RE: Land Rover Defender | Pic of the Week
Discussion
As a died in the wool defender enthusiast, I will freely admit that the majority of modifications most people that i know do to their landrovers is purely to overcome the massive design flaws in the basic design.
Oh and I'm talking about people that actual get them muddy and not Ponce about Chelsea or various other city centres trying to look a knob.
Snorkel, we fit them so we can Wade more than 2ft without drowning the engine,
Mud tyres so we don't get embarrassed by a Honda CRV that has traction control.
Locking / lsd diffs, as the standard jobbies are about as strong as a damp bit of loo roll and explode if you look at the funny. Same goes for half shafts and CV joints. No wonder landrover only give you 100bhp, as even on tarmac any more than that will cause them to explode if you give it beans from a junction
Bigger engines, well.... Don't forget a prima Perkins diesel from a meastro used to be considered a good upgrade from a 2.5na diesel in a series!
Td5? Bloody embarrassing that a modern engine was so woefully underpowered. Hence modifying the s
t out of it just to get 180bhp
Chassis, 50 years of manufacturing and they still rotted like an eighties lancia
Upgraded heating? Ohhhh yes. Not that I didn't love the ice cold condensation dripping on my head/back of neck from the roofline crease when the temp drops to freezing.
Centre bulkhead removal? Well I am taller than 5'2" so an extra 6" legroom is welcome.
Better suspension and bushes, because landrover could never make a shock absorber the right length to actually allow the standard springs extend and compress to its natural limits and the bushes were made by the cheapest manufacturers that the accountants could find.
The list unfortunately goes on and on. Will we need to do any of this with the new defender? Hopefully not! Which means modifications will be limited to tarts making it look like a handbag accessory for pouncing about between wine bars. Good on em. For those of us that will rag the arse off them Offroad and use them in genuine off the beaten track trades, let's just hope landrover have dropped Lucas (prince of darkness) from the electrics and done a suitably good job of making all the connections water proof and not prone to rotting.
PS I really love my defender for all it's inherent shortcomings
Oh and I'm talking about people that actual get them muddy and not Ponce about Chelsea or various other city centres trying to look a knob.
Snorkel, we fit them so we can Wade more than 2ft without drowning the engine,
Mud tyres so we don't get embarrassed by a Honda CRV that has traction control.
Locking / lsd diffs, as the standard jobbies are about as strong as a damp bit of loo roll and explode if you look at the funny. Same goes for half shafts and CV joints. No wonder landrover only give you 100bhp, as even on tarmac any more than that will cause them to explode if you give it beans from a junction
Bigger engines, well.... Don't forget a prima Perkins diesel from a meastro used to be considered a good upgrade from a 2.5na diesel in a series!
Td5? Bloody embarrassing that a modern engine was so woefully underpowered. Hence modifying the s
t out of it just to get 180bhpChassis, 50 years of manufacturing and they still rotted like an eighties lancia
Upgraded heating? Ohhhh yes. Not that I didn't love the ice cold condensation dripping on my head/back of neck from the roofline crease when the temp drops to freezing.
Centre bulkhead removal? Well I am taller than 5'2" so an extra 6" legroom is welcome.
Better suspension and bushes, because landrover could never make a shock absorber the right length to actually allow the standard springs extend and compress to its natural limits and the bushes were made by the cheapest manufacturers that the accountants could find.
The list unfortunately goes on and on. Will we need to do any of this with the new defender? Hopefully not! Which means modifications will be limited to tarts making it look like a handbag accessory for pouncing about between wine bars. Good on em. For those of us that will rag the arse off them Offroad and use them in genuine off the beaten track trades, let's just hope landrover have dropped Lucas (prince of darkness) from the electrics and done a suitably good job of making all the connections water proof and not prone to rotting.
PS I really love my defender for all it's inherent shortcomings
Edited by Nicks90 on Tuesday 24th December 15:57
Godsgate said:
Loads you will be able to do and test and fix yourself if u learn about canbus systems and electrics. Just like u had to learn to take gearboxes etc apart years ago. No different just people are scared of looking into modern systems. ??
It's not fear, people just lack the technical ability and confidence, because these days you can go straight out of school and into a 22k office job (as opposed to engineering to earn barely 18k), where you can look down upon people in technical professions and pretend that what they do is far too simple for your superior intellect, ignorance is bliss, and if you never try, then you never fail and you can keep living in your special little world.
lyonspride said:
It's not fear, people just lack the technical ability and confidence, because these days you can go straight out of school and into a 22k office job (as opposed to engineering to earn barely 18k), where you can look down upon people in technical professions and pretend that what they do is far too simple for your superior intellect, ignorance is bliss, and if you never try, then you never fail and you can keep living in your special little world.
I really hope you have people around you for Christmas.
lyonspride said:
where you can look down upon people in technical professions and pretend that what they do is far too simple for your superior intellect, ignorance is bliss, and if you never try, then you never fail and you can keep living in your special little world.
Was this bit about people not learning the electronic systems? Or the mechanical elements?I’m confused, or more likely, you’re confused.
Hungrymc said:
Was this bit about people not learning the electronic systems? Or the mechanical elements?
I’m confused, or more likely, you’re confused.
I couldn’t really follow that. By the time these cars filter down to the level where it is cost effective to knock them about doing the more specialist stuff then the people who are smart enough to understand how a spanner works are more than smart enough to understand how to plug in a lead and press some buttons. The TVR community has managed this seemlessly so the Land Rover community can if it wants to. I’m confused, or more likely, you’re confused.
The old Defenders will still be about for those that don’t, as will old Discos anyway.
It really is the wailing of children with no mother to give them a cuddle and tell them it’s all going to be ok and that they are scared over nothing.
Mikebentley said:
Saw 5 LWB new Defenders in Malvern this morning. All in the bronze metallic colour with some camouflage on the front and 8” high graphics down the sides declaring them “Prototype Vehicles”.
They may have been en route to Eastnor.
I came through Malvern this morning in a convoy. They weren’t all bronze though... I was in the first car (a 110 P400) in Tasman Blue. They may have been en route to Eastnor.
We were doing the road drive element of the New Defender Product training course, based out of Eastnor which began on Friday. You’ll be seeing a lot of them round there over the next few weeks as we get all the UK and some European Retailers through the course.
595heaven just seen your reply! Must have been sleepy eyes. Just followed them again into Malvern. Really love them and hope they are a fantastic success. Whatever the moaners on here say JLR is something we can be proud of.
Wish they did a mini 4x4 to rival the Panda or Jimny but with the associated LR style. It would be brill!
Wish they did a mini 4x4 to rival the Panda or Jimny but with the associated LR style. It would be brill!
Mikebentley said:
595heaven just seen your reply! Must have been sleepy eyes. Just followed them again into Malvern. Really love them and hope they are a fantastic success. Whatever the moaners on here say JLR is something we can be proud of.
Wish they did a mini 4x4 to rival the Panda or Jimny but with the associated LR style. It would be brill!
That would just become the new Fiat 500, dumb young girls, just passed the test, daddy buys them a new car.Wish they did a mini 4x4 to rival the Panda or Jimny but with the associated LR style. It would be brill!
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/x87fddDG.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/LgwBCOZf" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/LgwBCOZf.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/TiAmzGyX" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/TiAmzGyX.jpg)
595Heaven said:
I came through Malvern this morning in a convoy. They weren’t all bronze though... I was in the first car (a 110 P400) in Tasman Blue.
We were doing the road drive element of the New Defender Product training course, based out of Eastnor which began on Friday. You’ll be seeing a lot of them round there over the next few weeks as we get all the UK and some European Retailers through the course.
There is something not quite right about the proportions. I think it is the big thick C pillar which throws things out - makes the rear window too small and as a result the rear wheel placement looks odd.We were doing the road drive element of the New Defender Product training course, based out of Eastnor which began on Friday. You’ll be seeing a lot of them round there over the next few weeks as we get all the UK and some European Retailers through the course.
Still, they've got form when it comes to making odd styling choices - they did it on the Disco with the offset number plate.
Maybe it will look better in the flesh, or a different colour.
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