Had various 4×4's Jeep, Mitsubishi, Vauxhall(?), and of course land Rovers. Disco is more capable of road than a standard Defender (yes that is true), having used both for a while on and off road then for me it would be the Disco. Thats the Disco 3 and 4 not the 2. The lattest Defender is a million times better than the old one but it's still cramped and slow, it also has no nearly as much room as a Dico.

having back from where my parents live in the middle of nowhere, ice, snow mud and tractors all over the place. They have a Ford Focus and a X5. I can now see my desire to buy a 4×4 is daft. No need down south. I would get a XC70 or something for limited amount of driving in the hills, alps and mountains.

Oil peak, gas peak. You all make me laugh, they are all fossil fuels and will one day run out. There are people with limited alternatives but honestly LPG is a stop gap, 60 years is not that far away.

To follow on from thisisnotaspoon –
70% of all land rovers are still on the road. Surely this offsets the carbon they have produced during their lifetime against the expenditure involved in making it. A longer than shelf life than the vast majority of all cars says a lot in my eyes.

Going back to the original topic…

The Tdv6 disco is by far going to be the more quieter, refined, smoother, better handling machine. I think its a great car, but I dont really feel I fit in it. I'm 6'1" and even with the seat at the lowest position, I couldn't see the tops of the dials, silly, but it bugged me. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the centre console being so vertical, nor of the rear seats which seemed very bench like and basic. Inside, i thought a lot of the cupholders and dookits would simply be dirt and mess magnets too. All round visibility towards the rear I thought was poor… difficult to see out of. Lastly, dont expect super performance out of hte diesel. I found it was great upto 30mph, but at 40 to 50, it just lacked a bit of the guts for overtaking safely. Dont get me wrong it'll do motorway speeds no problem, just that the acceleration at low speeds I found wasn't there further up the gears … yet it felt like it should have been.

The 110, I like em, but at 2004, you'd be looking at the older style dash, and while its better than the early ones, its not a patch on the current style, and looks really really dated now. A 110 would be a smoother ride than you think, it'll also handle better than you think. OK, they lean, but once they've leaned they stick to the road quite well. My 90 was stable in corners … more so than my old Mk2 RR. But, ul;timately, they are very basic, and you need to be prepared for the noise and rattles which all 110's have.

I thought about the Disco, but ended up with an LPG'd Mk3 RR

I felt that for the money, I was getting a nicer car all round. ( maybe worth looking into … there are plenty of RR's around )

Reliability : With all of them, there will be things which fail … its an LR, its part of the brand, but nowadays parts for even the newer models are easy to come by and not that expensive.

70% of all series/defenders ever built are currently still on the road, no bad for something nearly 50 years old!

Over 60 years old now [1948]. My 1955 Series 1 is still up and running 🙂

a 2004 110 would have the new style dash.

As said previously, a Disco would be much more comfortable, but a Defender will last longer, and parts are generally very cheap ( £12 for a shock absorber, the same for a headlight ).

As for the oil in the injector loom problem on the TD5 engine – this occurred only on those made in the first couple of years of production, and costs £30 to fix ( plus an hour of labour if you don't want to do it yourself ). Other than that, the engines have proved themselves very reliable.

The LRO.com forum is a good place to ask any specific questions you might have regarding Landies.

We tow a fairly big caravan (1500kg), currently with an old TDC1 Mondeo that does a good enough job, but planning on swapping our Verso next year. Thinking of a Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan as they are reputed to be good tow cars…quite heavy but should still hit 40mpg. Thought of going the 4×4 route but cant help but think its a trade off for the other 98% of our annual mileage. The odd time we might get stuck there's generally someone with a 4×4 willing to pull it out for us anyway.
My brothers jap 4×4 got stuck on a wet campsite earlier this year, & a chap in an Audi A6 pulled him out…!!!

70% of all series/defenders ever built are currently still on the road, no bad for something nearly 50 years old!

Yeah, but I'd bet that the vast majority of the SI -SIII's have bugger all original parts left, everything having broken or rusted away, or been bent and dented and replaced.
I'd just about agree with the carbon footprint thing if they were still completely original.

You'd have to weigh up the cost (in terms of CO2 exenditure) of using new parts (body panels, mechanical parts) against the CO2 cost of producing a new car, and the cost associated with scrapping the car being replaced. My money still lies with the Land Rover. But I am biased. Very biased.

vinnyeh – the fact that they are put together by blokes wielding spanners and hammers means that nearly everything is replaceable on them, and that is the big reason that they continue in service and that means that you are not scrapping a vehicle and having to build a replacement – which is good for the environment.

In contrast, if you look at the S1 Discoveries or other modern vehicles the bodies have rotted and the engines and transmission are often still usable but having a bodyshell means that they are beyond economic repair and get scrapped. Similar issues with a Series Landy or Defender would mean the owner having to replace some relatively cheap panels.

My choice would be the Discovery, having owned S11/S111/110 county 300tdi/discoveryS11 V8 on LPG my current motor .

Once had eco warrior at work slap label on under my wipers anti 4×4 literature , but he wud not own up to it but obvious who the culpritt was.
Had he took time to open his narrow eyes he would have observed the gas tank, and if he had the nounce to know where i live and all i do wud know that i use it to its full capabilitys for work and leisure and it is not a school run 4×4.
So when tackled he cud only crawl back in his corner and when caught using the works minibus for personel use as he couldn't get paving slabs home on his bike and was too tight to pay delivery charge i had the last laugh . Mr Green when it suits I don't need a car brigade!

And just for those who say use public transport, tried that not enough buses in rural wales, wrong times if you work anything other than 9-5
and if you ask to use the shiny unused bike rack attached to the buses anyone wud think you were an alien talking another language.

If you fancy a Laugh try it ARRIVA BUSES.ABERYSTWYTH TO CARDIGAN/CARMATHAN ROUTES. 👿

Fossil fuels will run out, fact. Don't worry about it. They will then plough resources into developing alternatives. Its really not an issue, just an adaptation. What car you drive really bears no effect on climate change in the grand scheme of things (which really is a big con anyway).

On topic – i'd go for a Volvo XC90

Cranberry –

As for the oil in the injector loom problem on the TD5 engine – this occurred only on those made in the first couple of years of production, and costs £30 to fix ( plus an hour of labour if you don't want to do it yourself ). Other than that, the engines have proved themselves very reliable.

This happened on a mates 2004 TD5 and he needed a new loom!

I still cannot decide and will test drive the 110 this weekend to see if I can cope with the reduced comfort/increased noise!

Shakey – I was wrong. It seems that it can occur in 2003/2004 TD5 engines.

http://www.lro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14609&highlight=oil+loom

Still strange that he needed a new loom – generally you replace the injector harness and that's it.

I bought a 2001 110 CSW, I didn't notice at the time but it had the injector loom problem. I only realised when the I opened the drivers seat cubby box and it was full of oil which had tracked back through the loom and came out at the plug for the ECU. I had the injector loom replaced and the new seals where the loom connected to the injectors. I ran it for quite a while cleaning the ECU plug of oil as it slowly worked its way out of the loom. Luckily he ECU was fine.

Back to the original post, I've always had Landys: Series Ones, Lightweights, 101, various trials motors, Defenders and a Discovery. I decided that I couldn't justify running a Defender as an everyday commuter. Plus I fancied something more comfortable and economical for everyday use. I bought an estate car for daily use and I'm building a '48 series 1 for the weekend so I can still get my fix! Best of both worlds.

Daniel – Series 1 sounds good! Any pics?!

Is it me, or is the 'standard' diesel Disco 2 really short on grunt at low revs?

I had a lift in a friends, its got an auto box and I honestly thought it was broken or was stuck in Sport mode or something. It revved its nuts off the whole time despite being driven relatively gently, even at cruising speed on single carriageway it wouldn't drop into top.

Then I drove a manual version whilst taking my trailer test. I was only towing an empty box trailer, and to be honest I don't think it would've been much different solo, but I kept finding myself changing up, and then 30 seconds later, having to change down again as I was going flat out and slowing down! This is in comparison to an old Citroen ZX deisel, and a Mondeo TDCi, which could both chug around happily at 35mph in 5th if you felt like it.

Thankfully my later lessons and test were in a Mitsubushi Pajero which was much more flexible, but even my 2.3L van with a 2.8t trailer can chug along perfectly happily at 'normal' revs.

70% of all land rovers are still on the road

and the other 30% made it home…

(sorry to 'bastardise' the Harley joke)

if you want comfort go for the disco , if you want somthink that will go anywere , that you can sling some tools in the back , a 110 is for you , as for the looms , replacement is normaly all you need to do , we normally flush out the large red ecu conector to clear out the oil , sometimes it can get into the ecu its self , then you need a new ecu , but thats only in extree cases mate.i have a disco 2 and a 1971 r/r classic and i use both of them. not at the sametime of course.

80 rolling chassis

Actually a '52 but building it with S3 running gear, but body etc..to look like a '48 – sage green, headlamps behind the grill etc…

will look like a bigger version of my sons toylander…
toylander

Having fair to great experience of them and other Lr things, by the Disco. Much better on the road , and better off it unless you factor in body damage in which case nothing matches a Defender. Unless you get a recent defender you get the TD5 which has mixed and very polarised affections. I hate it as I find it doesn't pull low down like my 300 tdi did. Ford engine nicer as is 6 speed. Main gripe with defenders is the shite dash board on later ones. Plastic knobs for heater etc where the old levers were much better and they left more storage space etc. Get a Disco unless you want to carry firewood etc. Or do like me, run a Jimny as a car and an old 110 as a tractor

That looks lovely! I wish I had the space/time to refurb a Series 1.