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ajordan

Member Since: 05 May 2015
Location: South London
Posts: 9

2016 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Scotia Grey

I did promise I'd post directly I took delivery but, as ever, life gets in the way, and I now find myself almost four weeks into Defender ownership! Attended the LRO Show in Peterborough last weekend, and will be doing the SLSLRC London to Brighton next month.

Picking it up was the first time I'd seen it with the refinished wheels fitted, and I'm really happy with the one colour look throughout. Its exactly what I was aiming for, understated, whilst retaining that something different.

First impressions? Well chuffed with it so far, really over the moon. Yeah it's a bit slow, noisy and uncomfortable, and has the turning circle of a canal boat. But, with it it brings some sort of charm that only a Defender can.
As expected, when most of my friends and colleagues are driving Fiestas, Audi's & BM 3 Series', it certainly stands out from the crowd.
The question "how did you afford something like that?" is one I've long since given up fending off!

Since collection I've clocked up just over 450 miles (pretty much all Motorway), with rough fag packet maths showing 22mpg on a long run at a steady 75ish, dropping to around 15mpg when you push it up to 85/90. All in all pretty horrendous, but for the mileage I do, I'm more than willing to grim and bear it for the time being. Given that I've not changed from the driving style that I've always employed in hatchbacks, I cant expect too much!

Modifications have been kept to a minimum thus far, the new Kenwood unit sits well on the dash, and has much better usability than the standard Alpine unit that came out. Whilst having this fitted I wired a cable from the rear of the radio, under the steering column for my iphone, meaning that I can stay connected without having wires draped all over the dash.
Also had a second 12v socket put in behind the dash, from which a TomTom lead comes up at the windscreen, again for the same reason.

I'd read a fair bit about Mobile Storage Systems' Glovebox kits prior to buying the car, so ordered one earlier this month. Although its a bit pricey at fifty notes, I'd say its worth it in the long run. Especially as I'm toying with the idea of removing the centre box, it allows me to keep my options open.
A note for anyone considering this kit, I'd highly recommend getting hold of plenty of black number plate screwcovers beforehand, as the silver screws supplied stick out rather against the black dashboard!

Longer term, plans for it may include a Britpart XD Handling & Lowering Kit, although this may sound odd, 99.9% of its use is going to be on the road, so anything that improves the handling and allows me to carry a little extra speed through corners is welcome. I also don't feel that the 1'' lowering should harm the looks too much.
Potentially a Safety Devices interior hoop may be on the cards as well, whilst intrusive, it gives that extra comfort, should the worst happen.

I've always wanted a Defender with a winch as well (remember the Best4x4xFar advert with the car going up the Dam?) but this flies in the face of the almost exclusive road use, plus £600plus is a lot of cash to drop on something that never gets used!
Ultimately I suppose, the plan is to not do anything that looks openly lairy and modified, I want it to look 100% factory standard to the untrained eye (LED Light Bars, big alloys and tints aren't my style).

A few pictures from when I picked it up:

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

As ever, big thanks go out to the team at Beadles Land Rover who made this all possible, and a ratings to Lepsons, who sorted the wheels with no fuss, and to a top quality standard.

24th Sep 2015 9:00pm

YOLO110

Member Since: 14 Feb 2015
Location: Perth Oz and Stansted UK
Posts: 1642

Those wheels in the body colour look great!

Nice!

YOLO... You Only Live Once...

24th Sep 2015 9:12pm

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20348

24th Sep 2015 9:17pm

GREENI

Member Since: 22 Aug 2010
Location: staffs
Posts: 10381

YOLO110 wrote:
Those wheels in the body colour look great!

Nice!

Different, very. Brave choice and totally cool.

Happy new truck

24th Sep 2015 9:32pm

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SVX Station Wagon Santorini Black

Idem as above. Those Wolfs came out nice in that colour.

Instead of buying a winch, which will rust anyway, spend that money on a good thorough professional Dinitrol job.

Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

25th Sep 2015 2:03am

mcma1

Member Since: 16 Oct 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 2892

I am the opposite, big wheels, rack, kitchen sink, get it bolted on

.....but this is lovely. Well done.

25th Sep 2015 4:54am

AndyTunn

Member Since: 10 Jan 2015
Location: Auckland
Posts: 313

2008 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 SW Stornoway Grey

Those colour coded wheels look fab!

25th Sep 2015 5:18am

Mr Fox

Member Since: 10 Sep 2011
Location: green & pleasant land
Posts: 1037

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Keswick Green

Looks good - congratulations.

As for your age and what you paid - imho (and 24-years of man-logic car justifications more than yourself) - you've bought a vehicle that had rock solid residual value. Defenders were good news prior to their demise but have gone a little silly since then (dealers charging new money for MY15 with 10k miles on them!) and this can only be good if you chose to sell it in the future. Unlike your friends who may struggle to get half their purchase price back, you should be doing far better.

25th Sep 2015 7:38am

76MV

Member Since: 01 Nov 2009
Location: Fife
Posts: 58

Very nice colour and a great looking 90.
I am a big fan of keeping it standard, with the exception of subtle tweaking. I have also painted the wheels and thinks it finishes it off nicely. Have you considered painting the front bumper and rear crossmember body colour? As the standard black fades and discolour very quickly. A nice subtle finish.

25th Sep 2015 7:47am

1978

Member Since: 04 Aug 2015
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 519

That looks great with the HD wheels painted to match... mine was booked into the paint shop a couple of weeks back to have my HD wheels painted Belize green to match but I bottled it! You might have changed my mind!

25th Sep 2015 8:06am

YOLO110

Member Since: 14 Feb 2015
Location: Perth Oz and Stansted UK
Posts: 1642

... and without being 'boring' (I spent many hours in high powered Lotus' doing track days etc)... take it easy mate!

Never had mine above 80... Do a test of braking distance from 80 - 0 with ABS full on and you will 'interested' in the response!

As for corners... A defender does not handle like a hatch back... even with lowering springs!

YOLO... You Only Live Once...

25th Sep 2015 10:39am

Smilesapart

Member Since: 28 Sep 2013
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 735

I love the HD wheels and was very sceptical about you having them painted. But I have to say they look pretty damn good in body colour!

25th Sep 2015 11:36am

PCA42

Member Since: 15 Jun 2014
Location: Church Stretton
Posts: 468

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Tonga Green

That is a fantastic looking truck mate, Scotia is definitely my favourite Defender colour at the moment. As for being young, I'm 22 and have been driving Defenders on the road since 17... insurance is a

indeed... just persist with it and you'll find something reasonable.

As for those wheels...

Been toying with getting some painted Tonga Green to go on my 110, I think this has swung it... Just to find a set now! Pete

2010 Discovery 4 GS TDV6
1972 Series III 88" 2.25P

27th Sep 2015 11:21pm

ajordan

Member Since: 05 May 2015
Location: South London
Posts: 9

Had a bit of a result this evening, dropped the Defender off to have some warranty work done, (passenger door/footwell leaks under heavy rain), and got chucked the keys to a three month old Discovery 4 HSE.

After smoking around in that for the weekend, going back to a 90 will definitely be a shock to the system!

21st Oct 2015 7:11pm

bpman

Member Since: 21 May 2008
Location: Oslo
Posts: 8069

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SVX Station Wagon Santorini Black

I lowered the rear of my 110 due to car parking requirements, extreme 4x4 sold me some lovely orange swings .. I've moved back to the uk now and put the standard springs back on. Lowering the rear caused issues with the front prop. This can be solved using a double Cardon prop

It's worth checking with your insurance company before fitting a middle seat, they have not been standard issue for a number of years.

Like Eric says, a trip to zag to have it dinitrolled would keep the rust mites off for a few years

Nice to see a standard truck, not coated with chequer plate and a happy owner.. Enjoy your truck

21st Oct 2015 7:24pm

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