Chicken Drumstick

Thanks. I came across it ages back, but wasn't sure if it was a Land rover running portals or a lot more modified. Is it also using the C303 chassis/engine?

Departure angle is very good. But once again we see the new Defender doing a tricycle impression

Don't know how good this is off road, although clearly not a huge amount of "Land Rover" left in the driveline, if any!

0.4s sounds too big a difference between a 90 and 110. Do we know the weight difference? I'm guessing not huge. And sadly 0-60mph doesn't really mean much these days. The difference in performance will be the 0-100mph and the 20-100mph times or 30-120mph. You can see how this difference pans out in this vid. 4.2 s/c RRS vs 5.0 s/c RRS. On paper the 0-60mph times are probably pretty close. But real world the difference is huge. Also worthy of note. The 4.2 s/c./ is still substantially quicker than a 4.4 TDV8 L322 and the new V8 Defender is quicker than the 5.0 s/c L320. I don't know about the P400. I would image it is nearer the 4.2 s/c

I believe there are several ways of modding the driveline. Depends if you want the full 6wd or just a 6x4. For road use, such as a transporter the latter would be fine. But if you plan to go off road you'll likely want the fully 6x6 experience. Certainly worth spending some time searching the forum and Google for what has been done prior. I believe someone has even used electric drive for one of the axles. Do you have a particular intended use for the vehicle?

Marginally, more like significantly. Just as the Supercharged L322 is also a lot quicker than the TDV8. I'm not knocking the diesel, it is a fab engine. Parkers say 8.6 sec 0-60 for the 3.6 and 7.5 sec 0-60mph for the 4.4 TDV8. parkers.co.uk/land-rover/range-rover/estate-2002/specs/ If the Defender is under 5 sec 0-60mph that is a HUGE difference.

Just watched the insights video above. He says "a little under forty thousand pounds commercial" and "mid forties retail". £37-38k + VAT would make approx £44-45k inc VAT. Certainly LC/Wildtrack ballpark figures. And no mention of how many models or specs yet. I assume if it sells well during the first 12 months, they may introduce a lower base spec model and maybe a higher spec one too. So maybe pricing in the region of £33-48k?? I'm guessing. But being hopeful

Not sure tbh I didn't check, I'd assume with. Although I'd say the Grenadier appears to be of higher spec and capability than the LC. Which might be enough to demand a premium. Taking a look at the Ranger Wildtrack, with an automatic and rear load box (to match the Grenadier in basic spec). Prices are in the £40k bracket. I honestly have no idea what prices Ineos will announce. I guess they need to make profit and will depend on how many/easy they think they will sell. And I guess how many utility use vs lifestyle. As the latter (lifestyle) can normally be sold for more. I'd be surprised if they are pitching against the new Defender or G-Wagen. As that isn't the market the old Defender targeted. And everything so far has been about replacing the traditional Defender. That said, I guess they may also offer more basic models in due course too. Just not at launch, this might even be intentional, knowing there will be some very eager people happy to pay a premium to get one of these first.

Don't get me wrong. It is priced outside my means too! But I'm just looking at what else is on the market that I suspect the Grenadier will be pitched against.

But we don’t know it will be £50k. Where are you getting the price from? On a similar note. What can you buy today for £29k that would be either comparable to a Defender or a Grenadier? Remember the Grenadier is coming with a punchy motor. Not some wheezy Transit engine. And is looking to me much higher spec than a Defender ever was too. If you go on the Toyota website and price up a Land Cruiser Commercial I think you might be surprised at the price. Or likewise something like a Wildtrack Ford Ranger.

Thanks for the vid link. Re: Smarts, I think that was true of earlier models. I've also had a Smart Roadster. But the current 453 gen doesn't suffer leaks that I'm aware of. At least nothing on the forums about it when I was on them and mine lived out 24/7.

I had a ForTwo new in 2017, did 52,000 miles in it. Not a single issue. Can't fault the quality from a personal point of view. Wouldn't half the price of a G-Wagen still mean about £70k? I can't see them pitching at this price point, at least not for the base starting price. I would assume their target market is the well specced pickups and things like the Commercial Land Cruiser. Which would be £35-50k depending on exact spec.

I can see there is a lot of love for the BFG AT's. If the op plans to off road, then I'd agree. They won't be a bad tyre choice at all, but if you are correct in saying 90% on road (and the assumption that the 10% off road is only mild off roading). Then there are more road biased tyres than the BFG AT that might work better for the 90% of the time and still be suitable enough for the 10%.

These are a good road biased tyre with enough ability off road should you want to venture up a lane or in a field. I too would recommend for this application. The BFG AT's arguably look better (more aggressive). But would make more sense if you off road more. The MTR was a standard fitment by Land Rover. Probably not a bad tyre and they run ok on the road. But they are noisy (make a humming noise). And my experience of them, they are rubbish in the mud. And not very good in the snow either. For places like Oz or even parts of the USA where you have hard baked mud, sand, gravel and dry rocks. I think they would work better than they do in the UK. I'm not familiar with the terrain in Italy however.

200Tdi is faster if you drive that way. But a good 2.5TD performs well enough and will cruise at 65-70mph no probs. Stock for stock the difference isn't really as big as made out. The difference comes in the fact the Tdi can be tweaked easily, which makes it feel a lot more punchy. The 2.5TD might not be favoured, but they are a lot more refined and smoother than the Tdi's. Which is really noticeable at all times and esp at cruising speeds. We have 3 Ninety's with these in on the farm. Think they have done about 700,000 miles between them. All still going strong and no major issues in that time.

Yes it can get pricey for controllers and the like. Although you could use the same on a V8 auto too. Or you could as you suggest, just buy the entire lot out of a Disco (D2 in this case) and use the factory setup. It really depends what the op is wanting from the setup. Personally I can appreciate autos. But I'm yet to drive an automatic car that wouldn't be improved with a manual gearbox. But if going auto you may well want to maximise the control and shifting patterns. Something you can't always do on factory setups. Although 'modern' sports cars tend to offer this out of the box to a certain extent. Controllers would be to allow you to lock it in say 2nd or 3rd and floor it without it kicking down. Or firming up the shift speed under certain conditions or via a button selection. Or making it smoother and locking the converter up at lower speeds, etc.

I'd guess it is just the non electronic ZF 4 speed as per RRC. With the Tdi you don't have any sensors to be able to program the gearbox. So it is very sold school and largely unresponsive. The Td5 can make use of the electronic control variants of the ZF. Which allow you to program different shift points, reactions or even semi- full manual control via a lever or even paddles if you wanted. Guess it depends what you are wanting from the setup really. But yes, I'd advise speaking to Dave Ashcroft on this. But I'm sure he'll point you down the Td5 route over the Tdi.

The auto works in the Disco 2 with the TD5. But mpg and performance suffer. A juiced up Td5 and a tweaked auto box might work. There are some aftermarket controllers to give you manual control and the like. However is mpg isn’t going to be a blocker. A 4.6 RV8 will be a nicer drive IMO.

The other year I went on a tour of Prodrives facility. What amazed me were the number of cars they looked after. These were rare cars (sometimes race cars). Clearly bought as investments. They weren't driven or used or anything like that. Just maintained and stored. So that the owner could sell them on and probably make money down the line. I suspect these new Defenders probably fall into that category.

The ATB's are great. If you fit one at the front you'll feel it through the steering a little on road, just as you would with a fwd hot hatch that has a limited slip diff. Your choice if you go both axles or just one. If one axle, most would fit just one to the rear, but some would fit to the front for other reasons. Neither is really wrong. But they'll help out in wet, snow or icy conditions and you'll not need to do a thing, just keep driving. the only time they don't work so well is if you have wheels waving in the air, but in these situations a dab of left foot braking is all you are likely to need and they will work fine. And if you have ATB's in both axles, one wheel in the air won't matter anyway. Easiest thing on a 90 is to fit a Disco axle on the back to get the 24 spline axles and rear disc brakes. At the front you can buy extra bits from Ashcroft to fit the ATB and shafts, but again might be cheaper to buy a latter axle and retro fit. Just check on if you have wide/narrow front radius arms. Upgrading the half shafts is recommended with the ATBs, but not essential. You could always wait until you break a standard one and upgrade then. However, I'd say it is about a complete package, the right tyres for the job (bit like wearing the right footwear for yourself, you wouldn't walk out in the deep mud in some trainers or slippers) will make a huge difference too. And also some simple suspension changes can help out hugely. You don't need to go radical on the suspension, but a bit more flex and droop can make a huge difference to how often you get, or rather don't get cross axled. Something as simple as standard rate longer springs and some longer shocks. Here are two open diff vehicles. Both with slight suspension mods. But note the difference in how they handle the terrain (same driver). A 100% standard 90 would get stopped a lot easier and in fact did so on the trail day when people were running the course.

I think people tend to complain about Detroit lockers more so in the front than the back. But I've not run them, so don't really know for sure. But from what I've read, it is normally lighter shortwheel base vehicles that they seem to be more unpleasant in. I know a 101 isn't super long wheel base, but they have a bit of heft about them. And I suspect probably aren't driven on road in the same way a 90 can be in the corners. Glad that setup works for you though. And some cool pics.

I like the idea of Detroits. Never actually run them though. From what I’ve heard they tend to favour heavier longer wheelbase vehicles unless it is primarily an off road vehicle. As they are more of an automated unlocker rather than locking. Not read the entire thread. So might have been mentioned. But I’d go for some Ashcroft ATB’s or just one in the rear. Requires no user intervention. Works all the time, even on the road. Super value for money.

As others have said, that tyre is probably pretty old now. The KM2 was introduced quite a long time back now. And that too is discontinued now. You might find some part used ones. Or maybe match it up with some remoulds of similar tread. The only real issue here is, the physical size might be slightly different and the compounds won't be exactly the same. but it would be doable. https://www.fedimatyres.com/en/4x4/4x4/fmud https://www.insaturbo.com/copia-de-k2-mt-1 That said, if it was me, I'd either just keep as a spare. Or flog it on ebay and simply buy a new complete set.

The KM2 came about due to lower drive by noise regs that came into place. Although I think overall they tended to out perform the original off road. The KM3 I haven't run, but have seen them in action and they are very impressive off road. About as good as I've seen from a 'new' (rather than remould) tread.

I think oiling the springs only really works on traditional leaf packs, as the leaves are touching each other and generate friction. On a parabolic leaf spring they only at the ends and in the middle. But don't move against each other. The coils on a coil spring also shouldn't normally be touching unless the spring is compressed or coil-bound.