Chicken Drumstick

I'm not saying the desire for maximum profit doesn't exist. But I still don't see how that is 'loosing'. I'm pretty sure Caterham make way less money than Porsche, in total or per unit. But I'm very glad they don't seem to share the view that there is no point in building the Sevens, just because there are other car makers who make more money than them.

I've certainly read in the past that they were still profitable. Just not as profitable as something like a Discovery Sport.

But surely that doesn't matter, so long as they make profit per unit?

Are there really winners and losers? Surely selling cars isn't about putting other firms out of business or about claiming a trophy/recognition for the highest volumes sales from industry pundits. It is about making a profit, which can always be done on a smaller scale. Even the traditional Defender made money still.

Not sure there is enough info to make that assumption yet.

At last someone has done a more sensible comparison with the new Defender. This is much more the target market than the Wrangler comparisons.

Being worth the extra cash is one thing, me being able to physically afford it however, is a completely different story..... 😆

Grenadier, Wrangler, Jimny, G-Wagen and probably the new Bronco all pretty good at this.

Low dash lines have other benefits, such as making the cabin feel more open, bigger and more airy. I also don't think they were saying a Defender/Series dash gets in the way, they are both small dashes. Most modern cars have huge dashboards and often place you a long distance away from lower portion of the windscreen.

I quite like the labels. Makes it obvious and quick/easy to know what each button does. Just having a symbol can make it hard to know what a button does sometimes. Modern tractors are awful for this.

Would need to watch it again. But just had a thought. There seemed to be a lack of things like USB ports and somewhere to plug a CB radio in.

I put 3.54 diffs in my Tdi Series III. Swings & roundabouts on the pros and cons. Cruising rpm is lower and you'll be able to cruise at higher speeds. I even clocked mine at 92mph (GPS) on the level (non public highway). And sitting at 60-70mph is certainly doable, if a bit lot noisy. Downsides, 1st gear is quite a bit taller to pull away in. You will notice it when trying to whip out at junctions or cross a lane of a busy bypass, forcing you to slip the clutch a little more than ideal. If towing this is exaggerated. 30mph is a PITA as 4th gear is just slightly too tall unless on level or downhill grades. But 3rd will feel like you are revving the engine high. Basically there is a bit of a gap between 3rd and 4th ratios and the 3.54 diffs exaggerate this. But most of all I found the vehicle less fun and less peppy on the 3.:54 diffs. When touring & laning in Wales with the standard 4.75 diffs, 3rd gear was lovely on twisty Welsh lanes. With the Tdi you could steer it on the throttle and drift round some of the corners. Had huge fun chasing down a herd of Lotus Elises in the wet around the Elan Valley. I'm sure they could have gone quicker than me if they really tried. But I think they were surprised to see an old Series Land Rover catch them up! With the 3.54 diffs the gear is just a bit too tall to be able to do this. And 2nd would be way too low. I also found the low 1st crawl speed was far to quick for my licking on technical off road obstacles with the 3.54 diffs. Had I kept the vehicle I planned on going back to 4.75 diffs and an Overdrive.

I wonder what the switched in the 'OFFROAD MODE' group do? (on the upper right) Personally think the interior is looking pretty fab. Shame about the BMW automatic shifter control. I guess that is just too expensive or difficult to replace as Morgan also use it. But overall it is an interior I'd like to sit in!

Interesting it will be. I'll report back on my experience and do a review of some kind. But I'm not sure what to expect as of yet, although it feels a long way off. Despite being only a month and a half away. With the Defender it was a full production/retail model from a dealership, so I had lots of freedom. I expect the 2B Tour to be more akin to a Land Rover Experience day.

It does impact the flex quite a bit, especially how quickly the suspension reacts. Not just static posing flex. But as you bump over stuff, one equipped with ARB's is far more likely to lift wheels and scrabble wheels or even loose traction all together. And more prone to becoming cross axled. Having TCS with ARBs makes a huge difference. It is quite popular to remove ARB's in some off road circles still. And it can yield 10-20% more droop for some applications. There are some good demo's of how effective the sway bar disconnect is on the new Bronco: With Land Rover's it is worth noting that ACE, while it doesn't fully disconnect in the same way. Is a reactive anti roll bar system and will allow more flex at slow speeds off road vs high speed on road. ACE is of course included on most modern IFS/IRS off road focused Land Rover models these days (New Def, D5, RR, RRS). Although I think it wears the name of Dynamic suspension or similar.

I got an email the other day inviting me to come and drive one of the 2B's as part of the '2B Tour'. It looked like there were 3 sites; Scotland, S Wales and Hertfordshire. I'm booked in for the 20th Aug.

The new Defender, just like the the D5 and the current FFRR and RRS are all good off road. But only because of the traction aids. Not because the base design is natively suited or even purposely designed for off road use. Is this good or bad? Not really sure. And it may not matter at all. Off road, so long as you don't topple over too easily, don't ground out too easily. And have the ability to make all 4 wheels turn. You can cover difficult terrain. Weather or not they all make good off roaders is probably a different topic however

Has anyone else booked for a test drive in the Grenadier?

I can't really see how liking live axles is a luddite view. 🙄

I guess what amazes me is. Even with 'common' shared platforms. The differences are often vast between the models. So much so, that they often share very little. I suspect in many or even most cases, a 'shared' platform actually means each variant is almost completely different. But has a few compromised areas that must meet the same bolt pattern. But things like shape & dimension and location of parts are often very different.

To some extent yes. But most car makers still have a variety of platforms that they use. Pretty much any other car maker in the world who sells and markets a "4x4" has at least one model as a body on frame vehicle, usually with at least 1 live axle, e.g. Mercedes, Toyota, Dodge, Chevrolet, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Jeep, GMC, Ford, Suzuki, Isuzu, Lada, UAZ, Daihatsu, VW, etc. I think Honda, BMW and Land Rover are the only ones that don't. And Honda and BMW are very much "on" road focused with their vehicles.

This would depend. I have spoken to them and have correspondence with them pretty much saying they would deem it as only a body swap. However, the entire thing is a self assessment and certification process. There are no hard and fast rules, only guesses and interpretations. Which means, the DVLA have plenty of rope to come after you if they suddenly decide too. If they don't, then they probably don't care.

I don't have the comms myself. But it was a request made to Land Rover by the ALRC (Association of Land Rover Clubs). And we are regulated by the MSUK (Motorsport UK, aka MSA). It is documented in the ALRC EGM and SORC meeting minutes. And was a hot topic by the scrutineering team (that I'm a member of) for many months. The result was the implementation of this regulation:

Is that just bolted to the cross member using the captive nuts inside? If so, this is exactly the thing that was "deemed" unsafe for motorsport. We even spoke to Land Rover, whom confirmed that it is unsafe and not rated for recovery. The captive nuts have been welded, so are no longer high tensile. The cross member is prone to bending and bulging. And ultimately runs the risk of pulling through. If it is bolted all the way through the crossmember with a spreader plate on the otherside, then none of the above applies.

For competition use, the late Defender style chassis (Td5 onwards) must either use the full factory mounting points, i.e. using the legs back the chassis/tank area. Or jate rings. If you are removing the tank, you could put a spreader plate behind the rear crossmember (min 3mm) and bolt all the way through, as per the older chassis. But you'll need to drill the captive nuts inside the crossmember to do this. This basic setup has proven to be very safe and durable over decades worth of competition use. Is the vehicle to be used for competition at all?