Thread: Discovery 2 vs Defender 110 cabin size

Originally Posted by cripesamighty

Damien, the D3’s have come down in price a lot recently. I picked up a 2006 MY D3 TDV6 to complement my D1 for under $10k with most of the big ticket items seen too. Don’t discount them just yet. Having had Defenders in the past, then a D1 and now a D3, the D3 combines the space of the Defender with the creature comforts of the D1/2.

Thats a good price. We are getting our amarok ready to sell whilst its still worth something. Then looking to spend around $15k ish on another car, living near the beach it fills up with sand pretty quick. Might keep an eye out for a cheap d3 then

There are a few threads comparing the petrol V6 & V8 vs TDV6 D3’s as far as ownership costs and typical usage goes. Maybe have a look at those threads to see what best suits your lifestyle and take it from there. Lots of D3 petrols out there cheaper than what you can get an equivalent diesel D3 for. Being a more complex vehicle though, you will need to make sure the previous owner looked after it maintenance wise. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Originally Posted by Vern

Not sure that will help him with his kids and dogs though!

The dogs will be just fine in the back, The Kids Not so much

Cargo areas to back of second row..

D2 - 40.5 ft3. (1147L)
D110 - 56.5 ft3 (1600L)

D3/4 - 44.5 ft3. (1260L)

Tombie has provided you the volumes and I think you have got a fairly good spread of comments about the vehicles you asked about. There is probably a bit more to consider than just cargo volume.

I have both vehicles, no children but do have a dog, therefore partially qualified to comment. Both mine are diesel one 300Tdi the other Td5.

The Td5 is the better engine, if you can rule that out by getting a Td5 Defender then that is one less difference to consider. One thing that may sway it is the practicality of a carpeted vehicle versus the utalitarian rubber mats of a defender. I try to towel the dogs down before letting them jump in the back seat of either vehicle. Unless you have a cargo barrier you will struggle to keep the dogs in the cargo space. The effectiveness of the a/c will probably rule out having the dogs in the defender behind a cargo barrier on a hot day. Unless you have something smaller than a fox terrier it is unlikely you will be able to fit much cargo and a dog in the cargo space of a D2. I think it is one or the other and not both dog and cargo in the D2 cargo space. Both vehicles rear seats are not that comfortable, D2 seat is better but the seating position is not that great. The seating is more upright which allows for less leg room but both vehicles have an adult’s eyeline above the top of the door windows which means looking out the sid s is no comfortable. Looking forward from the back seats is also compromised as your eyeline is level with the top of the windscreen. Neither vehicle is great for adults or grown children in the back seats.

I think if you are after comfort for two adults and pre teenage children and a dog then the D2 is pick. If cargo space is more important then take the Defender. As soon as your kids get into their mid to late teenage years neither vehicle will be great. The D3 and D4 are likely to be better suited to four adults or children of adult height. But they are different vehicles which you may want to go and have a look at before you decide.

I own both though the Defender 110 (1998 TDI) is in the UK, the Disco 2 (2002 V8 SE) in Australia (I was looking for a 110 in Aus but found the Disco 2 was about half the price and when I did a test drive it felt like a proper Land Rover so I bought it).

I'd basically echo the comments above; there's more space in the back of a 110 (behind the 2nd row of seats) than there is in the Disco which I think is mainly that the seats, fixtures and fittings in the Disco are much plusher so they take up more space; I can't measure it but my guess would be that there's about 40% more depth (rear door to back of 2nd row of seats) in the 110. The seats in the 110 are utilitarian but fine, when the kids were small to teenagers we did holiday trips with 11 of us from Manchester to Cornwall and the UK south coast with no issues - can't do that in a Disco but we have done long trips in Aus with 5 adults + 2 small kids.

The wider door is good in the Disco but you get less load space and the 2nd row of seats don't fold as well as they do in the 110, ok for wide flat stuff but the folded seats still take up a fair amount of vertical space, in the 110 they fold forward which can be better depending on what you want to get in there.

The 110 is fine up to around 65mph/100kph but doesn't really like to go much faster and the noise level is a bit of a speed limiting factor, the Disco is much, much quieter but with the V8 the limit is more the rate at which the petrol is consumed.

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Surprisingly I've been unable to find a thread comparing the two cabin sizes between a Land Rover 110 and Discovery 2. Anyone who has owned and lived with both able to provide comments, thoughts, opinions and feedbacks on the size difference? Particularly looking from the perspective of fitting kids, dogs and luggage in when heading away for a weekend etc.

Is the boot size on the 110 the same size as the 90 behind the front seats or larger?

I can’t comment on the defender as I’ve never had one. I have a D2a and with 3 kids under 5 and with 3 child seats across the back, it’s tight. Luggage is ok if your kids are older, but I’ve just bought a D3 to fit the kids, pram and luggage for long road trips. There’s a big difference between the D2 and D3 in space and comfort.