lightning wrote:

Would you take a Defender L663 overlanding? l mean into the desert or somewhere outside the range of external help?

l wonder if any of these new Defenders will see expedition work or crossing the Australian Outback for instance.

l am sure someone has done it, the vehicles seem reliable in the fact that they don't actually break or stop running.

lightning wrote:

Would you take a Defender L663 overlanding? l mean into the desert or somewhere outside the range of external help?

l wonder if any of these new Defenders will see expedition work or crossing the Australian Outback for instance.

l am sure someone has done it, the vehicles seem reliable in the fact that they don't actually break or stop running.

Why wouldn't? you its not like the there is anything ground breaking new on the new Defender. 130's have feeling's as well you know

XplusYplusZ wrote:

Whilst field spannering and some gaffa tape will go a long way, the reliance on electronics in modern vehicles is impossible to deny. You can't always fix it yourself, and a local mechanic may also struggle if some circuitry fries.

I think the New Defender has been incredibly well designed, and speaking from experience, can handle a hell of a lot more than you would expect. But I would not trust my life with it.

I've not posted much here yet, so many of you may not yet know me though there are also names I recognize from other forums. As I have been a part of GAP Diagnostic from the beginning and I enjoy overlanding, I have spent some time dwelling on exactly this question. And I've had several very relevant experiences and formed some very clear opinions on this topic. So if I sound like I am lecturing, please forgive me.

First, cars today are considerably more reliable than cars were 30-40 years ago when electronics began to expand beyond the car radio. And they are cleaner, use much less fuel, produce much more power, and are much, much safer than they were back then. This is something that is often forgotten. Especially critical systems such as the engine or transmission management. Where LR's have failed regularly since the introduction of the P38 Range Rover has been in peripheral systems. You could generally still drive, it just wasn't as nice or comfortable - 2 notable exceptions being the alarm/immobilizer and the early air suspension.

And as far as repairs, especially field repairs go, I don't believe they have become more complex - though you do need additional tools (such as the IIDTool ) and information (a digital workshop manual). 35 years ago you had to be able to, say, replace or repair a faulty carburetor, today you have to be able to use a diagnostic tool and look up the repair procedure. The actual spannering hasn't changed terribly. In some ways it's actually become easier: 35 years ago a sputtering diesel meant you had to know how the system operated to even begin to attempt a repair, today the diagnostic system will tell you where to look - or sometimes even exactly what the problem is. My L322 Range Rover went into 'limp-home' mode in eastern Turkey a number of years ago. I was able to read the fault code, determine exactly what the problem was (worn injectors), clear the code and continue on my merry way in a matter of 15 minutes. In this case, it was possible to continue without a physical repair. But if necessary, I could have gone to a local garage and had them do the repairs. And there would have been no guessing and hoping that the mechanics knew what they were doing and would be able to find the problem.

If you are going to go to really remote places, you always need a plan for emergencies - but you would have needed that just the same 40 years ago. There was always some element of risk in traveling off road, be it financial in that you have to have a vehicle recovered from a "remote" green lane in Wales or be it to life and limb if you are depending on your vehicle for travel north of the arctic circle in Lappland. This has not changed. But the risks used to be greater than they are today.

All of this is what lead me (actually lead all of us at GAP) to become involved in Land Rover vehicle diagnostics. I have not hesitated to take my past LR's overlanding and will not hesitate to take my L663 Defender overlanding. But I will (try to) be ready for contingencies.

@Bruce - love your channel. I discovered it several months ago and have been checking back regularly. My wife and I had originally planned to drive from here (Alsace) down to Tanzania to visit friends and then on to SA once the children were no longer young. This was 15 years ago. But with the way the political situations have developed, we'd have trouble getting through northern Africa without crossing through some rather unsafe areas (and that is not the type of adventure I seek in my travels) and our friends had to leave Tanzania. So we are now planning to fly down and rent a vehicle...  
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr,
P38, and 2 L322s,
2 FL1s and a L663 on the way