Chicken Drumstick

Only ones in the UK most likely. In the USA it is viewed very differently.

2.3 as the base engine (think it is 270hp) or the 2.7 Ecoboost V6 with 310hp. Suspect there will be a V8 at some point too.

Better everything apart from the official tow rating.

About 10% by the numbers. Although reality will depend on how you drive and where. If you aren't in lock up much and are heavy footed, the gap is likely to be bigger. As they claim 29mpg average with the manual, I'd assume they are on the more economical end of driving style and use. I'd suggest a MEAN average for a manual Tdi would be more akin to 24-27mpg across a wider sample of people. Which would put an auto one at more like 22-24mpg average. Which would tally with the real world results I've seen with multiple auto Tdi's over the decades.

The seats were ok in the one I drove. But I did find find they hurt my leg after a while. Certainly less comfy than my p38 or even a traditional 90 in this regard.

A fair point. But I'm still not sure what scientific backup there is to say you should only use 70% of a vehicles official rating. As for towing on a hitch.... well I took this over the weigh bridge the other day and it said 18.8 tonnes loaded. The MB Track only weighs a little over 7 tonne. Not the same thing I know, but still.

I'm not sure their figures have any real scientific rational behind them. Surely the entire point of a legal manufacturer tow rating, is that is what the vehicle is safely capable of towing. The EU driving licence structure often likely limits or truncates this, as it sets additional limits based on your licence and vehicle category type. Basically I can't personally see any logical reason to accept the caravan clubs thinking. I would guess it likely came from a single, very out spoken member in a by-gone era. Who had very strong views about what you should tow. Also if this was in relation to vehicles from 50 years ago. Thinks have moved on massively, especially in areas such as braking, engine power, vehicle weight and stability systems. In other markets towing is quite different. Some of the new full size pickup trucks in the USA are rated to tow 30,000 - 33,000lbs!!!! Which is 13-15 tonnes metric. Way heavier than the vehicles in question. Yet they are deemed perfectly safe and acceptable.

Have seen 1 vehicle at the dealers with the 'walk through'. Although I'm not sure it really is a bit I'd want to step on, or if there is even room to do so. I suspect the cubby box could be retro fitted, but my hunch would be you'd struggle to get hold of one.

"The designers of both Triumph and Rover submitted plans for the new car, of which the latter was chosen. David Bache was to head the design team, inspired by exotic machinery such as the Ferrari Daytona and 365 GTC/4" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_SD1

Looks like the different materials are different colours to me.

Green is the colour I'd pick from the online configurator. However in the flesh I didn't actually like it. It does look better in the matt finish, but my word is it an expensive option or what! BTW - There looks to be a huge colour discrepancy in the pic above, look at the rear pillar with the small lights and compare to the rear wing. Bit odd looking, wonder if it is only visible on camera and not with the naked eye?

No it isn't, that is taking an extreme stance. Lots of things look 'similar'. Certain model years of Passat and Mondeo share a very strong design ethos. As Mr Jim R is a self declared Land Rover Series/Defender fan. And he building a vehicle in the image of.... It is of no surprise that it has very strong inspiration. The Grenadier and a Defender clearly look very different to anyone with eyes. But it is also clear to see there has been huge inspiration in the design. For example, here is the origin of the Land Cruiser line.... do you see any familiarity with any other 4x4's that would have been around in 1950'ish? 😉 Or maybe you consider this plagiarism too: In which case what has Ineos done any different to the Rover car company....?? Lets also not forget, Rover has had other 'inspired' car designs too...

It is. It is in the same place, doing the same job. It just isn't quite as pronounced. But the Grenadiers also looks different in shape and profile to that of a Defender or Series.

Jimny also has the hips too. Daresay there are others too.

Have seen the TV advert a few times. Only seen one 110 though on the road. Excluding the one I drove and the one a friend has bought (which I've only seen parked in his garden so far).

BFG KM3’s can be had in 7.50 x 16. Probably the best tyre for your use and the correct size.

A tuned 2.25 petrol will not produce anything like the torque of a Tdi and likely lacking power too if the Tdi is tuned. I’m sure it’s all possible to get it to work. But I’d put a penny on a pound it’ll be horrid and sluggish to drive.

It's a bit hard to tell what is going on and the video is highly edited so you don't really get to see the entire thing without it being cut, slowed, split screen etc. I'm guessing the ABS was kicking in trying to stop the wheel skidding. And he lost control? I recall an issue with a Welsh hill farmer and a Td5 Defender with a similar issue when the Td5 first came out. Think it was going forwards downhill and the vehicle just wouldn't stop.

What do you plan to use the vehicle for? With parabolics the spring should move up and down a lot more compared to a regular leaf pack. So in theory you need a shock capable of handling this. I suspect, unless you are spending hours running high speed in the Oz outback or in Africa somewhere, it is probably way less of an issue than is often made out to be. Parabolics should offer good flex, although this will depend on how many leaves they have. I found many sold in the UK are HD setups and ride badly and flex badly unless very heavily laden. I used to run 2 leaf parabolics on the back of my 88 for instance, whereas I know some sold in the UK are 4 leaf. If you run a longer shock, you should be able to get more droop from the suspension, which is good for off road. The only trouble is, under compression it might bottom out the shock if it is too long to fully compress. In which case, you'd need to alter the upper shock mounts. Or run a shorter shock. Generally, like with the coil sprung vehicles, a +2" shock will probably work without changing the mounts though. As for actual shocks, anything with the right mounting and length can be used. It doesn't need to be specifically sold for a Series. I used to run some Rough Country shocks, which I actually thought were pretty good considering they were pretty cheap. If you are going firmly on road only, then extra travel doesn't matter so much. So it will be a balance between ride comfort and body control. The flexy 2 leaf parabolics will give you a lot more lean on road than a regular leaf pack. If you are on HD parabolics you may not notice this. But suitable damping may well help in this regard. Oh, make sure you check the shock eye size. The Series is old school and uses a large eye and bush. Many modern shocks use a much smaller mounting eye. Or give David at Llama4x4 a shout. I'm sure he'll be able to sort you out with something: https://llama4x4.com/

Probably an odd comparison really. The new Defender is much more akin to a Grand Cherokee these days than a Wrangler. Although just looking at the Jeep UK website and it no longer had the Grand Cherokee listed.

The electronic stabilisation is very good. I have it on a Hero 6 GoPro. It’s so good I didn’t bother getting a gimbal in the end.

I would think an auto 2.25 would be horrifically slow and be in single digits mpg wise. A V8 should match or exceed a 2.25 mpg wise.

Tdi could be done. But as an ex-owner of a Tdi Series. I'd say not to bother. They go well enough. But the Tdi lump is so unrefined and noisy in a Series. V8 would be a much better bet in my opinion. It's better in every way apart from mpg. Which if you aren't doing big annual mileages in it, won't matter anyhow. Pretty much anything else is likely to be more money and effort. And possibly by many magnitudes too. Although, there are quite literally hundreds of possibilities. But the RV8 is often found in Lightweights and/or Series vehicles. And occasionally with an auto. So it is a proven conversion that you can easily get all the parts for.

How much money are you wanting to spend on this? Will you be doing the work? Rover V8 and ZF auto is likely the easiest, but still quite a lot of work.

Good video, thanks for sharing. At the 6min mark. I think that was all driver I'm afraid. Not knocking them, especially in a new expensive vehicle. But stopping dead and driving so gentle just makes it hard work. But I probably come from a different school of off road driving. I learned on the farm and for trials competitions. The latter you don't get spotters, you can't stop and you only get once chance. Lovely scenery in the video. I think overall though, the vid generally showed how much more capable and deployable are the older live axle models are vs the new one. BTW at the end on the sand, was that D4 having the throttle killed by the electronic gubbins?