GBMUD

Revisiting the Catalan engineering Mo? Chris

I watched you (Ed) drive your RR at a sedate pace up a badly dug out/cross-axley slope that my standard Defender 90 had just refused twice, at a more enthusiastic pace. Yes, wheels left the ground, but so did they on my Defender, and you drove to the top while I drove round. Ed is a carp driver 😜 😘 but the electronics and vehicle dynamics made up for it. D4 had more axle articulation than a 90 or 110 as standard - the most of any LR product at the time apparently. The downside of some vehicles with independent suspension came sharply home when I took my Freelander2 off-road in Wales with a group of Defender drivers. The figures suggest that the FL2 has 5mm less ground clearance than a 110 with a Salisbury axle, and it was just about bearable in ruts, but as soon as a situation where breakover angle came into play there was a bit of a scene, with a lot of waffles, piling up of rocks and realising who my friends were! We got it through, but all the Defenders drove it without help - if not without drama. @Dalai Lama The Freelander just has the same ground clearance all along, without 'extra' between the axles. I am massively looking forward to the new Defender, though there is no way I will be buying one till the beta testing has been done! Luckily, several of my friends have deposits down on them so I will get to see them up close. ...it may even hit Jeep JK/JL values, and I would quite like to try one of those - don't tell though. Chris P.S. Ed is a great driver really.

I am a bit rusty, but I did learn programing years ago. 😛 These days I have Jenny for that. Rudimentally, I do do programing - we all do - or did. Things like using the [ ] commands on older versions of the forum to make text appear in italics or bold. The point is that the hardware should be easy enough to obtain, and actually, learning to program is not that difficult - look at some of the people running, or even selling, Megasquirt! I assume that software for any given application would ship with the hardware. Chris

Possibly. When my computer breaks down PC world supply me a new HDD, graphics card, memory thing for quite cheap - and I fit it myself. I didn't used to know the first thing about computers but somewhere along the way I have apparently picked up up quite a lot. PC world do not charge the earth because they have competition. Demand is inevitably filled by entrepreneurs all of whom want to attract your business with reasonable prices. Chris

Rather than making one yourself, you just go to Britpart when you need a brake calliper, and so you will go to someone with FridgeFreezer's skill-set when you need an ECU and they will hand you a box to plug in. Chris

I don't think I have been paying road tax. Is this something I should be paying in addition to Vehicle Excise Duty? Am I likely to get into any trouble? Worried of Sussex Chris

I know they are pretty, but try to keep in mind that the pictures above and in the article are all guesses as to what LR actually have in mind - though some may be more accurate than others! Landrover has an opportunity to produce a vehicle to compete with all the Japanese pick-ups that farmers, utilities etc. are now using. They are comfortable and refined in a way no Defender has ever been, but that doesn't mean that Defender should be different. It has to be better than the competition in order to be saleable, but what does better mean? More durable? More comfortable? Better at load carrying? Better off-road? Lower running costs? Landrover has demonstrated that an enthusiast market alone cannot justify the cost of production, so they must be aware that they NEED the fleet buyer to make Defender a success, unless they hope to dilute sales of their other models - and BL went there in the 70s and surely wouldn't make the same mistake again!? Even if Defender does move closer to Discovery at the top end of the range, is that a bad thing? Many former Discovery owners adopted Defender in it's later years - and many found it wanting! If I were Landrover, what would I seek to sell? Well, a Japanese pick-up! OK, not exactly, but essentially that is the gap in Landrover's line-up left by Defender. It needs to be comfortable and offer modern conveniences as standard - AC, electric windows, sound deadening and a decent stereo. It will have to be able to tow 3.5 tonnes (that is expected of a Defender!) and carry a good load - *1000kg minimum in the 110 double-cab, perhaps more in a single cab variant. I am sure there is lots of technology Landrover can throw at Defender to make it good off-road! We should consider though, that new Defender is unlikely to be aimed at the winch challenger, the mud plugger, the play-day driver or the green-laner, nor even the owner of 'One Life Live It' stickers. We have already established that the enthusiast market will not support production. It will be aimed at attracting the commercial vehicle user who's job takes him down muddy tracks, onto building sites, farmers fields and so on. It still has to be easy to get in and out of (H+S, convenience etc!) so cannot be too high. I am pretty sure the L200 and Amarok designers have spent some considerable time and money researching and compromising on this point. I expect there will be a 2.0l turbo diesel and probably petrol options as well as larger, higher performance models aimed at those who tow or for models higher up the range. There can still be a basic model with the farmer or fleet buyer in mind, just as there is with Japanese/German/Chinese options. There is also an option to sell a higher spec model or models, just as they did with Defender. Why not have Discovery levels of comfort with the practicality of a utility vehicle? Even the Defender XS never got close! Any vehicle is going to be technically advanced and complicated, that is how the world is now. We want more driver aids and comforts, engines have to be cleaner and it all comes at the cost of complexity. But we will adapt to being able to diagnose and repair, just as we have with electric starters, electronic ignition, fuel injection and so on. Modern electronic systems CAN (pun intended) be made reliable. I would expect to see hybrid technology. One thing that could be most attractive to commercial/fleet buyers, it Landrover get the vehicle right, is residual value. That is, IMHO, one BIG reason why farmers kept buying Defenders as opposed to L200s. The L200 was cheap and comfy, you could fit a load of farm stuff and animals in the back and it was OK on fuel, but once it was three years old and a bit battered it was worthless. Defenders on the other hand... So economy of ownership is attractive, and if Landrover can make the new Defender desirable to the second hand/enthusiast market too, that could be their USP once more. We can only wait and see what comes, but Landrover are not known (these days) for launching vehicles and hoping for the best. They know inside and out who will buy them and why. I hope they see the world the same way as I do. I am greatly looking forward to seeing the new Defender, I hope it is a worthy replacement. * to meet VAT reclamation/company car tax rules as a commercial Chris

A friend was telling me about a vehicle almost identical to a Defender/copied from/pretending to be, but built in Portugal. Not a UMM, not a Santana/Iveco and not an Auverland. Any idea what he is thinking of? We think he has his wires crossed... Chris

Pre-heating the engine/oil sounds like a possible option if it is likely to 'melt' the jelly. I would not recommend it to anyone else, but if it were me then a camping stove under the sump would get the oil good and hot. Also, refilling the cooling system from the hot tap would be a possible pre-heat option - unless you (I mean 'I'!) had a preheater available. Chris

A heli-coil is often better than an original tapped hole. Chris

One bump. It would be a shame to throw them away when there must be a home for them.

White 110 SW. Having sold the car a few years ago, I have just found the original service book, owners manual etc. If the current owner would like them, please get in touch. Chris

I have been to Billing every year for the last 20-something years, but this year I will not be going to either the not-Billing show or the Kelmarsh show. Shame. I knew that Billing would one day come to an end, and TBH it is probably well overdue, but I don't plan to be spend my time and money supporting either half of a potentially split show over two weekends. Chris

Thanks Steve. I saw that one but found the price to be unpalatable. I am pleased to have found a solution which I am happy with for now. If it turns out to be a dud long term I will reconsider. Chris

I thought I should provide an update to this topic. Thanks everyone for the responses and ideas. I returned to Halfrauds to ask their advice on whether I had installed the window aerial properly. The response was that I should have bared the paint back from the windscreen surround before sticking the earth foil. Also, fitting the earth foil absolutely smooth with no creases or bubbles is important. They gave me a new aerial FOC which I fitted as they suggested and lo, it was no better. Then I had a thought. I disconnected the two USB chargers that were on in the car and immediately Radio 4 started playing clearly. The RF output from the cheap USB chargers was upsetting it. After a couple of days DABing I was finding that there were still a great many drop outs and it was not really satisfactory. After several visits to Halfrauds and failed attempts to 'Click and collect' I was able to buy a magnetic DAB aerial from them - £14.99. I know what you are thinking, but I already have a galvanised steel plate stuck to my roof from a past project, so I was able to install the magnetic aerial on the back of my roof. Instant improvement, I no longer get regular dropouts of signal, though I have not used the Defender a lot since so there is more testing to be done. The magnetic aerial will be vulnerable off-road, but hopefully it will just hang off the back of the car when going under low trees etc. and will not get damaged. Time will tell. Once again, thanks for the suggestions. Chris