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Tim in Scotland

Member Since: 23 May 2007
Location: The Land that time forgot
Posts: 3753

Today I redid the drive photographed in my previous post in my 2020 Defender that has only a centre locking diff.
The trail we drove has an exceedingly steep final 2 miles of track that drop 2000ft down an escarpment via 11 hairpin bends from the north east shoulder of Ben Lomond to a remote cottage on Loch Lomondside. If I had been doing the hairpins in my TDi300 90 it would have been low 2nd down and back up in the New one I ended up having to drive in low 2nd and HDC set to its highest speed setting otherwise we really did crawl down but low 3rd allowed the car to get just a wee bit fast on the descent. The centre dif didn’t lock at all going down. From passed experience on this run I put the new car into low 3rd for the climb back up and at one stage went into low 4th which suggests I might have been able to climb the slope in High 2nd. For the climb I used Grass Gravel and Snow setting on the TR with the centre diff set to in the program to minimal wheel spin. Really impressed with the ease that the car handled the still wet sections under trees with no trace of wheel spin until we had to scale a section of smooth rock when there was a little chirp from the inside front tyre as I came round the hairpin onto the smooth slab of stone then it just drive quietly up, revs never more than 1700 all the way up. What was interesting was how much the centre diff was 2/3rd or fully locked even on a grippy surface even on the flat it was continually part engaging or fully locked. A brilliant sunny day out and the car is just so easy to drive in challenging conditions I’m sure having the rear e-diff would have had quite a bit of work to do alongside its centre companion

PLEASE JLR it would have been even better if the car had paddle shifters rather than having to take a hand off the steering wheel to change gears manually to control speed.......... if it had been West Coast wet with driving rain it would have been quite scary doing manual shifts when you really want to have two hands on the steering wheel.

Click image to enlarge

Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed!

6th Sep 2020 8:38pm

Retroanaconda

Member Since: 04 Jan 2012
Location: Scotland
Posts: 2645

Thanks for posting the feedback - cracking day for it

6th Sep 2020 8:57pm

J77

Member Since: 04 Nov 2019
Location: Fife
Posts: 3395

Looked a good day out.

6th Sep 2020 9:14pm

Tim in Scotland

Member Since: 23 May 2007
Location: The Land that time forgot
Posts: 3753

It was magic, hardly any wind and I Even got sunburned! Got the first bramble rash on the car too......... that’s it christened!
The Disco Sport in the 1st photo also did the very steep section - it’s a 9 speed automatic so no low range but 1st and second are crawler gears and for going down he had HDC as well. He was also on all season tyres rather than A/Ts and on the way back up had a traction problem on the sheet of rock but attacking it with a bit more momentum got him enough way on to get over it. Normally when we do this run it is wet and there is no way the marshalls would have let him tackle that section if it hadn’t been a sunny day and the trail dry. The driver is an experienced off-roader too and not frightened to tackle things that maybe LR didn’t think it is suitable for. The 1949 Series1 also did the steep bit, the owner joins in most of the Green Road runs in it, usually only from April to October as the headlights in it are really poor which makes getting home in the dark a bit unpleasant but he’s not frightened to get it wet or dirty Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed!

6th Sep 2020 9:43pm

Naks

Member Since: 27 Jan 2009
Location: Stellenbosch, ZA
Posts: 2638

2010 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 SW Alpine White

cracking scenery Tim, thanks for sharing!

I would highly recommend optioning the rear e-diff, rather have it and not need it than the other way around

--
2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear
2015 Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged

Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9
Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO
Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ

7th Sep 2020 7:21am

Digger2000

Member Since: 19 Sep 2020
Location: Newcastle
Posts: 590

Just ordered the D90 first edition this week without the rear diff, hoping I haven’t made a big mistake and it will be more than capable off road?

Is there any way I can update my order once it has been logged into Land Rover to be built?

19th Sep 2020 5:08pm

Tim in Scotland

Member Since: 23 May 2007
Location: The Land that time forgot
Posts: 3753

Have you been given a build date? Usually you cannot make changes to a factory order within 6 weeks of build IIRC. Phone the dealer in the morning if they are open on a Sunday. If you do a fair bit of off road stuff then it’s a good thing to add but even without it the car is very good off-road, shall we say it’s the cherry on the cake if you can add it. Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed!

19th Sep 2020 7:04pm

Digger2000

Member Since: 19 Sep 2020
Location: Newcastle
Posts: 590

Thanks for the reply

No they haven’t given me the build date yet but the dealership is so busy it’s taken an eternity to get the order done! I’ve sent a email to get it added onto the specification hopefully it won’t be too late. I don’t do a lot of off road mainly fields and muddy trails getting my dogs to work etc but I plan on keeping the car if it’s reliable and robust so don’t want to have any regrets later down the line.

How are you finding yours? I’ve ordered the Pangea green

19th Sep 2020 8:07pm

Tim in Scotland

Member Since: 23 May 2007
Location: The Land that time forgot
Posts: 3753

Small teething niggles apart I’m happy, I don’t have the rear diff on this car but had it on my last RRS and appreciated the extra grip it gave in slippery conditions, it was a standard fit on that car and I’m at a loss as to why JLR hasn't made it standard on New Defender, supposedly the most capable car LR has ever produced would have been even better with it. Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed!

19th Sep 2020 8:59pm

Supacat

Member Since: 16 Oct 2012
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 11018

2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS DCPU Keswick Green

One day apart:

Tim in Scotland wrote:
I’m having to consider my options too now as they’ve had two attempts to cure a rain water leak into my Defender and the 3rd attempt is next week............

Tim in Scotland wrote:
Small teething niggles apart I’m happy

20th Sep 2020 8:46am

Tim in Scotland

Member Since: 23 May 2007
Location: The Land that time forgot
Posts: 3753

The problem is the leak, it’s not a big issue for me as I’m patient enough to hold my frustration that two goes hasn’t fixed it That apart it’s a good car but that would be enough for me to start a rejection as I’m not prepared to have it drag out into the winter when the interior is likely to be permanently wet from water dripping in. If they offered a replacement car to same spec with dealer fitted accessories that the same dealer has put on for me I would accept it, I would even wait for a factory order for another one the same spec or the 6 cylinder engine and pay the extra for the rear diff. However with getting on for 3000 miles on mine now how much would it be worth? I’m happy with New Defender, I accept it’s a new model and likely to have gremlins, I’m happy to keep this car if the leak is fixed and I would be happy to have another, but leak free and a later build. Equally if the leak cannot be fixed then it’s up to JLR to replace the car or refund me. Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed!

20th Sep 2020 4:03pm

J77

Member Since: 04 Nov 2019
Location: Fife
Posts: 3395

Do you have the roof rails Tim?

If so is it possible for water to be coming in through there somehow?

20th Sep 2020 4:10pm

Tim in Scotland

Member Since: 23 May 2007
Location: The Land that time forgot
Posts: 3753

The roof rails were fitted 6 weeks after I took delivery and 4 weeks after I first reported the water leak, the rails were fitted on the same visit as the 1st attempt to cure the leak which was also when the distorted rubber window scraper blade was replaced. Something on the door isn’t properly sealed because the leak shows itself on the body coloured line of trim above the door card and on the door pull/arm rest. This is the only outstanding issue with the car as the replacement A pillar trims are to be fitted when the car goes in tomorrow along with the rear recovery eyes to be fitted. I’ve resolved the rattles in the doors myself with a dab of silicone sealant on the radiused bit of rubber that was vibrating in the window frame.

20th Sep 2020 4:20pm

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