Defender replacement. Got this from wikipedia. Any further developments??

"Doorbell" wrote

I took my 130 Td5 to Germany, having removed the pick-up tray and second row of seats, to have Tischer build a camper body on the back.

They loaned me a Jap 4x4 pickup. MPG same. Style looked rubbish. A bit more luxury in extras, but was glad to get my Landy back.

Alan

You have to wonder what market sector Landrover would pitch the Defender at ?.They already have an established SUV for the North American Market in the Range Rover and now the Disco branded as the LR3 is being heavily marketed so why attempt to sell what is a basic utility vehicle in an aggresive segment of the market already well covered by Ford products. Certainly there is no cachet involved in the Defender name( it was sold in the uS for 4 years before being dropped from the range) and building a reputation as a military derived vehicle is a non-starter not with competing Jeep and the GM Humvee as home grown products . The descision will have to be weighted against Ford's wishes and that may explain why the Freelander is no longer in the 2006 lineup despite its massive sales. More in question is will Landrover still drop the Defender entirely rather than develop it further? Military users are not overly fond of complex electronics which do interesting things on a whim an default to a low power setting in a battle situation- lose that market and the first nail is in the coffin. Derek

On or around Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:36:05 GMT, "Doorbell" enlightened us thusly:

that could use editing - it's rather unfair. The only thing that really lets the defender down is seats - fit decent seats and it's very good for a vehicle of its type. Compare for example with a typical minibus...

I'm not convinced that most of the serious 4x4 opposition are any better. Toys like the rav-4 and the Crappy Rotten Vehicle (Honda - what do you thing CRV stands for?) might be more comfortable but are not in the same league. I've not had a freeloader, so can't speak for the comfort, but the disco and RR are plenty comfy for 300-mile runs.

Buy a Santana PS-10 then. It's just like a defender only with several improvements, but still cheaper.

Alex

Apart from the leaf springs, LT85 gearbox - and that driving position looks remarkably farmiliar...... ;-)

By the way, I may well be mad, but I *like* the Defender driving position!

Richard

does look to be a rather formidable vehicle, boasting a 92kw turbo-diesel. This beats the td5 by 2kw does it not? however, torque is down 25nm from the td5's 300. Its set-up in a way i would love my series 3 to be. parabolic springs, 5 speed g'box and tough turbo-diesel. However, i don't care much for that "modern" interior.

Sam.

I drove 650 miles from Basingstoke to Luing (on the west coast of Scotland) in about 12 hours with breaks every 2 or so hours, all in my

110 Commercial, no soundproofing or creature comforts. Got there, didn't die, didn't go mad, didn't go deaf, didn't start murdering people, didn't break in half etc etc etc. A week later I did it all again in reverse (I mean travelling the return journey) and am still alive today. After both trips, no aches or pains. Seems fine to me! My ears rang for about half an hour though...

I've driven a small number of "rival" machines, a shogun, a fourtrack, a discovery and a few more I don't remember, and they all felt shabby and fragile and felt much closer to the end of their useful life than my much older defender. I drove the disco off-road too, and felt very disconnected with the ground underneath.

Thankfully I reckon the Defender will be around for many moons yet, even if landrover do kill it off, so only the temptation of Pinzgauer remains a threat ;-)

The biggest shortcoming the Defender has compared to its competitors is that the average size of people in the western world has increased since the cabin dimensions were fixed (basically the S1 86 in about 1953). In fact, the space is worse since doors have got a lot thicker. Unfortunately, this (and the lack of space for airbags and decent airconditioning) is impossible to change without a basic redesign of the body. JD

Same here - Stoke-Leeds-Stoke regularly, Stoke-Portsmouth-Stoke, Stoke-Weymouth-Stoke with no breaks and still perfectly healthy ;-)

Dihastu Fortrack = 90 with knackerd bushes - a dreadful experience!

I sincerly hope so - there's nothing else in the range I fancy having! I did have a sit in Pinzgauer a few years back - not exacty designed for someone with my dimensions (in any direction)...

Richard

And the positioning of the air con i fit in my 2a sat in a 90 ready to buy it and i couldnt close the door i was shattered

...and Doorbell spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...

They had better not. The new RR, D3 etc may be fine cars, but they are competing in a crowded and aggreesive market. It pays LR to continue with the Defender, even at a loss, because it gives the high-end products much-needed credibility. If you like, as long as the Defender is around, and being the best at what it does, and all that history and tradition, it will support the sales of RRs and D3s. Take the Defender away from the LR model range, and you've got - well - basically a range of pretty good 4x4s, nothing more. The Defender is LR's USP in the way that the Willies* Jeep isn't for Jeep, at least not in Europe.

• mis-spelling deliberate.

Absolutely agree - 100% with a cherry on top. I don't know about Ford's management, but their engineers are very aware the massing with Defender, never mind dropping it, is a very sensitve area.

Richard

"Ian Rawlings" wrote

I'm a real Landy owner and bought my 130 in 2002 as it had been reported as it's last year. It's great, reliable, comfortable, has electric windows and it's ac is OK by me.

But a Pinzgauer 6x6. Now that is a very capable vehicle off road. It's ability puts every other Land Rover that I've driven (a large number) to shame.

Now if my numbers win tonight I could then buy one as well, as a Range Rover Sport. However I've only sat in one in a German showroom and not driven one on an off-road training area like the Pinzgauer 6x6.

Alan

(snip) I find my 1986 110 (with the older type doors) quite good to drive, comfortable even on long trips - the 300,000+ km I have done in it includes many trips of 1000km in a day. But being 1941 vintage I am probably smaller than most drivers today, and it really does need decent airconditioning (and a decent heater in Winter). Noise and vibration is another matter! The

3.9 diesel is noisier and much rougher than any of the other diesels ever fitted to Landrovers - but it is still going strong after 410,000km. JD

Damned noisy though, and not exactly quick. I have a picture somewhere of a 6x6 (my favourite) with fat wheels on, it looks like some kind of moon buggy, excellent stuff.

They are a tad expensive though, you can pick up a 25-year-old for about £10-16K... IIRC the new ones are in the £30K range but don't quote me on that.

Nothing wrong with leaf springs. Or the LT85 for that matter. (Although it's not the same as the LR version - it's uprated and it has selectable 2x4/4x4 for a start, like the old series, no centre diff to pack up) The driving positon is not the same, the centre seat has been lost and the seat/wheel is further inboard - no more banging elbows on the windows in winter. Also has a rigid body mounted flexibly to the chassis, and a one-piece fibreglass roof (no leaks). Lots of other differences, including 4-pinion diffs.

OTR price: £20,467

Which is £2500 cheaper than the entry-level Defender 110SW (£22,995)

Or you can have the hi-spec version which comes with Electric windows and central locking for a mere £600 more, which brings you in line with the 110SW County which costs £24,495 - saving you £3500.

If only Santana did a SWB version, i'd be buying one.

Alex

£30K for a Pinzgauer? Seems cheap, considering the top-spec Defender comes in at £28K, you get a lot more off-road ability for your money....

Reckon you do have the Isuzu engine...everyone wants that one but only available Down Under ;-( Erik-Jan.

And hasn't been available for sixteen years, except to the army! (since the

200tdi) JD