Thread: The New Defender

Originally Posted by blackrangie

Im actually thinking the same re:cape.

The rubber interior, IP67 electrics and wading capabilities seem to be very "cape able"

I have done it twice up and back,both times OTT,but not shotgun,in my old basically stock D2a.

So the new model will **** it in,as long as it can handle deep water crossings,but a snorkel is a must.

The Gibb river road, in its current condition would also give it a really good 'shake' down.

The Cape is a fantastic place.

Originally Posted by johntins

You can trace that back to the FJ45, which arguably created the entire wagon segment, along with the Jeep Wagoneer, although the "top of the range" bit was probably the Jeep. Both were bigger than the RR or Disco though, as are the 60/80/100/200s. These days it's mor the Prado. LC 200s are HUGE. That's one rerason they don't sell them in Europe.

Yep.
The Willys Station Wagon pre-dated the Wagoneer, but Brooks Stevens design created the luxury 4wd segment in '63.
I pretty much grew up in the back seat of a Wagoneer in the early/mid 70's

Two quick points
First Tombie your assertion that the rural market is
Moving from 7x Tojo to Pussluxes is likely somewhat regional.
When I left living on the Cape last year that was one million percent not the case for northern rural families? Mum and tin lids in the 200 wagon or a 79 DC, farm Ute single can 78.

Oh and one thing about the new 110 & 90 is the departure angle will help if you hit the Cape early in the season before the tribes have flattened all the creek drop ins.
My last jaunt up the OTL May 17 (before leaving Cookie) I was with a 200 and a Pajero
They bailed on a few crossings for fear of leaving panelling behind on the short sharp drop offs

Funnily enough a real defender (real defenders have trays) obviously had no problems including Palmy which I actually had to winch down into (and out of course!)

Go in May with the new wagon
Take lotsa a video of the thing killing it like I’m sure it will!

Steve

Originally Posted by ozscott

Depends on the conditions. I had a mate in my group in 2017 that got water in an electrical connector for the auto and the computer, and this was not known to him at the time with no error lights etc,, kept engaging and disengaging the centre diff lock randomly while he was on bitumen. Came back on the boat. It caused damage to the auto unfortunately. He lost confidence in it and sold it. Also in some areas the 900mm approx wading ability of the new Defender would be exceeded by the water and indeed it would probably float at or about that point anyway. The good factory rating for the depth is a good thing buy to be used with care.

Cheers

Engineers of new defender say if it starts to float crack the doors, electrics are ip67 so should be fine. 900mm is just floating depth from memory.

Yep I wondered if you would say that. But how does that work....pretty bloody carefully and a last resort. Carpet anyone? And accidentally letting in too much would be a disaster. Now way I would be opening the door in a metre of water.

Cheers

Originally Posted by ozscott

Yep I wondered if you would say that. But how does that work....pretty bloody carefully and a last resort. Carpet anyone? And accidentally letting in too much would be a disaster. Now way I would be opening the door in a metre of water.

Cheers

The carpet is marine grade, if you option it.
Or it’s available with a wash out Rubber interior matting.

At offroad height cracking a door open would flood below the seats.

The point is moot anyway, all sealed vehicles will float, heck even an older Defender will for a while until that inrush of water exceeds buoyancy.

Originally Posted by rick130

Yep.
The Willys Station Wagon pre-dated the Wagoneer, but Brooks Stevens design created the luxury 4wd segment in '63.
I pretty much grew up in the back seat of a Wagoneer in the early/mid 70's

Quite right, although I'm not sure the Station Wagon came here. Or, for that matter, the Wagoneer on any regular basis. The FJ45 came here for sure. It was a revelation, although the mob still bought LRs. Quite a lot of people back then held a distrust for the Japanese. Funny that it didn't stop sales of VWs at the time..

I believe that the Wagoneer had the first electric tailgate window I had ever seen, and I spent much time with Rolls Royce cars in those days ( there's a story there ), and few had electric windows anywhere.

Originally Posted by Tombie

The point is moot anyway, all sealed vehicles will float, heck even an older Defender will for a while until that inrush of water exceeds buoyancy.

Lol. My D1 sure won't. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing....

However, a certain person who appears on a certain ewetoob channel often 'floats' his 'sponsored' dual cab Japanese vehicle without issue.

I guess that's why I like my older style stuff though. Sure, it's old; sure, water gets in; sure, that means I need to take more care with where I put stuff. At least I can get my wheels on the 'ground'.

Hmm... Maybe it would be great to have the best of both worlds....

Maybe LR have a point??

I really, really want to see one in the wild. Maybe LR have a point here as well. They know that we'll argue about this car. It's marketing genius IMV.