 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > Replacement for defender - a little bit more news |
 
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| 22900013A Member Since: 23 Dec 2010 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 3150   
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I think I said before but yes the lack of an auto Defender is utterly inexcusable, especially as the same drivetrain was being used in the Discovery for so long. It would have literally been a nut and bolt job. Southern Electric fitted auto boxes into a batch of 110s in the late 80s/early 90s - not very successful in the long run as it was a three speed job but it proved it could be done.
Oh, and the Series II was launched in 1958 not 1959 as stated above. 2011 110 USW 1973 Series III 1-Ton 1972 Series III 1-Ton Cherrypicker 1969 IIA 1-Ton 1966 IIA 88" |
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19th Mar 2014 6:27pm |
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| SailingTom Member Since: 19 Nov 2013 Location: ESSEX Posts: 1722
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To answer the earlier question what would you do if you were in charge?
Simple make the current Defender with an auto box meeting the requirements in basic form the same as Mercedes are doing with the G wagon, as the cheaper commercial or make a super expensive 90 or 110 as a premium version. I'm aware it wouldn't be popular, but would keep the brand image for land rover and make it profitable for them. Land Rover are perfectly capable of modernizing the defender like the G wagon, they just don't want to. As we all know Defenders are out of date anyway in there eyes and are a past relic for the brand. Im all for change, but hopefully they'll remember a design brief rather than letting mcgovern make another freelander or one of his hair dresser mobiles! Defender puma dormobile camper |
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19th Mar 2014 6:56pm |
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| diesel_jim Member Since: 13 Oct 2008 Location: hiding Posts: 6104 
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^^^ That's why I sold my project90 and have now got a projectGW.... nice 1989 460 SWB to play with.
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19th Mar 2014 8:53pm |
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| me@td5.org Member Since: 16 Jan 2011 Location: Warwick Posts: 856 
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Even a D4 requires some skin to drive, I've seen a fair few sliding sideways across a field or with all four wheels spinning and no forward motion. It's hard to believe it's even possible! www.td5.org
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21st Mar 2014 12:15am |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971 
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Lurking for a while but wanted to put my 2p in on this topic.
We have a 110HCPU on the farm. It's great for what it does and we wouldn't swap it for the world but I hit my knees on the steering wheel when I change gear, the doors don't shut properly and I only have enough elbow room if I have the window open. There is no doubt that the Defender in current form needs improving but can anyone truly see the DC100 or similar working on a farm? The farm vehicles that I most commonly see around are Isuzus and Ford Rangers. Proper working trucks like the Land Rover, more refined than the Land Rover but not as good for what we want. It's only recently that the D-Max has matched the towing capacity of the Defender, but good on Isuzu for getting that sorted. If the Defender were to pack up now and, for whatever reason, we couldn't replace it with another then the D-Max would be pretty much the only thing that could legally tow our cattle float. Given it's a 55 plate I hope it's got a good many year left in it  |
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21st Mar 2014 1:45pm |
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| mikelike Member Since: 31 Aug 2011 Location: new zealand Posts: 108 |
Good one cupboard , I too have Defenders on my farm here in NZ and use it as a farm tool.Its limitation now is its size , theres no room in the cab and the puma is worse , not alot of refinement compared to a modern Hilux/Rangers and the japs have caught up in towing terms.But approach departure angles and articulation I can still eat them.
What I would like to know is what is the most popular Defender variant in sales? Is it a 90 or a 110? What I see down under is the 90 does not sell and yes the 110 has minuscule sales but is the more popular variant and the biggest complaint is the lack of interior room. I see the DC100 as a sort of 90 type vehicle, Wrangler that is bought by urban dwellers that hardly ever leave the tarmac. What I would like to see is a working double cab pick up from Land Rover , with a four tonne tow and room in the cab but with a strong chassis and impressive off road capabilities.This segment of the market doesnt seem to be as crowded as the dc100 segment and could easily be a Halo product !!!!!! But Land Rover kept parading a DC100 , oh dear !!!!!!!!!! Last edited by mikelike on 23rd Mar 2014 9:08am. Edited 1 time in total |
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22nd Mar 2014 7:38pm |
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| 22900013A Member Since: 23 Dec 2010 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 3150
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The current Defender will tow 4 tonnes with coupled brakes, it is only the trailer braking regs that mean the normal limit is 3500KG, as that is the maximum allowed with overrun brakes. 2011 110 USW
1973 Series III 1-Ton 1972 Series III 1-Ton Cherrypicker 1969 IIA 1-Ton 1966 IIA 88" |
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22nd Mar 2014 10:22pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971
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I didn't know that.
My boss's late father apparently used to tow 7t water bowsers with them with the drivetrain issues that you might expect to come with that! The great thing about the Defender is that it is both a fantastic offroader and a work vehicle. The Jeep Wrangler may be a better offroader in some scenarios but it doesn't come close to the utility of the Defender. Most of the current breed of pickups are good work vehicles but not that great off road from what I hear from owners that I know. To my eyes the DC100 looks more like the Wrangler end of the spectrum, though actually I'd much prefer a Wrangler to the concepts. Still, I'd choose a Defender over either any day. |
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22nd Mar 2014 11:44pm |
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| mikelike Member Since: 31 Aug 2011 Location: new zealand Posts: 108 |
So anyone here know of the sales breakdown , of the 25000 Defenders , How many 110 / 130s and 90s ???
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23rd Mar 2014 9:06am |
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| Limey Member Since: 18 Oct 2013 Location: Northern Italy Posts: 193 
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Hi mike like, I don't have the figures that you asked for, but having read this yesterday on the BBC. i thought it might be an interesting part of the Defender equation,
http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20131028-war-machines-for-sale |
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26th Mar 2014 10:18am |
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