Thread: Disappointed in the D5 / waiting for the Defender

I've just been to Lance Dixon Doncaster to look at the NEW D5, and my next car (to replace my D3) will be a VW or a Toyota or (the list goes on)... there are so many things about the D5 that they got wrong (in my opinion).. that jelly-bean design for a start.. the way it seems to "slope" inwards at every angle might be all very good for fuel economy etc but not very good for putting stuff in when you are heading out camping... and the rear three quarter view from the drivers seat is awful - lane changing will be a lottery...yeah I know it's got side mirrors but why (oh why) did they make that rear pillar so thick and the window is the size of a soccer ball !!!! - it's a city car as far as I'm concerned and that's it... which is great pity but that's the way they designed it so good luck to them and I hope members on here who have one or are thinking of getting one have a wonderful time in it - I just won't be joining them... oh and one more thing my wife nearly fell out of the passenger seat laughing when the pimply faced 20 something salesperson started to explain to me how I could "adjust" the seating via an app on my I-phone... boy... that's something I can see me needing half way across the Simpson... ha.. ha.. ha........
Oh well - time to fit a set of Recaros in the old D3 and see if I can get a few more miles out of her...

cheers

I also found a claim of "19.7-inches of wheel articulation" – that's 500mm up and down. Enough for you?

19.7" ?

I call BS.

That's more than purpose built buggies.

Maybe 9.7" ?

If so, that's very good, about the same as my modified Deefer in the front, but less than what it sports in the rear.

I've seen the 500mm figure in enough places to believe it's an official number. But I don't think it's the travel of an individual wheel. It seems more likely that in a ramp test where just one wheel has to climb, it can get to 500mm height before a second wheel starts to lift.

So if the front left wheel is going up the ramp, it and the rear right would go to full compression while the rear left and front right would go to full extension.

Sound about right?

Originally Posted by TB

I've seen the 500mm figure in enough places to believe it's an official number. But I don't think it's the travel of an individual wheel. It seems more likely that in a ramp test where just one wheel has to climb, it can get to 500mm height before a second wheel starts to lift.

So if the front left wheel is going up the ramp, it and the rear right would go to full compression while the rear left and front right would go to full extension.

Sound about right?

Ok, that makes sense.

I used a forklift once to measure the same on the Defender, IIRC it was near 800mm.

I was at a dealer today to look at D4s, so I sat in the third row of the D4 and a couple of the D5s. The third row of the D5 is definitely lower, so your knees are up in the air - it's more like sitting in the back of a Landcruiser. But you can see why they've done it, because the roof is also lower. The bonnet is enormous and really blocks vision. But the controls actually look a lot better and look identical to the Range Rovers.

Also, when I was talking to the second-hand guys about if they had any D4s coming in as trade-ins on D5s, they said there would probably be some - but they'd had D4 owners who'd ordered D5s turn up, look at the D5 in the flesh and refuse to take delivery! And then depart in their D4!

Originally Posted by Arapiles

I was at a dealer today to look at D4s, so I sat in the third row of the D4 and a couple of the D5s. The third row of the D5 is definitely lower, so your knees are up in the air - it's more like sitting in the back of a Landcruiser. But you can see why they've done it, because the roof is also lower. The bonnet is enormous and really blocks vision. But the controls actually look a lot better and look identical to the Range Rovers.

Also, when I was talking to the second-hand guys about if they had any D4s coming in as trade-ins on D5s, they said there would probably be some - but they'd had D4 owners who'd ordered D5s turn up, look at the D5 in the flesh and refuse to take delivery! And then depart in their D4!

I've said my piece about the D5 - now I await the real world users to prove me as wrong as the initial haters of the D3. I do find it interesting that most reviews I've read lament the loss of some feature of the D4 though.

Interesting about refusing delivery. I suspect it is a very small percentage of people - I assumed you would sign a sales contract when you ordered one, making walking away pretty difficult (or expensive)?

With a new model and new release, if a dealer has presold cars, and you are buying something you haven't seen, generally you will put in a subject to, like driving or actually seeing the car etc

I would also assume you'd lose any deposit you paid on the car.