Change defender or upgrade ?

[phib]

Having had my 97 defender 90 soft top for 3 years I need to to more miles in it and in a bit more comfort at a bit more speed.

At the moment its a 300 tdi with MUDs, so initial thought was to change it for a discovery 3 however tried two in the last two weeks and both went into limp mode on the test drive, probably unlucky ?

So have been thinking again of maybe putting in at's on it and putting v8 in it .... Am I mad ? Or should I just risk the disco

Any advice welcome

Phib

[ruaricoles]

phib said:

both went into limp mode on the test drive, probably unlucky ?

Sounds unlucky to me! I don't think anyone would argue they're more reliable than a typical small hatchback, but there must be at least a couple of hundred thousand of them running around without any issues (well, without any serious issues anyway!)

If you fancy a V8 in the Defender, then how about getting a V8 petrol Disco? Not sure how long they were available for the UK market, but certainly there are a good number of early 4.4s around.

Ruari

[300bhp/ton]

phib said:

Having had my 97 defender 90 soft top for 3 years I need to to more miles in it and in a bit more comfort at a bit more speed.

At the moment its a 300 tdi with MUDs, so initial thought was to change it for a discovery 3 however tried two in the last two weeks and both went into limp mode on the test drive, probably unlucky ?

So have been thinking again of maybe putting in at's on it and putting v8 in it .... Am I mad ? Or should I just risk the disco

Any advice welcome

Phib

My next door neighbour had a TDV6 D3, it was ok, but even though he only did a small number of miles in it, it still sadly went wrong. He swapped it for a TDV6 RRS, this had so many issues the dealer had it back and swapped it for another one. This one has been better, but not perfect and has still been away at the dealers for about 4 weeks this year alone.

I also have 2 friends with D3's currently. One has been very good, the other has had a few niggles. Another mate also had a D3 a few years back, it had a catastrophic prop failure on the motorway resulting in a major accident. LR didn't want to know at all and were unwilling to help.


I'm a huge Land Rover fan - had a few and been around them all my life, but I do sadly think running a D3 or newer LR is potentially asking for trouble if out of warranty. I'm know they are good vehicles and go very well. But they have way too many niggles that these days aren't home fix items like Landy's of old.

As for a V8 conversion on your 90, well it depends. I think you'd want to fully price it up. Personally putting a stock RV8 in there probably won't be a huge boost in performance over a modded Tdi. So I'd budget for a 4.0-5.0 motor, with better heads, cam and a proper aftermarket EFI system like Megasquirt. Set up like this it'll perform a lot better and get ok mpg too.

LPG is worth looking at, but do consider all the costs involved and exactly how much per mile it's likely to cost you.

As said above, a V8 Disco (S1 or S2) might be a better bet. At the end of the day a Disco, even a D2 is very much a Defender under the body, it just offers greater on road comfort.


Lastly and knowing I'll get shot down in flames.....

I'd seriously consider these:



The Wrangler is available in 3 door 90 size or 5 door Unlimited, 110 size.

Unlike the Defender the JK Wrangler is an ALL new vehicle in 2005/6. So it's more refined and comfy than a Defender and more roomy. Yet it still offers all the same attributes the Defender does. Ladder chassis, live axes, hi/low. In fact arguably the Wrangler is even better off road in standard trim and has much more heavy duty axles.

The Wrangler uses a 2.8 CRD engine which in stock tune offers equal performance to a TDV6 2.7 Disco 3, but of course you can remap it as well. It'll make a Tdi Landy feel slow and noisy by comparison.

2008 JEEP WRANGLER 2.8 CRD AUTOMATIC SAHARA CONVERTIBLE ! (2008)
38,000 miles £13,999
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2935123.htm



If you still want more comfort, then maybe look at a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Again just as capable off road as a Land Rover and also has a fancy TCS system. Big diesels or V8's on offer and they all weigh less than their LR counter parts too, so usually handle better, are faster and better on fuel too.

2006 06 Reg JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE 3.0 CRD LTD 3 LITRE V6 DIESEL (2006)
20,000 miles £14,995
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2802692.htm