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Thoughts and musings on the new defender


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Some exciting news for me - friend of mine has now done 3000km in his new Defender, and now wants to test if off-raod against my RRS.

We are now debating which of these two trails we're going to do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1NIDVuaT4A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqOPRESN4Bk

The first one has some very technical sections, and my RRS struggles a bit with the one obstacle requiring plenty of rock building, whereas the second one will be very slippery as it has been raining non-stop for the past week.

That tricked out 90 with full ARB lockers will also be there, and possible another new Defender.

decisions, decisions!

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2 minutes ago, Chicken Drumstick said:

Nice decision to have :)

Please get video and photos if possible.

Although, seeing as the basic suspension setup and off road systems in the new Defender are very akin to the D3/RRS. I would expect it to perform very very similar. Do they have the optional rear locker at all?

 

Yeah, he just wants help understanding how to drive with TR, he's been driving Pumas for the past 10 years or so.

More likely that he will outdo my RRS, due to his higher ground clearance and more advanced TR. I did tell him to spec it with the rear e-diff, but not sure if he did. 

I'm definitely taking my GoPro with 😁

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I hit a badger in an XF I'd had for one week and did £4k of damage despite the vehicle outwardly looking fine except for the bonnet (the pedestrian protection system writes it off) so this is a more expensive vehicle with far worse damage.

New bumper

New bonnet

New wing

Entire new wheel station, possibly inc. suspension 

New alloy wheel

New tyre

New light cluster?

Unknown damage underneath, damage to mounts and stuff

Potential damage to crash structure

Labour

£1k just for blending in the whole front of the car (assuming it wouldn't be a total respray but depends on a lot of factors like who's doing it).

I have no idea of parts cost for panels but £1k for the bonnet alone wouldn't be out of line with other JLR products. Sounds OTT but modern cars usually are more damaged than you expect for even slow speed accidents due to crash safety. I would have thought £6-7k absolute minimum.

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On 8/8/2020 at 10:51 AM, Chicken Drumstick said:

Surely it would be void warranty. Not Type Approval. At least not in the U.K.  There are guidelines on what you can do to a vehicle before it would need an Individual Vehicle Approval. And changing the brakes as an aftermarket modification, on their own wouldn’t cause this. 

You may be right - fortunately the law here is rather more flexible - though I'm surprised that messing with a safety system like brakes doesn't void type approvals, you are after all putting a smaller set of brakes on a faster car which if it met the standards would surely have been done in the first place if only to save money...

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1 hour ago, BogMonster said:

You may be right - fortunately the law here is rather more flexible - though I'm surprised that messing with a safety system like brakes doesn't void type approvals, you are after all putting a smaller set of brakes on a faster car which if it met the standards would surely have been done in the first place if only to save money...

I guess in theory it is the same outcome as making a slower car with smaller brakes faster.... :)

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1 hour ago, missingsid said:

First though you have to ignore the past history/uses of the original Defender, this isn't a replacement just a reuse of a name and brand.

I don't think you should ignore this point at all. In fact, as most cars are bought with some degree of passion and interest. I think this is the most critical part and point to consider.

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11 hours ago, ThreePointFive said:

I hit a badger in an XF I'd had for one week and did £4k of damage despite the vehicle outwardly looking fine except for the bonnet (the pedestrian protection system writes it off) so this is a more expensive vehicle with far worse damage.

New bumper

New bonnet

New wing

Entire new wheel station, possibly inc. suspension 

New alloy wheel

New tyre

New light cluster?

Unknown damage underneath, damage to mounts and stuff

Potential damage to crash structure

Labour

£1k just for blending in the whole front of the car (assuming it wouldn't be a total respray but depends on a lot of factors like who's doing it).

I have no idea of parts cost for panels but £1k for the bonnet alone wouldn't be out of line with other JLR products. Sounds OTT but modern cars usually are more damaged than you expect for even slow speed accidents due to crash safety. I would have thought £6-7k absolute minimum.

That's assuming the aluminium monocoque isn't out of alignment, in which case it may not even be repairable (depending on where in the world you live).  I wonder what messages the computer is flashing on that telly screen?

I wonder what it hit?  Hopefully something more solid than a paper bag to cause that (localised) damage!

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On 8/15/2020 at 12:37 PM, Chicken Drumstick said:

I don't think you should ignore this point at all. In fact, as most cars are bought with some degree of passion and interest. I think this is the most critical part and point to consider.

Sorry don't agree, to me this is a cheaper interim car to get trendies in to buying a Discovery 5/RR later. All manufacturers do this, move the well known model up in size/spec/price then add a new car where the old one was.

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My friend, whose only experience of Land Rovers is being passenger on a couple of laning trips with me, just asked me about the new Defender.

He’s big into 70’s music - so the analogy I used to try and explain it was :

Quote

This is a bit like Yes ‘reforming’ in the 80’s with non of the original members and being produced by stock aitken and Waterman  

is that about right do you think? 

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On 8/14/2020 at 10:53 PM, Bowie69 said:

Guess the bill....

£3k?

And the rest! I think ThreePointFive is closer to the mark, maybe even still a bit low. My MINI was keyed the entire length of the passenger side - repaint of the whole side and the bonnet was quoted at £1900. When it was driven into at work, the total bill for just the rear bumper and painting it (everything underneath was fine) was £1400. 

From memory, that corner of the car has an oil cooler hidden away in there as well. 

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2 minutes ago, landroversforever said:

And the rest! I think ThreePointFive is closer to the mark, maybe even still a bit low. My MINI was keyed the entire length of the passenger side - repaint of the whole side and the bonnet was quoted at £1900. When it was driven into at work, the total bill for just the rear bumper and painting it (everything underneath was fine) was £1400. 

From memory, that corner of the car has an oil cooler hidden away in there as well. 

....and so we all come to the slow realisation that we have all been duped -if cars were made to be as practical and reliable as possible, they would cost a quarter of what they do, and the only reasons they cost as much as they do.... is the pose factor and the protectionist nature of the EU towards the motor industry.

 

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5 hours ago, Bowie69 said:

....and so we all come to the slow realisation that we have all been duped -if cars were made to be as practical and reliable as possible, they would cost a quarter of what they do, and the only reasons they cost as much as they do.... is the pose factor and the protectionist nature of the EU towards the motor industry.

 

Plus the cost enforced by the sheer number of (often complex) components!

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