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Best looking cars ever made. From a series 1 all the way up to the new TDCi. Like others have said, you either get them or you dont.
Neither ugly or elegant but I think they have a utilitarian aesthetic that I rather like.
Mind you, I rather like the look of my 2005 Orange 5 for similar reasons.
FWIW - I'd have a 90 (I enjoyably drove one for work some years ago) but for the fact that I really couldn't justify the expense to me or the planet on just aesthetic grounds. Now if I had a farm or, indeed, a smallholding...
molgrips - the turning circle? when you are the duchy of cornwall you have all the land you need to turn round in 😉
Lol 🙂
Just seemed to me that a good turning circle would be useful, many lanes and tracks I end up riding along seem to have sharp bends in.
Ah yes, and I thought it was just cr@p driving up it took about 15 attempts to turn the thing around in the Glencoe Ski Centre Car Park.
My mate uses a Volvo XC70 to pull his boat out of the water...
Vans ftw, when it comes to turning circles.
dickydutch - Member
Best looking cars ever made. From a series 1 all the way up to the new TDCi. Like others have said, you either get them or you dont.
They're not even the best looking 4x4 with badly fitting panels and shonky electrics.
FG, haflingers were 1962-1972 and 4x4 only. Swb and Lwb.
Pinzgauers 1972-2009, 4x4 or 6x6, petrol or diesel.
I know we are talking LR here but did you consider a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 5door. Less seats (for the OP but not Matt) but just as much of a legend and now with a decent diesel and coils. They can handle a decent lift kit and as the engine is set further back than LR supposedly better balanced in the rough.
if you need wheel articulation then you will compromise on steering lock.
if i won the lottery i would still drive one (but i would have lots of them).
you pay your money - you take your choice
Being on only my 6th LR, a S3 88, two 90's , a Disco and early RR and my current 110 I fail to see the issues. Can't genuinely remember an electrical fault. After all if it isn't there it can't break. Sure the chassis will rust but you can mend it. They are not crap on the road, just not as cosseting as posh cars. After all in the Uk 70mph is all you need. On country roads 40. To those brought up on modern cars they are not great but I much prefer my '86 110 to the wifes Jap eco box. having said all that I had as much fun out of my Lada Niva and when my Jimny gets older that as well. Oh yeah what other cars has 12 seats and isn't a mini bus. great for pub crawls and uplifts.
youve gotta be mad to spend much money on a late defender, i can understand buying a nice clean older one for 5k perhaps but no more. I was after a new offroader (tree surgeon) to replace my old hilux, long story 17k spent on a swb defender, main agent, leaky roof, door locks falling out, noisey diff, the list goes on and on, main agent proposed the leaks were fixed with sealant (read bathroom sealant)...do they look nice...yeah they do, they are cool, but they are so homemade that there isnt really any justifiable reason to buy one compared to the jap stuff thats about, even comparing off road ability...
On country roads 40
Maybe that's all you dare in a Landy, but I like to make quicker progress than that and I'm a long way from a boy racer.
I think we can safely say that the Defender is a marmite car!
Matt - just sold our Jimny (pxed for the 110) - great little vehicle and very good off road. Was genuinely sad to see it go. Ours was 55 reg with only 23k miles but it never missed a beat. And had a tiny turning circle! Just a bit small and has far too low a towing weight for our boat.
Just a shame that they no longer have the vents on the front - taking them away is just not right*.
Why for did they do that? Air-con I suppose.Didn't even realise until you pointed that out. Driving across Morocco will never be the same. They were also handy if you were a smoker.
Maybe that's all you dare in a Landy, but I like to make quicker progress than that and I'm a long way from a boy racer.
So a 335d is pointlessly fast and a Defender is too slow...
Hmmm...
So a 335d is pointlessly fast and a Defender is too slow...
Er, yeah, I'd say so 🙂
IF you could only do 40mph on country roads as the poster mentioned. It may or may not be possible to do more in a modern one I dunno. Actually, I do know, I've seen them going fairly quickly plenty of times. It sounds as if it might be hard work tho!
Ours keeps up with traffic fine and maintains normal speeds fine. Certainly not going to outdrag much but its not for chavving! Certainly seems to get treated more courteously than most cars!
I meant when it's twisty - I'm thinking body roll and general insecurity..?
My old 90...
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Thing about a landie like a defender is that it'll lean way more than a normal car ... but once its leaned over, its pretty stable in the corner. I found the trick was to load up the suspension on the run up to the corner with a gentle turn in to set the lean, then turn in fully. Once you're used to the feel, you can press on in a defender pretty smartly.
The classic RR was similar in its manners on the road. The Mk2 RR was a little light on the rear and the Mk3 RR a bit the same.
Oldgit- the vents went with the introduction by Ford of the Puma engine and a new fangled dashboard.
Philistines. 🙁
Fisha - that looks very capable!
Weirdly the mould "holes" for the vents are still there but blanked off on the Puma Defenders!
Have to say that although it's not quite as "purist," having proper ventilation, a heated windscreen and aircon (and butt warmers) really does make the Defender a lot more comfy!
Just towed the boat back from Penryn - hardly noticed it was on the back!
Major surprise in ours - the stereo is actually quite good. Whatever next!?
Just been into the local LR dealer - i am seriously considering placing the deposit to secure a 110 utility XS for delivery in january. Just need to conince the wife / accountant its as sound business 'investment'.
we just bought a 2002 110 last week so still very new to us.
we went thru the exact same choice.
We (or should that be I) decided on the 110 on the basis of depreciation.
I might be wrong but we thought if we got the Mitsubishi & did not like it & sold it a year later we would loose out big time.
If we do not like the 110 we can sell it very easily as they are highly sought after and it will loose little value if we look after it.
Go on, get it and have a laugh.
If your mileage is not too great you have little to loose.
& here is the little darling
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madbill - very tidy (but don't let the fashion police see that you have anything chrome on your landy - you'll be marked as a towny or a pikey!).
fisha - very nice 300tdi county station wagon in epson green! have you got wheel spacers on it? it looks well planted.
marcus - if you go for a new landy then join the NFU (about £175 ish); after 3 months membership you get a 5% discount on any new landy (i saved £1350)
Bill - nice!
Marcus - DO IT!!
Mat, yeah, it was a hoot off road ... but not as fun as the old rangie
Need to stop looking at this thread ! I want my old landie back.
I keep saying to the missus that there is still a play car in me yet ... i keep thinking I want a defender again,
with one of these in it ... my V8 I rebuilt
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So I can get that good old V8 sound back again ... [url=
with my V8 engine[/url]
Mat - consensus seems to be that out of the factory the new Wuntens have a fair bit of adjustment in the steering locks left to play with. You should be able to squeeze a better turning circle out of it, but it will never be good!
Nice vehicle btw! 110 Utility here, cant decide whether to part with it or not. Head says yes, heart says no!
fisha - very nice 300tdi county station wagon in epson green! have you got wheel spacers on it? it looks well planted.
Well, actually ...
[nerd]
it wasn't epson green, it was a mica-metallic Coniston green. Which I've never ever seen on another land rover. If you put it beside an Epson green, mine was a lighter colour. Coniston green was the normal non-metallic green colour from that time. First thoughts were that it had been a re-spray, but the internal over-sprays were all metallic too ... it came from the factory that colour.
Also, it had a very low engine serial number for the 300tdi ( sub #100 ) so it makes me wonder whether it was some sort of demo / special order for the 300tdi when it came out.
[/nerd]
Didn't have spacers, they were black modulars which have a bigger offset than normal alloys. The tyres were 265/75 r16 dirt devils from Bronco. ( Why di I remember these things from years ago! )
Fisha - lovely! I started out on the Landy hunting mission looking at 50th Anniversary 4.0 V8s but they are super rare and silly priced so went the "modern" route. The TDCi engine does sound pretty cr4p compared to the V8 though! Luckily the soot chucking unit in the 335d sort of makes up for it - still a diesel but a fairly decent sounding one.
lcj - interesting about the steering! Stupid question time though- what are the "Wuntens?!" Think we'll have to learn to work around the lack of lock. Love the utility wagons too.
Fisha - LOL at the number of greens! Ours is Tonga green but looks exactly the same (to me) as Galway green.
wuntens = wun ten = 110 (one ten) = 110 inch wheelbase.
if you want to change the exhaust note, matt, speak to griffen exhausts.
they currently only do 90s but he is trying to get enough interest from 110 owners.
i had a stainless steel 3" exhaust on my td5 which was quiet when driving but barked like a v8 when floored.
galway green is slightly darker than tonga (i prefer tonga)
fisha - interesting about the colour; was epsom only p reg and later?
BEST green for land rover is willow green and looks the mutts with an olive/khaki soft top
You've just bought a wunten! 😆
Have a look on www.defender2.net for lots more info about the Pumas
DOH! Me being a retard AGAIN!
Farmer - could be an option but then again, diesel Landies are meant to sound like tractors! Yet to hear any four pot diesel that sounds vaguely nice. A few six and eight pots have a good soundtrack when pushed.
Finding the torque of the TDCi very handy - it may not have much bhp but it still moves along nicely.
...mmm V8 Landys. My last trialer.
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Dear Land Rover Track World,
just heard of a good little modification for Defenders that gives them programmable intermittent wipers, and thought it might interest a few people on here:
"You need to look on ebay (or at your local scrappy) for a VW wiper relay with the number 99 on it, just swap it with the red wiper relay in the fuse box and hey presto! Now you can push the wiper switch on once, wait till you want your second wipe and push it on and leave it there and it will repeat that timing! Also a short washer press will give you a single wipe and a long press will give you 3/4!"
I've ordered a programmable relay from Fleabay, it cost £13.
Courtesy of "Hazza" at LRO.com
Great everywhere! Is the only 4x4 that somehow doesn't make you look an w****r. On my ninth one - a great vehicle if you're prepared to live with its limitations. Like every vehicle it has compromises. Looking forward to the new one in the next few years - will be interesting to see how that comes out - fingers crossed they don't make an arse of it!
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...that db is lovely, my ideal 110.
My old 110.
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DB - I tried to contact you about them but failed. So we got one anyway!
110XS Station Wagon, 5 seats, 57 plate, Tonga Green, checker plated up and a few other goodies - love it!
Current designs for the new one look rather ropey to me - like a Jap sift roader gone wrong. We shall see.
Drove the BM for a first time in two weeks after driving the 110 non stop - it felt like a rocket with a TINY turning circle! But love both.
Took a mobile phone pic of ours (on the right) next to a mates one this weekend - interesting how different the TD5s are:
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