elbekko Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 Nice to see what a competent driver can do: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 4, 2021 Share Posted June 4, 2021 Nice clip and nice car! I'm not usually a fan of roo-bars, in this case I think it really improves the looks. I still think it would be even more fun in an older LR/RR, preferably with lockers (the new one isn't standard either, so some modifications can be justified IMHO). The independant suspension might have a small edge because of more clearance in the deep ruts, I remember last year an L322 on ATs just managing where a Defender on MT bottomed out. Would be great to drive similar tracks in our P38s! 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremySteel Posted June 5, 2021 Share Posted June 5, 2021 For those with some disposable income... New Defender on 35's! - YouTube 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted June 5, 2021 Share Posted June 5, 2021 On 6/4/2021 at 8:56 PM, Escape said: Nice clip and nice car! I'm not usually a fan of roo-bars, in this case I think it really improves the looks. I still think it would be even more fun in an older LR/RR, preferably with lockers (the new one isn't standard either, so some modifications can be justified IMHO). The independant suspension might have a small edge because of more clearance in the deep ruts, I remember last year an L322 on ATs just managing where a Defender on MT bottomed out. Would be great to drive similar tracks in our P38s! 😎 It's good to know somebody has come up with some sort of protection for that super-vulnerable front end (as far as I can see, the standard setup is a heap of radiators loosely protected behind that bulbous plastic nose) but those bars look like they are only supported down low and wouldn't be up for much impact. Better than nothing. Otherwise, what struck me about that video was that it was "ordinary". A decently sorted four wheel drive vehicle having a go at some challenging tracks. We've seen this for years, with locked or lifter older Land Rovers or modified modern ones (check out the Misadventure4x4 YouTube channel for an example) but it's the first time I've seen the new Defender really getting stuck in - and yes, I've seen American videos tiptoeing over dry rocks and playing with the traction control. Talking of which, it almost looks like that 110 has a locked front diff, the way the wheel in the air matches the speed of the one on the ground. Is that normal?? Best bit was the sound. I wonder if I can get a muffler for my Freelander 2 that would produce a similar yowl? I LOVE straight sixes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted June 5, 2021 Share Posted June 5, 2021 1 hour ago, deep said: It's good to know somebody has come up with some sort of protection for that super-vulnerable front end (as far as I can see, the standard setup is a heap of radiators loosely protected behind that bulbous plastic nose) but those bars look like they are only supported down low and wouldn't be up for much impact. Better than nothing. Otherwise, what struck me about that video was that it was "ordinary". A decently sorted four wheel drive vehicle having a go at some challenging tracks. We've seen this for years, with locked or lifter older Land Rovers or modified modern ones (check out the Misadventure4x4 YouTube channel for an example) but it's the first time I've seen the new Defender really getting stuck in - and yes, I've seen American videos tiptoeing over dry rocks and playing with the traction control. Talking of which, it almost looks like that 110 has a locked front diff, the way the wheel in the air matches the speed of the one on the ground. Is that normal?? Best bit was the sound. I wonder if I can get a muffler for my Freelander 2 that would produce a similar yowl? I LOVE straight sixes. I think that bar is a Land Rover part for the Aussie market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 21 hours ago, JeremySteel said: For those with some disposable income... New Defender on 35's! - YouTube OK, I have to admit, I'm impressed! It looks much better on 35" Tyres - and clearly performs well. I love the aesthetic of original Defenders - but one of these with some mods ticks some boxes for me. I sold my 110 a few months ago (first time since I passed my test, I've not owned a proper Land Rover) and I've noticed I've started looking at both these and original defenders with a sense of longing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Nice to see someone drive using only the power and speed that they need, not crashing about with fountains of mud. I think most 4wd cars with similar tyres and diff locks would have managed just as well, especially if they had an automatic transmission. Still, it certainly didn’t disappoint. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naks Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 some Friday light entertainment 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Looking forward to their next great adventure, going shopping in a mall IN ANOTHER TOWN! Looks like this was their first, and probably last time offroad. Pretty much the audience LR seems to target these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted June 12, 2021 Share Posted June 12, 2021 Was there a LR in that video? The hills and valleys I was watching had nothing to do with the offload centre. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 I haven’t watched it yet, but I’d guess that the video is more about these two than the cars. They look like stereotypical “influencers” to me, and the comments above don’t inspire me to bother finding out if that’s right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Snagger said: I haven’t watched it yet, You haven't missed anything, even the hills and valleys mentioned are not worth the effort. 😄 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 I had a brief poke around a new Defender today and I have to say the cabin is pretty nice and yet still somehow familiar, honestly didn't feel very far removed from the later high-spec Defenders or the more tastefully re-upholstered ones. In fact I'd say it is far nicer and classier than the Puma (/Ford Fiesta/Transit) dash and not festooned with buttons and things. Also they seem to look about 300% more proper on a set of AT's, a bit like how the OE bog-standard spec 90's on skinny 205's always looked fairly poor compared to throwing a set of AT 235's on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 22 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: I had a brief poke around a new Defender today and I have to say the cabin is pretty nice and yet still somehow familiar, honestly didn't feel very far removed from the later high-spec Defenders or the more tastefully re-upholstered ones. In fact I'd say it is far nicer and classier than the Puma (/Ford Fiesta/Transit) dash and not festooned with buttons and things. I felt the same familiarity the first time I sat in one. To be fair though, as this thread attests, I've been looking at photos and videos of the car for quite a long time now, so that shouldn't be surprising. It is fairly tasteful but, unlike you, I would hugely prefer it to be festooned with buttons and things - ones that I can find and use without fiddling with a stupidly complicated touchscreen in a moving vehicle! Just the couple of little taps my Freelander 2 screen needs every single time I drive off is irritating enough. I'd hate to be doing all my audio through it as well, let alone all the gimcracks they fit in late model Land Rovers (and other cars, of course). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 https://web2.wheelz.me/jaguar-land-rover-to-develop-hydrogen-powered-defender-fuel-cell-prototype/ Could be interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 15 hours ago, deep said: I felt the same familiarity the first time I sat in one. To be fair though, as this thread attests, I've been looking at photos and videos of the car for quite a long time now, so that shouldn't be surprising. It is fairly tasteful but, unlike you, I would hugely prefer it to be festooned with buttons and things - ones that I can find and use without fiddling with a stupidly complicated touchscreen in a moving vehicle! Just the couple of little taps my Freelander 2 screen needs every single time I drive off is irritating enough. I'd hate to be doing all my audio through it as well, let alone all the gimcracks they fit in late model Land Rovers (and other cars, of course). Oh I vastly prefer buttons but the Defender interior is at least minimally cluttered - some manufacturers seem to think the more stuff you cram in the better and manage to create dashboards that still have a bl**dy awful touchscreen or three but also a load of buttons and knobs around the place that look like they were fired out of a cannon at the dash and installed where they landed. The Defender dash reminded me a bit of proper old Volvos where there only a few buttons and they were very clear and simple. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremySteel Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 I'm a button person too and after living with a new Defender for 6 months the mix of electrical/mechanical controls is quite good. Some functions took me months to discover as the e-handbook is very poor and looks rushed. (Even a donkey like me could have written a better one). Sadly, it has been let down by JLR's bugbear - software. The Pivi-Pro system has yet another major upgrade coming to sort sillies. Pivi-Pro has been a wonderful example of Marketing over Maturity. My Defender has been at the Dealership a total of 2 weeks in 6 months trying to sort software and usually failing or aborting. Some faults were magically fixed by SOTA . I'll add that none of the faults brought the car to a halt. The vehicle itself is superb though I nearly gave myself a hernia lifting the 32kg spare wheel back onto its location. HFCs - I'm a big fan and project Zeus has been running for a few years now. I understand the arguments about total energy 'efficiency' versus BEV batteries but I can't see an alternative for a totally electric 4x4 vehicle that can tow a horse-box for >200 miles and refuel in 5 minutes. Just imagine a tonne of battery required making a >3 tonne Defender or RR. Same for HGVs , I can't agree with Elon on this. Also, there are some big and medium Companies involved in design/manufacture of massive electrolysers (e.g. Cummins, Linde, ITM etc.). And JCB announcing an ICE using hydrogen. The trouble is fueling infrastructure; is it something like 11 H2 stations in UK right now? Slightly chicken & egg I guess. One day, or maybe not. And don't forget the mining involved for battery manufacture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 No doubt the new Defender's screen/control layout is a neater and better version than most of it's peers. I can also understand how manufacturers must love those screens because they can add all sorts of "capability" without the need for more switches and the like. That doesn't make them ideal, of course. Far from it! What does baffle me, given the universal decision to use touchscreens instead of direct controls, is that almost none of them are angled towards or mounted near the driver. Virtually all of them are plonked in the middle of the dash, facing the middle passenger in the back seat. A looong stretch for the driver and eyes many degrees away from the road. Plain stupid! Then again, it's hard to think of any good design in vehicles made this century... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 As a software guy, these days it's all so insanely complicated that by the time it hits the dealers it's already out of date, and complex software is never bug-free - when you had a single ECU running on an 8-bit micro with 64k of RAM you could take the NASA approach and a small team could quite easily prove it totally reliable under all possible circumstances. These days the dashboard is running some custom variant of Linux plus several huge software stacks for the graphical interface and multimedia etc. and probably more power than a home computer of not so many years ago, with millions of lines of code you can never truly get all the bugs out of it (Microsoft have never stopped updating Windows in the last 40 years after all). Unfortunately it's the way of all things - you've got Tesla updating cars over the internet and turning off features or even reducing your battery power like a bad iPhone update so I guess we should be grateful JLR aren't going too mad with it all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 23 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: Unfortunately it's the way of all things - you've got Tesla updating cars over the internet and turning off features or even reducing your battery power like a bad iPhone update so I guess we should be grateful JLR aren't going too mad with it all. You're not kidding. Like any good Land Rover owner, I waited five years before replacing my old iPhone (still on its original operating system) with a brand new "Pro" version on the latest system. It's disappointing to see the new setup is no faster at all and the battery life is worse. Yet the endless gimmicks have increased hugely. But it has more cameras. Exactly like getting a new Land Rover, really... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 What was all the banter about independent suspension not being able to flex and beam axles being vastly superior? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 The bonnet and grill clearly show it's no standard Defender. Could well be suspension upgrades actually made things worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 That looks like the Ineos front end to me ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 That's because it's a picture of the Grenadier. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 It is referencend in the Grenadier topic. In fairness IIRC the front suspension of a legacy Defender or Series does not move much anyway it is the rear that flexes due to engine weight etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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