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

Its funny. I struggle to recall more than 1 Defender i have seen without the excellent 16 inch stockers on when I have been off road and I have seen a lot of defenders. The 16's are strong and hold the bead like the proverbial to a sock. Sometimes you see them in magazines with smaller rims but i wonder how much of that is just for looks. If I didn't want to spring 3 large for 18 inch wheels the fist thing i would do with a D4 with 19's is go one size wider to gain a smidge more height. That video of the bite really emphasis that 19's are not a problem for serious offroading miles from anywhere as long as they are not on the vehicle (in the shed is fine).

Cheers

Cheers

Originally Posted by MrLandy

The reason D4's are specced with 19" wheels = low profile tyres is simple. They are designed primarily for on road use. 90% of D4 owners will never take them off road. The fact that traditional 16" wheels are not able to be fitted is a ridiculous design flaw, agreed. But it does make it very clear what D4's are primarily designed for / what the Land Rover (Road Rover) target market is now. With the end of Defender there is now no purpose built off-road vehicle in the Land Rover range. It makes a total farce of the green oval badge IMO.

Ok so I've only skimmed the 1st few and last few pages (76!!!!). I think we all get too lost in our own little versions of our "perfect world"!
In a society more and more over run by rules and regulations and folks wanting more and more and more then limits are going to be hit.
Yep 19 inch is not ideal but since we all want more and more power then the law makers are going to require bigger brakes yes?
Everything is a compromise and I think the disco is a bloody good one (of course apart from my whining about God and hard seats).
Stock standard it will get you places nearly all other stock 4wds will struggle with but if you really need the insane off-road machine then buy a lesser marque and spend up modifying it.
Then there's the notion that the Disco is more easily and undesirably scratched, well it seems to get any modern vehicle to off-road specs you are spending 90k+ so is a scratch or two on a disco really much cause for concern?
I'm new to the Disco can't Ming from sportier cars and yes I could complain that it doesn't handle on road like an X5 or that I will shy away from deep crossings or huge ruts that a hi rise lifted vehicle would tackle with ease but in 95% of all our realities this car will get us 99% of the places we want to go in comfort.
Really the other 5% of people or 1% of places will require a highly customised vehicle no matter what the brand or model.

Originally Posted by MrLandy

The reason D4's are specced with 19" wheels = low profile tyres is simple. They are designed primarily for on road use. 90% of D4 owners will never take them off road. The fact that traditional 16" wheels are not able to be fitted is a ridiculous design flaw, agreed. But it does make it very clear what D4's are primarily designed for / what the Land Rover (Road Rover) target market is now. With the end of Defender there is now no purpose built off-road vehicle in the Land Rover range. It makes a total farce of the green oval badge IMO.

Im going off topic here, but the vast majority of 4wds from all the manufactures makes a total farce of 4wds in general, they are all going to more road based designs IMHO, just look at the current crop of duel cab utes for example - years ago they where work/commercials now most would be lucky to get the ute tray bed paint scratched!
Really once the defender, 70 series landcruiser and the old patrol finally all leave the showroom floors theres really not much left that you could consider is more off road biased in design (If live axles are your thing then your left with the Jeep Wrangler!)

Originally Posted by shanegtr

Im going off topic here, but the vast majority of 4wds from all the manufactures makes a total farce of 4wds in general, they are all going to more road based designs IMHO, just look at the current crop of duel cab utes for example - years ago they where work/commercials now most would be lucky to get the ute tray bed paint scratched!
Really once the defender, 70 series landcruiser and the old patrol finally all leave the showroom floors theres really not much left that you could consider is more off road biased in design (If live axles are your thing then your left with the Jeep Wrangler!)

Too true Shane, too true.

Originally Posted by MrLandy

- Why wouldn't I buy a D4? Way too expensive, no base model, I don't want a luxury car with carpets and they're not built for purpose as long term HD off bitumen vehicles IMO.

Haha. The idea of a luxury car being defined as having carpet genuinely made me smile. Love it. Thank you

Um,I better go out and remove the carpets from Tracey's defender,I didn't realise they make it not fit for purpose. Pat

Originally Posted by PAT303

Um,I better go out and remove the carpets from Tracey's defender,I didn't realise they make it not fit for purpose. Pat

WHAT,carpet in a defender
Gees I hope its good quality marine carpet,with the dust and water leaks it will rot in no time.
Andrew

In regards to LR fitting 19'' rims to their vehicles,LR fitted them because they needed clearance for the larger brakes they needed to pass the European regulations.In Europe they have brake tests that vehicles must pass,the test involves braking from 60-80-100 km/hr to a dead stop,one after the other without giving the brakes time to cool,to pass a 2T vehicle needs big brakes.Regulations are pushing vehicle designs,not manufacturers. Pat