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defender versus disco


blaft

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Hi,

Sorry for my english I am dutch. I have a disco 4 and he is 4 years old. With the end of the defender in the near future I ask myself if it would be better to buy a defender. The reason is that I think a defender last longer than a disco. Is that right? With the disco I only drive on the street, never 4x4. Do you think that it is possible to drive more than 20 years with the disco?

thanks for answer,

blaft formerly known as Jean Pierre

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If you only drive on road I would stick with the disco it may not last as long or hold it's value like a defender but it will be warmer, quieter, dryer, more comfortable and most importantly you will be under it/in the garage less. To own a defender is a life commitment you need to really want one because no one in there right mind buys one unless they have a "use" for it. Having said that borrow a defender (the older the better) drive it you will quickly see what I mean. ?

Mike

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Hi,

Sorry for my english I am dutch. I have a disco 4 and he is 4 years old. With the end of the defender in the near future I ask myself if it would be better to buy a defender. The reason is that I think a defender last longer than a disco. Is that right? With the disco I only drive on the street, never 4x4. Do you think that it is possible to drive more than 20 years with the disco?

thanks for answer,

blaft formerly known as Jean Pierre

Welkom op het forum ;)

The Deafner might seem like an investment but it is a vehicle you have to love, the draughts, the wet left knee when it rains, the back ache on anything more than an hour long drive.

At 4yrs you must have a D3? A Deafner is a heck of a step down in safety with no airbags, no side impact protection, roll over and falling object protection is an awful lot less too.

Only highway driving is not exactly what they were designed and built for either. I know of a couple of other guys who bought Deafners, the novelty wore off in less than a year and they were sold on, drive ten or so in as many variants as you can, decide first if you can live with it before you commit to buying one!

where are you in NL? I live in Weert, Limburg.

Grtz. Nigel.

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Thanks guys for the answers. I am from Belgium Nigel.

I already had 2 defenders and I liked them. I love the simplicity. The first was a 2500 cc/5cyl and the second a 2400cc/4cyl.

Nigel, it is absolutely a D4, 3000cc/6cyl. I love the disco too but wich will last, the def or the disco. With both I only drive on concreet.

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Thanks guys for the answers. I am from Belgium Nigel.

I already had 2 defenders and I liked them. I love the simplicity. The first was a 2500 cc/5cyl and the second a 2400cc/4cyl.

Nigel, it is absolutely a D4, 3000cc/6cyl. I love the disco too but wich will last, the def or the disco. With both I only drive on concreet.

In that case, you might be wise to take another TD5 OR TDCI ? There are tons of aftermarket fixes for any an all electronics in them.

Disco will be more expensive long term with service intervals comming up for major parts but look at the other flip side, was there a petrol Def since the last of the original V8 models? A V8 D4 would be more suitable surely? I say this as there seems to be a drive to push diesels out of major cities in Europe Paris is pushing for 2020! Mind you Belgium being the way it is they'd probably ban petrol :@ (before you get upset I lived all over Belgium for over 4yrs, the strangest systems I ever encountered)

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In that case, you might be wise to take another TD5 OR TDCI ? There are tons of aftermarket fixes for any an all electronics in them.

Disco will be more expensive long term with service intervals comming up for major parts but look at the other flip side, was there a petrol Def since the last of the original V8 models? A V8 D4 would be more suitable surely? I say this as there seems to be a drive to push diesels out of major cities in Europe Paris is pushing for 2020! Mind you Belgium being the way it is they'd probably ban petrol :@ (before you get upset I lived all over Belgium for over 4yrs, the strangest systems I ever encountered)

Thx

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Thats right, the Carbonara in Italy, there have been a fair few spotted, although I think the 90 with a 2ltr turbo petrol would be a hoot :)

Unfortunately the Rover 2ltr they used in the Mpi was not the turbo version. Never could understand that other than the basic unit being somewhat stressed in its LR role.

I had one of the first Mpi Disco's as a Company car. It was not as bad as most people thought and mine got used quite a lot off road as well as very high mileage on road.

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Unfortunately the Rover 2ltr they used in the Mpi was not the turbo version. Never could understand that other than the basic unit being somewhat stressed in its LR role.

I had one of the first Mpi Disco's as a Company car. It was not as bad as most people thought and mine got used quite a lot off road as well as very high mileage on road.

If I recall correctly, the Mpi was produced to fit a tax break in England, which explains the company car thing. I think it was good for some 130hp, though at quite a few revs! Possibly not considered cool but that wouldn't stop it being perfectly usable.

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my mpi had the best part of 150000 miles on it when it died. i checked the oil at a motorway services on my way to pick up a dead p38 and it was ok. 100 miles later with the p38 on a trailer behind it the oil pressure light flickered on on a corner. put 4 litres of oil in it to bring it to max (oh dear.) and finished off towing the p38 home, which involved a lot of low range 1st gear pull aways and 2nd gear high range long pulls up duel carriageway hills.

end result was clouds of blue smoke on full throttle and lots of oil consumption..

long story short, they're ok as a solo and off road toy but don't try towing 3.5 ton behind them... they don't cope well.....

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Ahh, Discoveries go out and discover, Defenders stay at home and defend -- seriously it comes down to what you have and what you want it for, I originally wanted a Toyota Land Cruiser Series 80 - coil sprung and a close copy of the Series 1 Discovery and with a fabulous mechanically injected turbo 4.2 litre 6 cylinder engine but, even second hand in good condition they were well beyond my budget, so the 300Tdi with all it's inherent cooling problems was my second choice.

I've now done a tad over 230,000 kilometres in her (this is bush distances and not including 60,00 0K's local black-top driving) and while I have carried out several , many modifications the Disco is now as reliable as any 4 WD can be. It comes down to what you have, what you can afford, how you drive it and what and where you want to go and do with it.

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