Thread: Defender Pros & Cons

I worked in the Great Sandy desert doing Seismic surveys for oil exploration for 3 years and I have done cadstral and engineering survey work over a fair part of North QLD, we went where there are no roads or tracks and I drove factory Patrols and Cruisers. They were both capable and reliable vehicles but for sheer off road performance from a stock standard 4x4 the Defender is by far the most confidence inspiring and pupose built vehicle I have driven. Comfortable? Maybe not, bit if you want to go out of the way places, challenge the terrain, Creb Track, Cape York Telegraph Road or any of the great offroad treks get a Defender and from experience the Xtreme is the BEST.

Well im for the defender the standard seats are fine , i bought mine in canberra and drove straight thru to melb down the monaro hwy and princess hwy and i hopped out of the car as i had just driven around the block

the noise is no where near as bad as a series you can chat with passengers no probs the gear box is easy to change gears

the brakes are far better than my x classic rangie

i am more than happy with my fender and my family luv it my 16 year old daughter loves it as much as me and she cant wait till get her learners to be able to drive my defender (i dont want her to drive it)

all the other quirks you get use to and lets face you cant buy a car or 4x4 that you are a 100% happy with

After a Discovery you will have a lot to put up with.

Defenders are a very capable machine but they have inherited may Land Rover problems as mentioned by others.

I'm sure I will get howled down but I have owned a '62 series 2a Hard Top, '76 series 3 Wagon, '97 Defender Wagon and now a 2001 Discovery Td5 auto. The best one for what I use it for is the Discovery.

That's my 2 bobs worth, now I am a target for sure.
(sorry you die hard Defender drivers)

Originally Posted by barryj

After a Discovery you will have a lot to put up with.

Defenders are a very capable machine but they have inherited may Land Rover problems as mentioned by others.

I'm sure I will get howled down but I have owned a '62 series 2a Hard Top, '76 series 3 Wagon, '97 Defender Wagon and now a 2001 Discovery Td5 auto. The best one for what I use it for is the Discovery.

That's my 2 bobs worth, now I am a target for sure.
(sorry you die hard Defender drivers)

No howling down, it's quite clear you went for comfort instead of performance

Over the last few weekends I've taken my stock Disco to the Watagans outings, travelled through bogholes feet deep in mud, climbed rocksteps up to the top of the mountain, straddled ruts big enough to swallow a Rocky. (Okay, some poetic license is being used but go with me on this one...) Then I cruised down the freeway at 120Kph listening to some great music on FBI, after which I did some unexpected night-time rally driving on the Wiseman's Ferry road. When I got safely home I thought "Damn! What a car!"

But yes, I have to confess it was comfortable all the time.

Originally Posted by DiscoDave

Over the last few weekends I've taken my stock Disco to the Watagans outings, travelled through bogholes feet deep in mud, climbed rocksteps up to the top of the mountain, straddled ruts big enough to swallow a Rocky. (Okay, some poetic license is being used but go with me on this one...) Then I cruised down the freeway at 120Kph listening to some great music on FBI, after which I did some unexpected night-time rally driving on the Wiseman's Ferry road. When I got safely home I thought "Damn! What a car!"

But yes, I have to confess it was comfortable all the time.

Touche'
and goodnight,

there is one problem im not too happy about with the fender......

and thats the handbrake......





































or....is it shes not too happy......

Originally Posted by harro

No howling down, it's quite clear you went for comfort instead of performance

Fair comment, though I have taken it through the Gibb River Road in April/May 2005. I could not imagine my previous Defender handling the 37 deg heat with the pathetic air con system and the lack of cruise control and good sound system; yes I found cruise control very good especially on corrigations.