SMH "Will it let me down?"

[WhiteD3]

...and these guys get paid to write this rubbish?

Will it let me down?

Modern Land Rovers and Range Rovers aren't designed to cope with harsh Australian roads (think corrugations and rough tracks) with one exception ? the Defender. While some of the impressive-while-they're-working electronics and fancy air suspension of Discoverys and Range Rovers are susceptible to failure, the simplicity of the Defender ensures it is rugged and capable truck once the going gets tough. Expect it to muscle on for years.

Land Rover Defender 90 Heritage quick spin review

[debruiser]

This guy's never driven a LR before by the sound of it....


"Does it like corners?

Err, nope ? not in the slightest. In fact it struggles with a brisk lane change, such is the propensity for the body to lean and the Continental tyres to protest early. The steering, too, is old school vague, with plenty of twirls required to park or negotiate tight bends; a few gentle shakes from side to side in a straight line won't result in any movement. So it's a decent heave left or right to point it the direction you're hoping to go. Even then there's often some fightback as the high riding chassis struggles to deal with anything too challenging; you don't have to push on too hard to activate the stability control."

Is he serious??? My 90 is WAY faster through corners than my old Ranger. Hell I'd pit it up against those little hatchbacks that are coming out.

How about how he couldn't' be bothered to check the size of the fuel tank! What a tosser.

[MrLandy]

The clarity and simplicity of the design are too much for most people. He clearly has the Toyota prejudice too. Sucked in like most motoring journos by the 'unbreakable' spin. The Defender isn't actually retro either, up until now it's simply been an unbreakable continuum.

[Andrew86]

Is he serious??? My 90 is WAY faster through corners than my old Ranger. Hell I'd pit it up against those little hatchbacks that are coming out.

As much as I love the Defender, I wouldn't quite call it a precision driving instrument. Vague isn't far from the truth, at least in a 110 on MT/Rs, but that's all part of the fun - isn't it?

[debruiser]

As much as I love the Defender, I wouldn't quite call it a precision driving instrument. Vague isn't far from the truth, at least in a 110 on MT/Rs, but that's all part of the fun - isn't it?

I run AT's.... never experienced MT/Rs. I **** that the Conti 235/85r16 do handle better than the dueler AT 32x11.5r15's though.....

[1nando]

The "vague steering" i will admit takes some getting used to on the road, once offroad it makes perfect sense.

The defender unlike 99% of its 4wd opposition is a offroad vehicle with the capability to drive on tarmac. Every other 4wd is a road/tarmac vehicle that has off road capability. There is a huge difference

Ive also used acf50. Great product and hard to get in Australia.

[Shoogs]

Sometimes I think we get too caught up in all that we read...