The Defender has been to a little motorsport garage and the elves have worked their magic on it...
Last edited by AM94; 22nd September 2015 at 17:02.
I was told as a father I needed a people carrier so off I went to find a 7 seater.
In light of falling fuel prices and recent dodgy dealings with diesel cars I decided a petrol estate with a 5.5 l supercharged engine was the sensible and rational course of action.
I have deleted the screen that records fuel consumption, its bound to be massaged down by the manufacturers anyway, and just play with the multitude of electric toys it has.
Oh and it goes a bit..
Last edited by DavidL; 24th September 2015 at 19:45.
Yeah that is probably the best bet. By 2019 we should be flush with choice!
My new arrival, picked up today. Sold my 110 last year for a RR Sport but I missed her so much the RR had to go.
So many trucks away from their native environment. See if I can fix that :)
Last weekend, went for a bit of a bimble along some lanes in the Peak District.
Dave
Tell LR that... those are still the factory ones.
Torque, power and smoothness is night and day to stock. I've had cars remapped before and this is the most noticeable difference of them all. Pumas are a little jerky in first and second and the revised ECU negates almost all of that and imho, the tune is worth doing for that alone; the fact it is now noticeably quicker (wouldn't been challenging!) is a bonus. My intention was never to turn it into an SUV but the boost from 120bhp to 175bph (450Nm) means it is now a pleasure to drive and it doesn't feel underpowered. The motorsport exhaust was just the icing on the cake.
I use it for light duty jobs (fields, pastures, green lanes) and as a dog carrier - I'm unapologetic about the fact it will never do the Camel Trophy, nor get stuck up to the door tops in mud; I've always wanted one and with LR killing it off, now was the time.
You'd NEVER buy one with your head but it puts a smile on my face when I get behind the wheel and I'm not precious about it.
I am upgrading the suspension but am waiting for a new set of progressive springs to be made. The stock set up is possibly the cheapest set of dampers and springs that JLR could purchase (nasty junk imho). Replacing them with quality parts will improve the ride quality and slightly improve the handing; again, I'm not planning on lapping the Nurburgring (not even the M25Ring) but for very little outlay, you can get a decent improvement over stock.
Last edited by AM94; 25th September 2015 at 12:47.
I toyed with the idea of an E55 estate but ultimately decided to stick with the E220 diesel.
The deciding factor was a 20 mile stretch of the M25 where I was running alongside one at a maximum of 75mph and thought to myself that I was getting twice the mpg at the same speed.
I didn't get the same smile as him though when the traffic cleared and he put his foot down!!
Does look good - congrats
Part of the fun of Defenders is that they are like giant Airfix kits - they're easy to work on and a lot of fun to tweak and make very individual.
We need to taunt Barney12 into putting some before and after photos up of his... he's gone from bone stock to throwing everything bar a kitchen sink at his
A had two Defenders (actually the first was a D90), one after the other, and found them to be a fantastic do-it-all vehicle. Holidays, commuting, trips to the tip or garden centre, general run about.... the Defender does it all. Excellent driving position and superbly practical. It was our only car for 15+ years and we never found it lacking. Perfectly acceptable motorway cruising (70-80mph) and good round town (park ANYWHERE). The only reason we moved vehicle was 28mpg for a daily 40 mile commute was costing too much :-(
Women wild!
As if!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've a 53 plate TD5, with Stage 2 JE Engineering remap, air filter upgrade, suspension upgrade, brake upgrade, gear box fettling. And some light/snorkel/safari bar cosmetic bits.
BUT I WANT MOAR :)
I'd love the 'proper' big engine JE job....but need a few more £££s for that...
I test drove an e350 estate with a view to having and remapping it to 300 or so. I think it was an 11 plate or so and about 21k from the main dealer approved. Very nice, very sensible, everything we needed from a family car. But oh so dull. (Sorry that sounds rather rude in reply to a e220 driver (it isn't meant to be :-) ) but I don't do lots of miles).
So we split the money and bought the e55 and had planned a fabia vrs but it appears the engines use more oil than a celebrity chef and then go bang. So still on the lookout for a run around.
I nearly had a B10 V8 estate but that fell through but I reckon bang for buck this has got to be one of the best options out there.
Sadly not a lot of colour choice mind.
Great choice, my other half's daily driver for her 75 mile commute is a stealthy silver C63 estate. We've had it 3 years and can't really think what to replace it with that's as quick and practical for lugging around our Weimaraner
My beautiful 335d is currently back at BMW after the headlight control unit took on a life of it's own and left me playing a headlight/indicator lottery as to whether the lights actually worked or not. Clearly not ideal, or legal.
My courtesy car is a new 320d, the same new vintage of my hi-spec 335d, and it's not as nice. It feels sluggish, unresponsive, like piloting a large pudding. I don't like it, and I'm very grumpy about my lovely car being off the road. It's even made me get the train to places rather than drive as it just leaves me feeling annoyed.
Grrrrr.
Comparatively, it's what the 320d feels like. It takes more than 6 seconds to get to 60 ffs. It's no way to live.
Picked up a nice 04 E class estate 270 CDI today. It doesn't have the COMAND which is a shame but I am delighted
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
My daily drive is a 2012 RR Vogue, beautiful car but crazy expensive if anything goes wrong, for fun it's my Orange Gallardo Spyder :)
For the uninitiated (me), what's the deal with the shiny black Land Rovers? Presumably more than black paint?
Courtesy of Urban Truck, accessories would pretty much sum mine up.
Very nice LR90 indeed. Only thing I dont like to much is the side step and chequer on the side, makes it look "fat" and competes against tall tyres, just imho. I would have liked a Heritage 90 HT from the last batch, but already running a full set of ex army XD Wolf 90,110 and 130, I just couldnt justify another one. Enjoy!
Nissan E NV 200, Toyota Avensis and two Harley Davidson Sportsers 8-)
I get about 100km out of mine but it's always at least 50% payload and up.
I'm loving it though, it drives really well.
I have a VW CC R-Line on order. Due in a couple of weeks.
Will it be going back immediately for a drug test?
Well my fully optioned 2006 Pontiac GTO (6M, 18") with its well maintained and cared for 140K miles will be traded tomorrow, Friday here in States for an old car, 2004 with 47K miles. Will be a seat of pants shock for all of 1 millisecond!
Honda Civic Type-R EP3 55 Plate in cosmic grey.
M back after being detailed, 3 coats of ceramic should see it through the winter!
Nice!