I haven't been active on the forum in a long time and my Defender ownership experience has been, well, let's it hasn't been what it should have been. Anyway, I've been following this thread for quite a while and decided it's time to weigh in.
I was quite impressed with the photographs and film from Moab, though the surfaces are relatively smooth, so it's unclear how the car will perform on rougher ground. Still it looks promising. I was originally in the "two live axles or don't bother" camp when the new Defender was announced, but honestly, I've looked at what LR's air-suspended models can do and it looks like they articulate almost as well as live-axled cars, but I'll bet that they're far, far more polished on-road. A few months ago I relocated to Perth and now have to contend with a daily commute filled with speed humps and those rubber cushion things in the road. Tackling that stuff in my Puma is pretty miserable, as such obstacles have to be taken more slowly than in regular cars to maintain any sort of comfort and yet, it still thumps and bucks and bounces. I would certainly welcome more on-road comfort if I didn't have to sacrifice any or only very little off-road ability. I know there are still concerns about the reliability of air suspension, but I'd certainly prefer it to coils on an independently sprung car. I've been pretty spooked by the idea of taking an independently sprung car into really rough country ever since I saw that Youtube video of a late-model Pajero come to grief somewhere. I think it was in the Victorian High Country. You probably know the one; the driver is backing it down a track, drops a rear wheel into a dip, it lifts the opposing front wheel and rolls over backward, then spins around and tumbles off the ridge into the bush. Yeah.
On the subject of suspension tech, one thing does puzzle me; why did Land Rover never adopt oleopneumatic suspension like old Citroens had? I suppose they probably would have had to licence the tech from Citroen, but now that they seem to have abandoned it, surely it should be possible for other companies to adopt it? Maybe the parasitic losses of the engine-driven hydraulic pump would be too great to pass modern economy and emissions tests, though that could probably be electrically powered now. Anyway, I've heard stories of old Citroen DSes driving off kerbs and over speed humps at 60km/h like they aren't there. The self-leveling nature of the system effectively mimics what a live axle does and the systems was proven to be reliable. It seems a natural fit for a machine designed to be driven over rough ground.
Anyway, to the car itself... Overall I like what I'm seeing, though there are a few parts that I suspect (and really hope) are camouflaged. I'd say that the Invictus car is almost production ready. It even has all the exterior badges in place (excuse my poor markups):
Attachment 150807
Attachment 150808
I think the roof gutters on the Invictus car are a red herring (they're not even straight, though it is a Defender) and there's obviously still some sort of strip along the sides to disguise the belt line. I suspect this has a tighter radius and that the upright portion below the windows will be deeper even than what we've seen on the Tusk image.
Two things I don't like are the apparent front grille treatment. I really hope this protruding section is a camouflage piece:
Attachment 150809
Maybe it's meant to recall the aircon grille on older Defenders, but if that's the case, it should start under the bonnet edge. I think a D3/D4 style grille would look better, or something like a modern interpretation of the old Defender grille. I just can't see how this is going to look good on the finished car. If that is how it is styled, maybe the aftermarket will come to the rescue.
The other thing I don't like is the apparent front wing and bonnet treatment. If that's it, it's going to look like an OG Range Rover Sport. I'm still hopeful that we're being misled and there's a separate bonnet over lower, flatter wing tops hidden underneath camouflage, because let's face it, that's one of the most defining features of the Defender. The bonnet shut line on the new model is, frankly, insane, so that's keeping me hopeful. I did notice a couple of things in the Invictus photos though. First of all, there are what appear to be seams running straight back from the narrower, forward portion of the bonnet:
Attachment 150810
Does the bonnet curve down a little to the edges and those outer sections have been added to make it look flatter? Are the wing tops false and wrap around creating the weird shut line to further deceive us?
The other odd thing I noticed was that those outer parts appear textured. It could be the wrap itself, but maybe they're some weird nod to chequer plate wing tops? I certainly hope not:
Attachment 150811
I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on these points.
Another thing I've pondered is whether the rear door is quite long to aid entry to sixth and seventh (or seventh and eighth) seats in the boot space. Remember that they'd fold into the floor in this car. Otherwise, I'm happy with the overall shape, the recovery points, the (wider) side-opening rear door and the prospect of a centre seat in the front. I'm sure 18 inch wheels will be available. I doubt there will be a manual option, though I hope there will be.
Originally Posted by cjc_td5
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