deep Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 I had been thinking of resurrecting this thread in a slightly different way (interesting as the "130" is). It's been a great read, over a few years now but, with speculation largely gone (130 excepted) it has gone quiet. I was wondering how, a couple of years along and with an amazing number of engine options and 2.2 body styles to choose from, the new Defender has settled into the market? Two things have struck me. 1) I see more of them than I expected to on the road. They're not common, not by a long shot (I'd see at least ten Ford Everests to one new Defender, for example) but I already see more than I do the older Disco 5 and clearly people are buying quite a few of them. The predictions of JLR being doomed because they didn't give us what we wanted were as accurate as most of us thought... 2) The ones I do see almost always have a boat on the roof, bikes on the back or at least a loaded roof rack and a decent covering of dust. It seems the people who are buying them are the well-heeled type who enjoy active, outdoor pursuits. It's clear the marketing has been very good because that was pretty much how they presented the new model to us. It's just been surprising how many are actually being used like that. I do see most of them on the open road - I don't live in a city and my work involves a fair bit of driving between rural towns. It's very likely going to be different if you see them in suburbia - or maybe not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 7 minutes ago, deep said: Two things have struck me. 1) I see more of them than I expected to on the road. They're not common, not by a long shot (I'd see at least ten Ford Everests to one new Defender, for example) but I already see more than I do the older Disco 5 and clearly people are buying quite a few of them. The predictions of JLR being doomed because they didn't give us what we wanted were as accurate as most of us thought... 2) The ones I do see almost always have a boat on the roof, bikes on the back or at least a loaded roof rack and a decent covering of dust. It seems the people who are buying them are the well-heeled type who enjoy active, outdoor pursuits. It's clear the marketing has been very good because that was pretty much how they presented the new model to us. It's just been surprising how many are actually being used like that. I do see most of them on the open road - I don't live in a city and my work involves a fair bit of driving between rural towns. It's very likely going to be different if you see them in suburbia - or maybe not? Round here (Beds/Bucks area) they seem almost common if I'm honest. Even a good number of 90's about. That said I'd guess more than 50% of them are black, with white being the most popular other colour by a big margin. Only seen 1 hard top mind and it was blue. I'd always thought they'd sell well. But they really are a great spiritual successor to the D3. Which also sold very well at launch. And iit certainly fulfil the same brief perfectly. Round this way Range Rover Sports are also plentiful (the most common LR model I'd say). And no lack of L405 Range Rover's either. With deepest regret, it seems the current JLR line-up seems to be the new "Audi" out on the roads. Very popular with a certain type who seem to have money to burn and are fascinated by labels and image. Disco 5's are probably the rarest, don't see all that many. And as an odd observation, the local Suzuki dealership has 50% more used Land Rover's for sale than it does Suzuki's. And I'm pretty sure they aren't trade in's. But ones they have bought to trade on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Range Rover Sports are common here as well and Discovery Sports are in every supermarket carpark.. We do see truckloads of Disco 3s and 4s. They must have done well. Come to think of it, they're the ones I used to see with boats on the roof and bikes on the back - and earlier Range Rovers before that. I think I've seen one new Defender in white (looked way less boring than I expected) and one in all black (very dull looking). The vast majority are coloured, mostly the green option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Green 110 on the white steel wheels today parked up on Ivinghoe Beaocn. Only one I saw today. Shame they don't offer any solid colours like red or even "Land Rover" green...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 On 1/22/2022 at 6:43 PM, Chicken Drumstick said: Round here (Beds/Bucks area) they seem almost common if I'm honest. Even a good number of 90's about. That said I'd guess more than 50% of them are black, with white being the most popular other colour by a big margin. Only seen 1 hard top mind and it was blue. I'd always thought they'd sell well. But they really are a great spiritual successor to the D3. Which also sold very well at launch. And iit certainly fulfil the same brief perfectly. Round this way Range Rover Sports are also plentiful (the most common LR model I'd say). And no lack of L405 Range Rover's either. Disco 5's are probably the rarest, don't see all that many. Same here in Oxfordshire. Loads of new defenders around along with Lots of D3, D4 and late L320 RRS. I probably see 10 of each of those to 1 D5 on my commute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 You barely see any around here in Belgium. Makes sense too, too expensive for most people to own privately, and fiscally not interesting as a company car because LR dropped the ball with the PHEV. If they had gotten it under 50g CO²/100km, there would be a bunch of them running around. And I would have one on order instead of a GLE 350e. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 57 minutes ago, elbekko said: You barely see any around here in Belgium. Makes sense too, too expensive for most people to own privately, and fiscally not interesting as a company car because LR dropped the ball with the PHEV. If they had gotten it under 50g CO²/100km, there would be a bunch of them running around. And I would have one on order instead of a GLE 350e. You're moving in the wrong circles. 😉 I regularly see new Defenders around Leuven, Brussels, Antwerp... But yeah, road tax is expensive and that puts many people off. That goes for most if not all full size 4x4s, bar a few PHEVs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldorf Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 4 hours ago, elbekko said: You barely see any around here in Belgium. Makes sense too, too expensive for most people to own privately, and fiscally not interesting as a company car because LR dropped the ball with the PHEV. If they had gotten it under 50g CO²/100km, there would be a bunch of them running around. And I would have one on order instead of a GLE 350e. The GLE isn't too bad as 'the sensible option', is it. My LR salesman told me the new Defender sells realy well, much beter than they anticipated. The problem is getting them delivered, with all the shortages in the automotive industry. There are people waiting for a new Defender for a year now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 2 minutes ago, Waldorf said: The GLE isn't too bad as 'the sensible option', is it. My LR salesman told me the new Defender sells realy well, much beter than they anticipated. The problem is getting them delivered, with all the shortages in the automotive industry. There are people waiting for a new Defender for a year now. No, it isn't. And the PHEV with air suspension will tow 3500kg, which Land Rover haven't figured out yet. I poked them on Facebook a while back and asked what was up with that, and they said it had to to with the battery weight on the rear axle. Not sure how the Mercedes with a bigger battery doesn't have that problem, but hey... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 2 hours ago, elbekko said: No, it isn't. And the PHEV with air suspension will tow 3500kg, which Land Rover haven't figured out yet. I poked them on Facebook a while back and asked what was up with that, and they said it had to to with the battery weight on the rear axle. Not sure how the Mercedes with a bigger battery doesn't have that problem, but hey... Wonder if they've managed to get more of the battery weight further forward? Also though.... The difference between towing ~2000kg and 3500kg isn't going to be that much more noseweight and therefore weight on the rear axle is it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 200kg towing nose weight according to Google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Chicken Drumstick said: 200kg towing nose weight according to Google. For both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Maximum trailer noseweight depends on the towbar type fitted and not the engine: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 I see Land Rover have just put out a couple of videos selling the new 130. Definitely looks the more practical option for anyone wanting a commercial vehicle - except they go on about it being an eight-seater, which bypasses that idea a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naks Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 We don't even need to speculate about the occupants had this been in a "real" Defender... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 Perhaps the 'proper' defender driver wouldn't have been overtaking on the inside of a truck and therefore avoided the incident entirely. Very poor driving -the Mazda had no reason to expect there would be a vehicle there travelling at such speed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 1 hour ago, Bowie69 said: Perhaps the 'proper' defender driver wouldn't have been overtaking on the inside of a truck and therefore avoided the incident entirely. Very poor driving -the Mazda had no reason to expect there would be a vehicle there travelling at such speed. Idiots are to be found driving all kinds of vehicles, 'proper' Defender's included. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the standard of driving in that clip the integrity of the passenger compartment of the vehicle after the incident potentially offered greater survivability when compared to the relatively flimsy hardtop on a standard 'proper' Defender. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 2 minutes ago, Happyoldgit said: Idiots are to be found driving all kinds of vehicles, 'proper' Defender's included. Quite, but what I meant was most 'proper' defenders would likely not even reach that speed.... Modern vehicles do save lives, no doubt. I wouldn't want an accident in any of the old crocs I drive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 53 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: Quite, but what I meant was most 'proper' defenders would likely not even reach that speed.... Modern vehicles do save lives, no doubt. I wouldn't want an accident in any of the old crocs I drive. Gotcha. Very true although I have to say that the last two or three Puma's I bought went pretty well but I was always mindful that it was no stronger in the body dept than the standard Series jobbies I trundled about in decades ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 Any high speed accident in one of my Defenders/110 is not likely to end well. That anyone survived the barrel roll and shedding of panels is quite surprising; a lot of bits were shed, one of them looked like a wheel hub? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 3 hours ago, Bowie69 said: Perhaps the 'proper' defender driver wouldn't have been overtaking on the inside of a truck and therefore avoided the incident entirely. Very poor driving -the Mazda had no reason to expect there would be a vehicle there travelling at such speed. American lane use seems to follow very different rules... ie none. Still shouldn't be changing lanes without properly checking the mirrors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 28 minutes ago, elbekko said: American lane use seems to follow very different rules... ie none. Still shouldn't be changing lanes without properly checking the mirrors. It’s the same in the Middle East, but with motorway junctions reversed so the entry (on ramp) is often before the exit (off ramp), causing joining and leaving traffic to cross each other at speed in the short distance available. 🫣 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deep Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 Somebody at the factory will be feeling smug. Sadly, this is evolution completely broken as a process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 15 hours ago, Snagger said: It’s the same in the Middle East, but with motorway junctions reversed so the entry (on ramp) is often before the exit (off ramp), causing joining and leaving traffic to cross each other at speed in the short distance available. 🫣 Aah yes, we have a few entry/exits like that as well. No fun when driving something heavy/slow and people around you don't seem to have a clue where they need to go... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naks Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 18 hours ago, Bowie69 said: Quite, but what I meant was most 'proper' defenders would likely not even reach that speed.... Modern vehicles do save lives, no doubt. I wouldn't want an accident in any of the old crocs I drive. That ND was probably doing around 120-130kmh, which is what I often drive at on our highways. But I have resigned myself to not surviving any sort of collision in my Puma 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.