RE: New Defender Concept From Land Rover
Discussion
jbi said:
rovermorris999 said:
cookie1600 said:
You can't really replace the Defender/90/110 - but then, do you really need to?
Unfortunately due to various regulations (crash safety and emissions), you do. ammark said:
The design brief for the new defender should be based around Form Follows Function!
There should be no "design brief" for the Defender - the engineering team should be given a set of performance targets for the new vehicle, be allowed to achieve those targets in the most efficient and reliable manner - and then they should see what it looks like. Keep the "designers" well away from it!I really like it, in fact I was one of the few PH team that did.
It was never going to be an easy task to refresh an icon, it was always going to be controversial, but as a modern take on an old favourite (remember that this is a concept, so the actual car will be less fancy, probably on sensible wheels too) and I think it will look boxy and utilitarian while being up to date.
All we need to hope for is that it's still available in a spec ready for dirty work. If it comes with 22'' wheels, leather and suchlike as standard the farmers will go elsewhere. That would be a shame.
It was never going to be an easy task to refresh an icon, it was always going to be controversial, but as a modern take on an old favourite (remember that this is a concept, so the actual car will be less fancy, probably on sensible wheels too) and I think it will look boxy and utilitarian while being up to date.
All we need to hope for is that it's still available in a spec ready for dirty work. If it comes with 22'' wheels, leather and suchlike as standard the farmers will go elsewhere. That would be a shame.
ploz said:
There should be no "design brief" for the Defender - the engineering team should be given a set of performance targets for the new vehicle, be allowed to achieve those targets in the most efficient and reliable manner - and then they should see what it looks like. Keep the "designers" well away from it!
+1...and why do LR have to follow 'concept trends' and think that putting 22" cut slicks on it will make an off-road vehicle look good? Surely the whole LR 'thing' is doing things that others can't (or won't)?
DS240 said:
This is going to turn into the same sort of moaning as when the mini was taken out of production.
How long does everyone expect the defender in current state to go on for? If LR say it needs replacing then this must be for good reason.
I'm sure they are very mindful of the defenders current roles and won't want to lose that business also.
I think the concept looks good with strong defender tones to it. As a starting point, for replacing an iconic vehicle it's not bad.
This.How long does everyone expect the defender in current state to go on for? If LR say it needs replacing then this must be for good reason.
I'm sure they are very mindful of the defenders current roles and won't want to lose that business also.
I think the concept looks good with strong defender tones to it. As a starting point, for replacing an iconic vehicle it's not bad.
The current Defender cannot go on for much longer for a whole variety of reasons, including crash performance, build cost and so on; and has anyone here over 5' tall actually tried to sit inside and drive a current Defender?
Instead of the knee-jerk reactions seen on this forum, take a proper look at the picture. Plastic deformable wings, rugged skid plates, built-in towing eyes/jacking points. Bear in mind that this is a motorshow w
k fest for the stylists so the production version will, as always, have smaller wheels and what do you have? A modern, rugged, safe and relatively cheap to build utilty vehicle for the 21st Century. 9/10 from me.Is it a worthy replacement for the Defender?
Well that depends entirely on how it is constructed. Looking at the pictures, the panels look vulnerable to damage and presumably difficult to repair/replace as required compared to a current Defender.
A Defender replacement needs to continue the theme of the car being, essentially, a big meccano kit . Something that is bolted together and can therefore be easily taken apart as well.
The current defender ( especially the 90, SWB) can be pretty much any car you want it to be. It is very easy to change it from a van to an estate with windows and seats, a 2 seat pickup or even an open convertible. If a panel needs replacing , change it without the need for fancy body surgery. Any new Defender should be same. These days, with modern composite materials being available there is a world of opportunities...
Well that depends entirely on how it is constructed. Looking at the pictures, the panels look vulnerable to damage and presumably difficult to repair/replace as required compared to a current Defender.
A Defender replacement needs to continue the theme of the car being, essentially, a big meccano kit . Something that is bolted together and can therefore be easily taken apart as well.
The current defender ( especially the 90, SWB) can be pretty much any car you want it to be. It is very easy to change it from a van to an estate with windows and seats, a 2 seat pickup or even an open convertible. If a panel needs replacing , change it without the need for fancy body surgery. Any new Defender should be same. These days, with modern composite materials being available there is a world of opportunities...
Dear Landrover - if you're reading,
As a personal and some time professional user of landrovers this is what I would like from your new one.
As a personal and some time professional user of landrovers this is what I would like from your new one.
- A chassis - if you go down this route - that has been properly rust proofed. The current standard is utterly appalling and you should be ashamed.
- One that has had a serious interior re-design in packaging and ergonomics. A lot of these vehicles are used by people carrying a lot of kit with them and currently they are just too small inside. Make sure your cad design for the new one comfortably accommodate 95 (or even better 99th percentile) adjusted for winter clothing.
- Provide grab handles on the roof and do a review of sharps and hard surfaces - basically drive them for a few weeks off road and see which bits of you get bruised and sort this out.
- Consider fitting front and rear diff locks as standard.
- Keep a wipe clean interior.
- One that doesn't leak.
- Keep the mechano like properties that make them so useful for multi agency use.
Pistachio said:
Why don't they look at how Porsche did it with the 911…it worked there
Just fix the problems that need fixing to bring it up to date but basically still make it a Landie with all its abilities.
Trouble with that is there has been no real update like the 911. Any completely new model will now be radically different for the defender. Just fix the problems that need fixing to bring it up to date but basically still make it a Landie with all its abilities.
This is what it would be like they had just kept the original 911, given it minor updates over the years and then replaced with the new 991 in one go.
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