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ferguson_tom
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I wasnt running down the series it was just a little like the pot calling the kettle black and all that. I actually like the idea of a series 2 though it would have to go for surgery for a galv chassis and 200tdi/lt77 combo. Just like I done to my 4c 110 infact. Its my main vehicle, dont have a car and wouldnt change it for the world. Spent any spare time I had this week mostly in the wet preparing it for mot. Havnt needed a part yet just adjustments and checks. Its 25 years old but admittedly a little like triggers brush.

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I will never ever sell my draughty leaky noisy cramped 26 year old defender!! I've had her 2 years and she's never ever failed me :)

 

I used to own a jap 4x4 (pajero) and keeping the flippin thing running was a full time job! I'll never have another

 

From another non offended defender owner!

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Call this a bit of a hardcore opinion which may not matter to most, but name another steel bumpered 4x4 that can be driven at sensible speed through small saplings and bushes without doing damage to the front end? Or bumped into bigger stuff with the same result? Oh and then there's the gearbox that can shift from low to high on the move, full time 4x4 and low range that can be used without the diffs locked?

 

Try reversing a heavy trailer up a very steep hill on the clutch in a jap truck - as I just found in my Ranger, low range means diff lock which is as much use as a chocolate teapot when trying to slowly force your way up a steep twisty tarmac lane backwards! It just can't be done without the truck jumping round like frog in a frying pan!

 

These two points are what made me go back to a Defender last time and may well do again. As I said in my last post Jap is great until the going gets really tough, then they have serious flaws in their design. :yes:

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I see it as the people that are slagging off the defenders don't really own them or never had, its always a friend had one or 50 friends had them and they are this this and that. seriously people comparing them to a ford ka for off road ability and even a discovery? i don't see how people think that they are speaking sense, defenders will do way more than a discovery, why do you think that any decent off road discovery has to be cut in half (bob tailed) and lifted to the height of a defender for a start to match to them. do you see any standard discoveries off roading or at a trial? and also i feel that some people don't like the fact that they are more expensive that have a status (if thats what you want to call it) than other cars, almost jealousy.

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in 2005 i got my 110 defender 6500 gbp later it was old **** of *********** ********* ******** ******* yes its good off road but

after insurance and road tax its better to go jap. any jap 4x4 that LR

i love LR but its not reliable and cost to run it its silly.

P.S. 6500 gbp new chassis box axles etc etc etc

 

love them

will never buy next one

jap or anything else.

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in 2005 i got my 110 defender 6500 gbp later it was old **** of *********** ********* ******** ******* yes its good off road but

after insurance and road tax its better to go jap. any jap 4x4 that LR

i love LR but its not reliable and cost to run it its silly.

P.S. 6500 gbp new chassis box axles etc etc etc

 

love them

will never buy next one

jap or anything else.

 

English version of this Please :lol:

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I see it as the people that are slagging off the defenders don't really own them or never had, its always a friend had one or 50 friends had them and they are this this and that. seriously people comparing them to a ford ka for off road ability and even a discovery? i don't see how people think that they are speaking sense, defenders will do way more than a discovery, why do you think that any decent off road discovery has to be cut in half (bob tailed) and lifted to the height of a defender for a start to match to them. do you see any standard discoveries off roading or at a trial? and also i feel that some people don't like the fact that they are more expensive that have a status (if thats what you want to call it) than other cars, almost jealousy.

 

Tosh! A disco is every bit as good as a defender if they have like for like tyres ... You could also trial them as is if you weren't worried about cosmetics! And yes people do Bobtail discos for the shorter wheel base but you get defenders in 110 inch too remember....

 

I assume you are specifically referring to a defender 90... Even then there are only a few situations where the 10" (or 23" if it's a disco 3) shorter wheel base would make any difference....even then the defender actually has less ground clearence than a disco as standard (245 front and rear vs the disco 3 255 front and 330mm rear)

 

Regards,

Gixer

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Well been a good bit of discussion and I think conclusion is no one is still any the wiser because of everyone has different opinion :lol:

 

People who own them love them but I still think I would have to go for a disco or Jap motor if I had the money burning away in my pocket for an all round vehicle. I could quickly pull the carpets out the back of a disco or put a metal tray in the back for the dogs, dead game etc but be happy to drive it to work everyday :good:

Edited by ferguson_tom
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I have a series 2A so not going that way yet. I just struggle to see how defenders command their money compared to the other 4c4s.

 

 

because over 70% that have been built are still running today, and whilst they may have problems they are relatively easy to fix at home

 

Japs dont last and can be expensive to fix

 

 

simples

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running but not on the road so that'll be parked in the corner of fields by disgusted farmers who can't be bothered to repair them any more. :lol:

 

http://howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/land_rover_90_defender_turbo_dies

 

Seriously though they have a cult following of people who don't drive very far or fast (not that they have an option with the latter)

I quite like driving the farm ones I've used over the years but they are so much better if someone else picks up the tab on running and repairing them. I'd be tempted with one of the newer ones but the money is hard to justify. When I was last looking I could have had a 20 year old defender or a mint 5 year old L200 when you do up to 20k a year the defender just isn't an option

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Bull! It was nothing to do with poor maintenance mick, I have driven pretty much all produced up until 1998 including a llama and a city cab ....as I used to work for landrover! The speed sway in a 110 is usually on a long sweeping bend at high speed it starts squirming...

 

That is nothing against 110's, it's just not what they were designed for! My last 4 cars have been green oval!

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Before you Buy why not try with Snozzers patented "LR simulator"

 


  1.  
  2. Firstly spend 25 mins turning a key and making a whirrrring click click noise
  3. Then remove all the skin from your knuckles and cover your hands, neck, face, arms and torso in oil and grease.
  4. Then balance you *** on a piece of 2x4 with barbed wire wrapped around it until your butt is numb not forgetting to put a monsters of rock track on continuous loop at volume 11 until you are deaf.
  5. Stand out in the cold whilst a friend hoses you down with freezing water
  6. Finally you attempt to keep warm by getting a HUGE pile of 20's and burning them slowly to get some heat

 

You are now cold, wet. uncomfortable, greasy and oily and substantially poorer. Welcome to the joy's of landrover ownership :-)

love it :lol: :lol:

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Tosh! A disco is every bit as good as a defender if they have like for like tyres ... You could also trial them as is if you weren't worried about cosmetics! And yes people do Bobtail discos for the shorter wheel base but you get defenders in 110 inch too remember....

 

I assume you are specifically referring to a defender 90... Even then there are only a few situations where the 10" (or 23" if it's a disco 3) shorter wheel base would make any difference....even then the defender actually has less ground clearence than a disco as standard (245 front and rear vs the disco 3 255 front and 330mm rear)

 

Regards,

Gixer

 

 

COMPLETE TOSH! I off road my defender and in real off road conditions you can't even compare them. you clearly have no experience of these two cars and certainly not off road! almost as much of a joke as the guy with the ka. discos 1/2s do not have any where near the same clearance or approach angles as a defender and in the mud there is just no comparison. discos that are used off road get scraped in a year or two.

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Have to say my defender is for shooting and fishing, ie messing about off road and filling with gear, deer and general snot and guts. my car stays on the tarmac and smells sweet on the way to work, If I had to have one vehicle for both it would be a nissan pick up. but I dont and a defender fits the bill perfectly

Edited by docholiday
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COMPLETE TOSH! I off road my defender and in real off road conditions you can't even compare them. you clearly have no experience of these two cars and certainly not off road! almost as much of a joke as the guy with the ka. discos 1/2s do not have any where near the same clearance or approach angles as a defender and in the mud there is just no comparison. discos that are used off road get scraped in a year or two.

 

 

Oh c'mon....a year or two??? What a load of drivel...have driven both offroad and have had both stuck at one stage or another...as for the clearence...look it up if you don't believe me as you obviously have no idea about how much ground clearance - the figures I quoted are standard figures on disco 3 compared to defender they are available for all to view...no need to make things up. :good:

 

As doc said - defenders are great as a workhorse but will never be a day to day car whereas the disco meets the criteria perfectly.

 

Regards,

Gixer

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If we're talking about off-roading, rather than driving up someone's gravel drive, the chances are we're talking about Discovery 1's. They have the same axles as the Defender, but with tyres (just under) 4" smaller, as standard. The diff is 2" closer to the ground. That is less ground clearance.

 

The approach angle of a Disco 1 compared to a Defender is poor. The departure angle is cronic in comparison. It's compounded by the fact, that the fuel tank is sat behind the rear axle, waiting to get hammered by the rocky step you've just dropped off. This is why people bobtail Disco's and Rangey's (it's not shortening the wheelbase as suggested earlier, it's lopping the ar$e end off).

 

If you keep getting Disco 1's soggy, they rust out, massively (even faster than normal). The base of the A, B or C pillars. The boot floor. The sills. This isn't helped by the sound deadening under the carpets which holds water for months.

 

On the up side... they can deal with most things, that a Defender can, at a third to a quarter the cost. They're also a decent size inside, and have some creature comforts.

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