deep

There are days when cynics just irritate me and today is one of them. If you lack sufficient discernment to see where the journalists are genuinely impressed, you could at least think about why they might be.

Please keep them coming, Naks. It's not a car I'd ever see myself buying (I hate some computer programmer controlling the car for me and dislike the whole Big Brother approach to modern car design, plus I don't want back seats) but it doesn't mean I'm not interested and I do want the car to do well. I mean, if my boss replaced my clapped out work vehicle with one, I wouldn't complain... Anyway, these reviews are pretty positive. They flippin' well should be!

A long read but a good one. Imprisoned in my home for four weeks, I'll need some long reads!

Pretty much bang on! The other thing that often gets overlooked is that a really supple suspension allows four wheels to push the car for as long as possible, spreading the load in terrain where traction is poor. Stiffer suspension means one wheel will lose that contact quicker (which also offloads the diagonally opposite wheel) and that significantly loads the traction demands on the remaining wheels. While modern traction control has done a fantastic control of mitigating that traction loss, the same system fitted to car with supple suspension is going to win every time. My 110 has no traction control beyond the centre diff lock and it still goes a remarkably long way, like it did when it was new. A tiny bit of impetus is standard practice on those show-off cross-axle situations and is undramatic and easy. (Not that I wouldn't mind some fancy differentials...) The main reason "modern" four wheel drive vehicles are tending towards stiffer suspension with less travel is absolutely not because it makes them better off road! It's all about making a faster road car, knowing they can compensate for the resultant shortcomings in rough country by throwing increasingly complex technology at it. To be fair, LR do that quite well. The other "benefit" of relying on that technology, as somebody mentioned dozens of pages back, is the brain-dead approach modern society has adopted, wherein you don't learn to use something properly anymore. Instead, you plough in and hurt yourself and then sue somebody else as if it's his fault that you are stupid. Manufacturers seem to want to avoid that. Oh yes, that ground clearance thing. I took the numbers from the new Defender literature and then got under my old 110 with a tape measure. Only my diff housings are lower and not by much. Otherwise, the old vehicle is many inches higher. I frequently drive over a riverbed with large rocks and I know which one is going to find that easier!

Nah, it's actually designed to be cleaned. Rubber under the carpet and no door sills to stop you sweeping dirt out, for example, plus a heap of load protection options. It might have other shortcomings but they did at least design it to get dirty. That touchscreen!!! Crazy idea.

Great timing! New Zealand has gone into a "state of emergency" and everyone's been told to hole up for four weeks. Could at least spend a day looking at on-line reviews! From what I've seen so far in the reviews, there are some positives. Big fleets and the cars have been problem-free, other than punctures. 60, 70, even 80 m.p.h. on a big sand plain could have turned an old-school Land Rover upside down. They've done some genuine off-roading (at least as much as most people do anyway) without ripping that vulnerable-looking front off or dragging the undersides out. It seems a little louder and, apparently, stiffer than expected. It will sell like hotcakes but, as has been mentioned so often, not to people who want a utility-type vehicle... It's going to be an entertaining few days.

Ta for that. "Bored" won't be the problem, more what big brother will deem acceptable. Grabbed the opening yesterday and took the Land Rover into the dunes for a massive beach walk with a good friend and the dogs. Not another soul in sight! They say that's going to be a no-no anyway. Also no hunting (freezers are full of venny but I wouldn't mind a photo of a roaring stag) and no this that and the other. Huge mac down next door to cut up - will the chainsaws bring the isolation police running? Strange days but at least it's not just me and you being strange this time... Awesome you got your supplies in. Hope you get to use them without hassles.

Got to be an up-side to the madness. I'll bet you get a heap done. I suspect there'll just be a little bit of deskwork for me, giving time to attack the backlog at home. If I don't go insane first! Living alone might not be fun for four weeks.

The TV programme has become near enough unwatchable, due mostly to one presenter in particular who is loud and unpleasant. Fortunately, as you say, it looks like this review will be by somebody else. I really hope so!

Five days. Will we finally get some meat in the white bread information sandwich?

So true. Obviously, they've got/given themselves the right to use the Defender name on anything they like but, as has been said many times on previous pages, if this had come out as the Discovery 5 there would have been very little complaining. Probably quite a lot of praise, even. On the other hand, pretending you can replace one type of vehicle with a very different kind, just by introducing facile "styling cues", is opening yourself to not just criticism but more to the sort of ridicule which would lead a normal man (one without such a thick shield of ego) to years of self-questioning and psychiatric counselling. What a muppet!

Likewise. However, I would make sure the threads are in excellent order (and that there is no damage, obviously). Two reasons. One is ability to handle the load and the other is that a mildly damaged thread could play havoc with your torque settings. But you knew that...

Is it just me, or would that have created less angst if it had been wheeled out with a "Defender" badge on the front, instead of what LR actually produced? Don't know what's underneath but the clean lines, big rubber and decent ground clearance inspire confidence on the strength of one photo! Nice.

Something I've looked forward to every morning for the last few months is to see what new information or insights fellow enthusiasts on the other side of the world have provided in this thread while I've been asleep. This morning, it was nothing but petty bickering, completely out of character for this site. Stop it! Thanks for all the Namibia links, Naks.

Um..... isn't the world's best selling vehicle a Ford pickup? Ahem. Around here, crew cab pickups sell like absolute hotcakes and half the telly advertising is aimed at that market.