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Defender vs Discovery


Adi

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Isn't it down to what Land Rovers are all about?

Lot of talk about being Disco's being better on motorways. etc. Well either of our Ford 'Euroboxes' is miles better than a Discovery on the motorway. Faster, comfier and cheaper. But boring.

The 110 is cold. Slow. Uneconomic. Leaks (even lets snow in if wind is in wrong direction). It's battered, abused, knee deep in rubbish. And I love it.

I do wonder why some buy a 'proper' Land Rover (one with a chassis) and then immediately try to make it more like a car?

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HMMMM!!!!!!!!!! At the risk of being shouted out, here's my 2p, Most people want, or think they want, a land rover because of its tough, reliable? image, and off road ability, and MOST peoples perception of a land rover from childhood, is a series/90/110 thing. Of Those that have them, most love them> They are what they are! Mines a 110 ht 300tdi, love it to bits, NEVER have a Disco. Why would you want a disco, its not a tool any more, its a very capable car. so if thats what you want, why not buy a better capable car, say a Landcruiser. or a softroader. In my 110, I can fit 3 fully made up mountain bikes, in the back, along with 3 peoples kit for a long weekend away, and the food hamper/beer store, and carry 2 passengers to the destination in relative comfort. Or I can go to Ikea and buy a COMPLETE kitchen for a small terraced house, including appliances, kit sink, and fit it all in the back with ease, and put 2/3 worktops on the roof. I can take 1/2 ton of scrap metal to the merchants, I can sleep soundly in the back (6'2"), I can get 6x3 sheets of plasterboard in the back lying down, and get 8x4 sheets of mdf on the flat roof rack. If you SERIOUSLY have to debate about defender v Disco, then PLEASE buy a disco my freind, because if you buy a defender your bound to winge from day 1! Most people who buy a defender , do so because its what they want, no debate. Its a bit like asking a alcoholic would he like a glass of beer , or orange juice, obvious answer, then asking a thirsty non-alcoholic the seme question, takes a time to decide. You choose! Oh and by the way 110's arnt looooooooong, there 110 inches! :rolleyes: TTFN

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3.5 on carbs was available from launch IIRC.

You certainly do.

The Mpi 2.0 was introduced because of european capacity duties which hurt continental sales on the V8. I drove one; it was nasty.

Back to the original question: which one is better?

Well, i'm on my 4th Disco currently, but i've had 3 Defenders; two were 9 and one 110. These have been interspersed and in conjunction with a whole host of other Land Rovers, including the best of all, my old 3.9 V8 Classic RR.

Every time i had to do a long journey when i had the Defenders, i wished i was in my Rangey. Any time i wished i had to do a long journey in the Disco, i wished i was in my Rangey... but less so than in the Defender!

Off road, obviously the 90 gets furthest, then the Disco, then the 110, but so much is down to the driver and the tyres it's almost irrelevant.

Value wise the Disco is a winner, but if money wasn't an issue i'd have a 110 sat on my drive every day.

Still miss my Rangey most though...

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Firstly i have to say that i have never owned or driven a Disco so am totally biased...

I drive my old v8 90 (old 90, new v8 :D ) on a 70 mile a day commute that covers the a331, m3, m25 and m4. Its loud inside mainly from the soft top flapping in the wind, but i can hear my stereo (it has to be set to 23 of 32 on the volume when doing 60mph though :lol:) It has a couple of draughts that need sorting, but the heater is great so being cold is generally not an issue after the first couple of miles. Its fairly quick, and has never let me down.

When fuel prices were at their peak and i was still running the 2.25 people at work would say "why don't you buy a 'proper' car?". My answer to this has always been that i enjoy driving my 90 so much that it cancels out some of the sheer hell i would otherwise endure getting to and from work. If i was stuck in traffic on the m25 in a normal eurobox, i really would hate the journey. I fitted LPG instead of buying another cheaper to run car.

Anway back to the topic in hand... As other posters have already mentioned, a Defender whilst being noisier and less car like will pay you back by being easier to maintain (less fiddly bits to remove to get to stuff), and will take being 'used' much better. I recently revamped my entire garden, which required me to move about 4 tonnes of soil, rubble and other general garden rubbish. The 90 did it like a pro, with no carpets to ruin, seats to damage or trim to rip. When i was done all i had to do was sweep the back out with a broom!

The other major benefit to a Defender is the ease with which you can reconfigure the bodywork. I have a softop on mine, but could easily switch to a hardtop or pickup config, same applies to a 110 too i guess but with more work depending on whether you are adding or removing rear doors.

And not to take anything away from the Disco, the Defender really is the true icon of the Landrover family.

If funds allow, buy a tatty looking but sound Defender and let it grow with you- its more fun that way!

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Bish is right about RRs - different league altogether. Having said that Bish commited the ultimate abuse of Gods own vehilce by shoving a tractor engine in a perfectly nice V8SE ;)

Will :)

Will that is right on the nail! Bish, shame on you, poor old V8 RR :(

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I have a Ninety which I bought nearly ten years ago as a 2.5NAD and I've retrofitted a 300Tdi (and subsequently an auto box) to it. Part way along I had a 300Tdi manual Disco too, and I sold the Disco again because I preferred the Ninety. To me, the Disco was a LandRover which I couldn't bounce off stuff, scratch or abuse as heavily because it had plastic trim and shiny paint, so to me it was a second car without the advantage of fuel economy, good handling or speed.

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[off topic if no one minds!]

Why do people favour the auto so much? I thought people would prefer the extra control of the manual?

[/off topic hope no one minded]

Because those moments when you dip the clutch to change gear you lose traction because there's no drive, = stuckness!

Obviously, not an issue with an auto.

HTH :)

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I'll pick up the OT answer and then we can get back on topic...

I like it in the following situation:

Imagine driving up to an obstacle such as a kerb or rock. Manual car has revving, clutch-slipping and then bursts over the kerb and you need a third foot to brake before you career into the abyss beyond it. Same thing in an auto means you can just pick up the revs with your right foot, no friction elements to wear out as you just heat oil up and deliver a rising torque to the wheels until you overcome gravity, with your left foot hovering over the brake to catch the car when it leaps forward.

It's not so good with engine braking (although I haven't found it to be an issue) and it's certainly not as good on fuel - I went from 28mpg to nearer 20mpg, although I think mine's undergeared at the moment. Some will rave about their manuals, some prefer autos. I like mine although I might have to rethink the decision if I can't get the mpg back up before it becomes a daily drive again.

There's a not-quite-back-to-back comparison videos of a manual Td5 Disco and my 300Tdi auto Ninety on Stanage - I like the control that the auto offers offroad.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 3 years later...

Never had a Lightweight or 101 but just about everything else. My current Discovery 2. 4.0ltr V8 Auto would be my choice in all things on and off road. A couple of years ago it would have been a Defender Td5 110 but I am enjoying the peace and quiet of the Disco. At the end of the day, I think it is an age thing and the onset of arthritis that makes my choice a no brainer.

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I'm on the Disco side here at the moment. I have had my 300tdi coming up to 7 years now and was my only motor untill 3 years ago. It's now just my work van with the rear seats folded up and ply floor in the back. In the past its done trips to Newquay from Derby about 300 miles and any where else we wanted to go. Now its used most days but is lucky if I do 10 miles a day in it. I love the arm chair driving position and the space in the back. I've got sheets of 8x4 in the back, cement mixer with wheel barrow, bags of sand and cement and tools. I had a job where a lorry couldn't get up a steep muddy drive to drop some ton bags of lime stone and sand off so I put half a bag a time in the back of the disco without a problem. I'm now starting to need more space and would like 5 seats. A 110 isn't big enough so have been looking a 130's. But to find a good one there just to expensive so I'm think I'm stick with my disco and get a trailer.

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Having got Disco 1's and Defenders, the service costs are identical as the running gear and chassis are pretty much identical (ok chassis has different bits but essentially is the same). - the only extra issue you will get in a discovery over a defender is annoying body corrosion and the possible implications of having the cost of getting welding done, which done my a garage will be expensive. so it pays to have someone with a keen eye to go over a disco with a tooth comb to spot the rust before you buy it.

Mav

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