Thread: Disappointed in the D5 / waiting for the Defender

Originally Posted by Chops

I'm not quite sure which way to go with this, but anyway.

I got rid of the Defender because we needed comfort,, it was a good rig, but I didn't upgrade anything, other than a winch etc.
I guess though, as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I like the creature comforts of the lux wagon. However, with age has also came some wisdom in the form of the realization that playing hard equals damage,, costs money and time,, neither of which we have at our disposal,, and I would suggest, most here dont either. Going hard core in the bush is fine if you can afford it, and it probably doesn't matter what car your in.

I see people going on about problematic tyre sizes etc with the Disco's 4 and 5's. Well, there has to be a compromise somewhere, and if you want handling at speed, tyre's are a must,, Speed does not equal a Defender .

But lets ask the question,,, how many Defender drivers change they're tyre's, to go either fatter or taller. So suddenly, your not happy with your Defender's either really. So if it basically becomes "the norm" to upgrade Defer tyre's, why is it so wrong for Disco drivers to swap out they're tyre's?

If your going to go "crashing through the bush", wouldn't it make more sense to buy something "cheap and nasty", change it all to how you want it,,, (obviously everybody seems to want the next best thing to a bull dozer for this), then go and destroy it every time you hit the bush? I don't need a bull dozer these days,, I'd like to think I'm a better driver than when I was twenty, and can pick a better line, or have more respect for my car and ultimately, my life.

The D5 has been tested hard by LR, and no doubt time will tell just how well it does in real life. Those who own them, tell me they perform better than the D4. As time moves on, kit will be made for them,,, Ben is already on the case for some stuff. I had the option to wait for the D5, but chose not to due to it being the first of the run,,, I'd sooner wait for it to have been in production for a couple of years. The bugs will be ironed out by then.

Anyone who tours in any sort of a wagon now, will be able to do the exact same in a D5. Of course it will be different to pack etc,, but you'll work it. If your in to bush bashing, then I suspect you'd upgrade to a similar vehicle to do the same. If your not really into Disco's now,, you possibly never will be. Again, time will tell, we all get older, and start to prefer the comforts.

While I do not disagree with many of the age related points made, i didn't get my first Defender until I was nearly 50. I consider its ride to be good insurance against kidney stones and thusfar havent had them whilst driving it, so am sticking with that.

Originally Posted by Chops

I'm not quite sure which way to go with this, but anyway.

I got rid of the Defender because we needed comfort,, it was a good rig, but I didn't upgrade anything, other than a winch etc.
I guess though, as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I like the creature comforts of the lux wagon. However, with age has also came some wisdom in the form of the realization that playing hard equals damage,, costs money and time,, neither of which we have at our disposal,, and I would suggest, most here dont either. Going hard core in the bush is fine if you can afford it, and it probably doesn't matter what car your in.

I see people going on about problematic tyre sizes etc with the Disco's 4 and 5's. Well, there has to be a compromise somewhere, and if you want handling at speed, tyre's are a must,, Speed does not equal a Defender .

But lets ask the question,,, how many Defender drivers change they're tyre's, to go either fatter or taller. So suddenly, your not happy with your Defender's either really. So if it basically becomes "the norm" to upgrade Defer tyre's, why is it so wrong for Disco drivers to swap out they're tyre's?

If your going to go "crashing through the bush", wouldn't it make more sense to buy something "cheap and nasty", change it all to how you want it,,, (obviously everybody seems to want the next best thing to a bull dozer for this), then go and destroy it every time you hit the bush? I don't need a bull dozer these days,, I'd like to think I'm a better driver than when I was twenty, and can pick a better line, or have more respect for my car and ultimately, my life.

The D5 has been tested hard by LR, and no doubt time will tell just how well it does in real life. Those who own them, tell me they perform better than the D4. As time moves on, kit will be made for them,,, Ben is already on the case for some stuff. I had the option to wait for the D5, but chose not to due to it being the first of the run,,, I'd sooner wait for it to have been in production for a couple of years. The bugs will be ironed out by then.

Anyone who tours in any sort of a wagon now, will be able to do the exact same in a D5. Of course it will be different to pack etc,, but you'll work it. If your in to bush bashing, then I suspect you'd upgrade to a similar vehicle to do the same. If your not really into Disco's now,, you possibly never will be. Again, time will tell, we all get older, and start to prefer the comforts.

Changing tyre size to a larger diameter on a defender is a luxury that disco 4 and 5 do not have.
Its not about bush bashing but rather how well a vehicle is suited to its particular environment and there are some basics that will always make for a better offroader:
-Smaller/narrower wheel track
-Large tyre with decent side wall
-Body panels which dont bulge past the wheels
-live axles

Love comfort, appreciate safety and nothing puts a bigger smile on my fave than power however in my opinion a true offroader thats going to get used for purpose needs some fundamemtals that you just cant get away from.

If they can build a defender based on the d4 with a decent tyre size and live axles id put my money down in a heart beat. That wont happen though and im sure they'll go with air suspension which i don't like at all.
However they will be onto a winner i reckon if its d4 based. Since the defender production ended i now look at the new models and think to myself that the d4 and pumas were even more amazing then when they first came out. I hope the new defender dosent dissapoint.

Originally Posted by 1nando

Changing tyre size to a larger diameter on a defender is a luxury that disco 4 and 5 do not have.
Its not about bush bashing but rather how well a vehicle is suited to its particular environment and there are some basics that will always make for a better offroader:
-Smaller/narrower wheel track
-Large tyre with decent side wall
-Body panels which dont bulge past the wheels
-live axles

Love comfort, appreciate safety and nothing puts a bigger smile on my fave than power however in my opinion a true offroader thats going to get used for purpose needs some fundamemtals that you just cant get away from.

If they can build a defender based on the d4 with a decent tyre size and live axles id put my money down in a heart beat. That wont happen though and im sure they'll go with air suspension which i don't like at all.
However they will be onto a winner i reckon if its d4 based. Since the defender production ended i now look at the new models and think to myself that the d4 and pumas were even more amazing then when they first came out. I hope the new defender dosent dissapoint.

I get where your coming from with your points,,, but that suits about 20+ years ago now. In my younger years, we explored and made our own tracks, you can't really do that sort of stuff now. Theoretically, you have to stay on the track. And just how much wider over all, is the Disco? A few inches wont change much in reality.
Overall, I just cant see where a Defender (in they're current form ) will outshine the new Discos. It will be good to see what comes with the new Defender, and perhaps it may even take my fancy.

I'm not sure we need bigger wheels, we already have massive ground clearance now,, like i said earlier, people want bull dozers

Apparently the D5 has space to go up a tyre size on the standard wheels.
Body shape is just styling - the Hilux is pretty curvy.
Defender spy shots show rear coils.
LR wants the Discovery and Defender to be different vehicle families.

Originally Posted by Zeros

Weeds! You blaspheme! ...so you’d swap your Defender for a D5?

Yep....when Daniel works out how to fit a Poptop

Although I’m not big on having a large amount of money tied up in a car.....

Originally Posted by RobA

My info six months back from the inside was NO to air suspension as they could not get the performance out of the suspension. But that was six months back and model specification would not have been totally finalised but exceptionally close I would think as they normally lock that sort of stuff away 2 years or more into product development.

Still I will be happy with either quite frankly

Rob

What qualifies you for "inside information" when no one else in the world gets any?

No one has inside info. None has been released....has it?

I get sick of hearing this stuff.

Originally Posted by 1nando

Changing tyre size to a larger diameter on a defender is a luxury that disco 4 and 5 do not have.
Its not about bush bashing but rather how well a vehicle is suited to its particular environment and there are some basics that will always make for a better offroader:
-Smaller/narrower wheel track
-Large tyre with decent side wall
-Body panels which dont bulge past the wheels
-live axles

Love comfort, appreciate safety and nothing puts a bigger smile on my fave than power however in my opinion a true offroader thats going to get used for purpose needs some fundamemtals that you just cant get away from.

If they can build a defender based on the d4 with a decent tyre size and live axles id put my money down in a heart beat. That wont happen though and im sure they'll go with air suspension which i don't like at all.
However they will be onto a winner i reckon if its d4 based. Since the defender production ended i now look at the new models and think to myself that the d4 and pumas were even more amazing then when they first came out. I hope the new defender dosent dissapoint.

Like your comments but what tyre suspension setups are being used in the Dakkar races?

Fair to say we know it won't be set up like a H1...so if no air suspension and independent susp then...what a Prado with extra clearance. Wow. Cheers