A companion for my Lego Defender....

[595Heaven]

Matt Cup said:

The big floating body coloured square on the c-pillar, is that an option and can you spec it black or better still have a useable window there?

No, it is standard on the 110 and is always body colour. Behind it are structural parts of the body as well as the seat belt mount for row two seats - you can just see this on the image below

[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/

For the three door 90, it is an option to remove - if you click on:

https://www.landrover.co.uk/vehicles/defender/mode...

and then click on ‘90’ then you can see that car without.

https://www.landrover.co.uk/sdlmedia/6370104653176...

[595Heaven]

Gents

Could I ask you to argue about grammar somewhere else please...

I know not everyone will like the new Defender, but I'd like to keep this as an informative thread for people who are genuinely interested in the car.

@Baldnut - I would like to see some pictures of the Tomb Raider Defender though - perhaps you could start a Readers' Cars thread about it...

Edited by 595Heaven on Wednesday 26th February 19:11

[595Heaven]

baldnut said:

Here is the Tomb Raider

Lovely... one of the best special editions in my view

[595Heaven]

baldnut said:

Wish I still had it, though have to admit it was an awful drive!! Part exchanged it in Birmingham for an Audi S8 and it was the longest drive of my life from Teesside

Two cars that are poles apart! Loved both of my old Defenders, but agree that they were sub-optimal for really long drives. Still put a smile on my face though

The new one is different. Had mine just over a week and have done over 600 miles. Loving it!

[595Heaven]

braddo said:

Is the floor for the rear seats completely flat (i.e. no transmission tunnel)? As you say, loads of legroom and could be a good spot for the pooch to sit rather than in the boot...

This is the first time in my life I am seriously tempted to buy a new car!

Any idea how waiting times are looking? For me it would be a very basic petrol 110; pretty much like yours but with the steel wheels.

The rear floor isn’t perfectly flat - there is a slight bump in the centre but probably only an inch or so.

Waiting times - difficult to be precise, but if you ordered today, it could be 4-5 months for a 110 (longer for a 90 which we only opened for orders yesterday) unless you find a Retailer with a stock order in the pipeline that you could amend to suit your required spec.

Well worth talking to a Retailer to confirm, but bear in mind they don’t yet have demo cars to look at...

[595Heaven]

My car has the off road tyres - Goodyear Wrangler M+S in 255/70R18 size, ‘LR’ compound.

All Season tyres also available.

[595Heaven]

Been to see a friend this morning who owns this very lovely Series III. She also has a 944S2, so clearly has great taste



She loved the new one. She’s off to see a 3.5 V8 Rangey Classic this afternoon to add to her collection!

Also met one of the local farmers the other day. He has a Defender pickup with Ifor Williams canopy. Was expecting him to be a bit sniffy - he always took the p*** about how clean I kept my 90XS, but he had a good round it, and really liked it. He thought a 90 Commercial could work for him.

Done about 800 miles so far. Loved every one of them...

Edited by 595Heaven on Saturday 29th February 16:24

[595Heaven]

Jader1973 said:

Of course you have

Found any niggles so far? Anything not quite right? Not working as expected? Broken or fallen off? What is the worst thing about the car?

Or are LR's media team watching the thread to make sure you don't say anything about what the car is really like?

Yep, I have. Every one. Even in endless traffic on the A46.

I’m happy to share photos and answer as many questions about the car that I can, as you will have seen in this thread.

You may have seen some of the press photos in Namibia. They are giving the car a very stern test, and I’ll leave it to them to tell you how it drives. That’s their job, and they’ll do it better than I can, when they can...

[595Heaven]

braddo said:

Got any updates?

I'm trying to think of a question you might be able to answer.

Does the car get much attention from the public? Mostly positive?

I've placed an order for a 110. I think the basic spec is quite comprehensive and I like the steel wheels so for me it's just the petrol engine, jump seat, black paint, roof rails and one treat - the pano sunroof.

I've done about 1,500 miles now and still loving it.

Yes, it is attracting a huge amount of attention - had lots of people taking photos of it on the road, long conversations in supermarket car parks (by the way, it holds a lot of toilet rolls ) and petrol stations, as well as people even stopping outside our house to take a look at it on the drive!

I'd say the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. There are some that will never forgive us for changing to a monocoque or independent suspension, or fitting airbags, or having a heated settering wheel, but it was never going to appeal to everyone!

Mine is base D200, but has lots of options. As you say, the base spec is pretty good, and yours sounds like a sensible spec - I love the steel wheels, jump seat is just cool, and pano will be good, particularly for rear passengers. Bet you're excited...

Washed it for the first time at the weekend - it's a mammoth task! Mine has the satin paint protection film which seems very easy to clean, and doesn't show any streaks (it rained just as I was drying it). I reckon it looks at its best either really clean, or when it is absolutely caked in mud - Not so keen on normal road grime!

[595Heaven]

A500leroy said:

of course everyone is loving it, the zombie apocalypse has finally happened and this is the perfect vehicle for it!!

Very true

[595Heaven]

Did my first volunteering job as part of our village self isolation support group this morning.

Mowing lawns for an elderly couple and also managed to fix their greenhouse which had lost some of the plastic panels in the recent storms.



My trailer looks a bit pathetic behind the Defender but held everything I needed!

[595Heaven]

Mikebentley said:

Good work 595, I’ve volunteered to distribute food and supplies with my van. Might as well do something as self unemployed for a while now and might be able to make a difference.

Thanks! Yes, we can (and should) do our bit to help those around us.

They were very grateful for the support the village has offered. They also asked me whether I could get them some compost. When I was dropping it off, another villager arrived with bread for them. Top effort...

[595Heaven]

oop north said:

I had a nose round one when my dealer had one for an evening a few months back. Second row legroom seemed enormous and the second row seat slid back and forward to change legroom and bootspace split.

Yes, row 2 legroom seems to be very good. I think the seats only slide if you have the optional third row of seats (which I don’t).

[595Heaven]

Met up (socially distantly of course) with a friend with a beautiful unrestored Series II this morning. It’s a lovely, lovely thing.






Edited to correct Series confusion - it’s a II, not a I

Edited by 595Heaven on Monday 23 March 06:17

[595Heaven]

At last the embargo date has come! Amazing coverage across the board, which is brilliant

Had mine for over a month now and I have to say I will hand it back with a very heavy heart. I absolutely love it. It does virtually everything incredibly well (parking in tight spots can be a challenge!)

When I did the Retailer training at Eastnor, I did the off road on day one, in a D240. Utterly amazing, and our most capable car by some margin.

The next day was on road, and I was in a P400. Lovely engine, with a great noise, and lots of power. In some ways, the on road poise was even more impressive - genuinely shocked at how well it rode, how quiet it was and how it went round corners. Amazing one car can do all of these things.

Mine is a D200, and I’ve been impressed with the performance - It certainly doesn’t feel slow.

Interior is great - feels really solid, and really special with the powder coated exposed cross car beam - it’s very different to any of our other products.

Economy - whilst I was still commuting, I was easily getting over 31mpg for my 32 mile trip, with a high point of over 35! Fuel tank is massive, so well over 500 mile range.

I’ve not felt the need to hose the interior down, but I suspect that would be daft. The floor is plastic (with either rubber or carpet mats), and there is no sill to speak of, so it is really easy to brush out mud and other rubbish.

It’s an extraordinary vehicle, and I feel enormously proud of the team that have delivered it.

Hopefully we can start delivering customer cars soon...

[595Heaven]

Dan_1981 said:

What's your commute like?

I'm hoping you're going to say its on lots and lots of short and twisties with lots of stop starts, as opposed to a long steady haul on the motorway?

I ask as i've got a D240 Velar - i can get it to return 41mpg on the motorway.

Defender is hopefully on the list by the time I change my next one

It’s mostly M40 and A46 to Whitley (Coventry)

M40 usually runs fine, but the A46 can very often be very congested with lots of stop start.

[595Heaven]

SydneyBridge said:

When do you have to give it back?

We tend to swap cars out about every 8-10 months, so not imminently

[595Heaven]

Sorry for total lack of updates.

A bad dose of CV19 put life on hold for a little while... https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Desperate to go for a drive - I’ve not gone this long without a drive since passing my test at 17.

I did go and sit in it and start it yesterday. The Engineers have been hard at work with new software and were keen to get as much of the fleet updated as possible. The SOTA (software over the air) process is invisible in use. If the car is running, it either uses the eSIM or a Wi-Fi connection to check for updates, and downloads them. Next time the car is shutdown, they get installed. I connected to our home wifi and the updates were pulled down in about 15 minutes.

Not sure what the changes were - no doubt there are lots of small bug fixes and updates.

Other than than, the bluetits seem obsessed with the near side door mirror, and it needs a wash. Gonna have to wait until I feel better.

May be I’ll offer to take my wife shopping today just so I can drive it!

[595Heaven]

Yes, the 90 looks great doesn’t it!

[595Heaven]

Mikebentley said:

Sorry to hear you’ve been unwell. Do you think there is a connection with your sons Rome trip?
If it helps I can take over custody of your Defender until you feel better. Just saying.

Difficult to know. When he came back from Italy we followed the advice at the time which was to isolate him fully for a week. This then was changed to the household being self isolated for a week, and then he was alllowed back to college. None of the attendees showed any symptoms at this point, and it would then have been another 1-2 weeks before it kicked off! More likely he, I or my wife found another source I think. as my wife works in NHS she may be a more likely carrier. Guess we’ll never really know...

Thanks for the kind offer! It’s really not taking up too much room on the drive, and the bluetits have taken a real shine to the near side door mirror so I’ll hang on to it for now