, bullbar, one set rear hte hub flanges. That's it.

PPS: I've just driven 600km this morning, MrLandy puma purred all the way. Waved at ten Disco Drivers, not one wave in return. Two Defenders, both hearty waves! Icing on the cake.

[QUOTE=MrLandy;2484321]For more than 15 years my Defenders have lived and worked in some of the harshest environments in the world, the western deserts of WA, the kimberley, the territory, as well as major trips in the high country, tassie, flinders ranges, strezlecki, simpson, nullarbor, oodnadatta, tanami, the harshest rocky tracks, sandy beaches, sandy deserts, you name it, I've driven over 500,000 km. /QUOTE]

ahhhh.... so we are going to start listing where our vehicles have reliably taken us eh? RRS: Oodnadatta track, Gary Junction, Rudell River, Tanami, Kimberley, Pilbara, Flinders Ranges (4WD tracks on private property), Nullabor, West Coast, etc. Of course my Defenders took me here and a lot more places too cos I owned them for longer

Come on Tombie, wade in here....