24-hour sand driving record in a Discovery 5

[EricTyrrell]

I'm an OEM+ kinda guy

I'm of a similar mindset, but conversely view it as the problem with modern LR products. I have zero patience for swapping wheels just to fit appropriate tires, cutting up bumpers to fit a winch, more cutting to access the winch spool safely, adding rear tire carriers, replacing air-suspension with coils, adding diagnostics systems to deal with finicky over-complicated systems, etc. That's why the new Bronco looks interesting. Might be wrong, but it appears to need minimal screwing around with to be useful.

 

[Victory_Overland]

Well, all of you innovation haters who said New Defender is too complicated to be reliable, time to take the Bronco off your list too. Been paying attention to this for long time; mostly because of the racing plans they have for the new Bronco-R but because a few months ago I started eyeballing my secondary option away from LR due to cost.

Anywho, from a few readings back and now this one, it appears the Bronco is going to be one of the most electronically advanced (ECUs galore), advanced terrain response, and almost certainly will have active electro-magnetic suspension; hmmmmmmm, that is by far way further than JLR stretched the Defender on gambling on airbags; appears to be spoken of as an option at this point but we will see.

Can't say MotorTrend is the Bible, but they tend to be pretty accurate on stuff like this.

Broncs New Suspension

 

[dreadlocks]

Taking big wheels off and replacing them with smaller wheels is not that much of a hassle, its a nice rebate on a vehicle you just purchased.. With as much as a good set of OEM Alloys fetch you can finance the wheels/tires of your choice and still end up with some money in your pockets.. usually you buy a new vehicle and it comes with crap tires, but they are brand new so you drive on em and hate it until they burn up.. I'd much rather buy another vehicle with big stupid expensive wheels next time around and get whatever weird tire I want without paying more.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

It is over 700km via 1100 sand dunes across the Simpson Desert in Australia and hundreds of 4WDs and bikers do that every year. Most take 4 or 5 days though and we prefer to take a month, because we can.
As soon as I see spinning wheels or hear screaming engines, I count that as a resounding FAIL in sand (or anywhere).
Why any 4WD designer would fit low profile tyres to any vehicle intended for off road use is beyond me. That they do is proof to me that this is not its target market.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[vintageracer]

As a guy whos likely one of the few actually taking his Make/Model off the pavement, IDGAF how many other people are doing it.. or if the manufacturer is making sound market decisions, the market means nothing to me.. the manufacturers business issues are no concern of mine, except for when I got nearly $40k out of VW's diesel scandal.

I'm at the point in my life where I just want a nice stock vehicle, I dont want to have to mod the crap out of it to make it tolerable.. If I feel like I gotta bolt a bunch of crap onto a vehicle to make it do what I want, I'm not buying it.. so aftermarket support is not really a BFD, I'm an OEM+ kinda guy.. I see vehicles where the owner has changed out about everything they could, and wonder to my self if they hated how it looked so badly, why did they even buy it?

I was never interested in LR's until this one, so I can see why the LR Fanboi's are sad they made a vehicle more for me than they did them.. If there were 3 things I could improve on my current vehicle it'd be an Air Suspension that dont get rock hard when lifted way up, lockers, and better support for a winch.. all things the new Discovery have put on the table.. the only thing I cant get on it that I really want is a Diesel engine, but I've came to accept that my next luxary SUV wont be a diesel with the way we've treated our Diesel manufacturers lately.

The best rig for expo is the one you got, you all need to drive more and worry less..

DAMN!!!!

You're NO FUN!

Where would the aftermarket be without a bunch of "Stuff" to slap on your new vehicle?

Having said that I COMPLETELY AGREE with your statement above when it comes to new late model vehicles!

Gettin OLD IS FUN!

 

[nickw]

It is over 700km via 1100 sand dunes across the Simpson Desert in Australia and hundreds of 4WDs and bikers do that every year. Most take 4 or 5 days though and we prefer to take a month, because we can.
As soon as I see spinning wheels or hear screaming engines, I count that as a resounding FAIL in sand (or anywhere).
Why any 4WD designer would fit low profile tyres to any vehicle intended for off road use is beyond me. That they do is proof to me that this is not its target market.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

That is a fringe case at best, they are not aiming for the .001% of guys that cross the Simpson, why would they when the majority of folks spend their time on pavement these days?

There are many different types of expeditions, for most it involves lots of pavement...even the folks driving around the world, still on pavement 99.5% of the time.

I don't think a stock Defender would struggle at all with what you showed in that video on stock wheels / tires.

 

[A.J.M]

My trip to the Red Centre 5 – Rumen Marinov

rumenmarinov.com

Simpson desert.
In a stock Freelander 2.
Not exactly some built up rig or whatever, yet it still did the trip and did it in comfort.

I feel sorry for a few people on here, they constantly have such a negative view on pretty much everything. It must get tiresome having to deal with all that.

 

[EricTyrrell]

My trip to the Red Centre 5 – Rumen Marinov

rumenmarinov.com

Simpson desert.
In a stock Freelander 2.
Not exactly some built up rig or whatever, yet it still did the trip and did it in comfort.

I feel sorry for a few people on here, they constantly have such a negative view on pretty much everything. It must get tiresome having to deal with all that.

The Freelander 2 may be the most reliable and boring vehicle LR produced. Not the worst choice, but not a great one either. At least they took an extra low profile tire. I'm glad they survived and had a good time, but it does little to shift the overall picture. One must dig deep to find these examples because people that are interested in such adventures are overwhelmingly not interested in domesticated, fashion focused, and relatively unreliable vehicles. It's not a negative view, but simple observation. One I believe is fairly obvious.

If enthusiasts seem negative, it's primarily because there are (annoyingly) no modern equivalents of the vehicles they find so enjoyable. Equivalent doesn't mean leaf springs and tubed tires. In means equivalent in terms of purpose, philosophy, feel, experience, utility, form, and even fun.

 

[A.J.M]

And yet plenty other enthusiasts find the modern ones very enjoyable.
Like me.
All you sound like is a broken record whining at everything.
You and red both suck the enjoyment out of this forum, absolutely nothing is good enough for you both and the constant drivel and negativity kills threads.

 

[EricTyrrell]

And yet plenty other enthusiasts find the modern ones very enjoyable.
Like me.
All you sound like is a broken record whining at everything.
You and red both suck the enjoyment out of this forum, absolutely nothing is good enough for you both and the constant drivel and negativity kills threads.

It's not my fault their products have gone downhill to the point that few people, even relative to the few people that use other brand's products off-road, have any interest in using them as supposedly intended. Ask nearly any average non-enthusiast person what they associate with Land Rover, and I guarantee the response will be something about reliability, expense, or soccer-moms. They earned it.

 

[A.J.M]

Yet more negative postings.
Still a broken record of misery

 

[EricTyrrell]

Yet more negative postings.
Still a broken record of misery

Fair postings.

We could use some positivity in these times though. On that note, LR buying Bowler may inject some much needed interest into the lineup, INEOS is on track to produce a real Defender successor, the Bronco leaks are looking very promising, and ROW imports continue to pour into the country expanding the supply of classics.

 

[EricTyrrell]

It is over 700km via 1100 sand dunes across the Simpson Desert in Australia and hundreds of 4WDs and bikers do that every year. Most take 4 or 5 days though and we prefer to take a month, because we can.
As soon as I see spinning wheels or hear screaming engines, I count that as a resounding FAIL in sand (or anywhere).
Why any 4WD designer would fit low profile tyres to any vehicle intended for off road use is beyond me. That they do is proof to me that this is not its target market.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Looks like you're enjoying some great experiences there. Having spent time in your land down under in my earlier years, I look back on it fondly. I'd very much like to take my family back some day and revisit the coastlines, rain forest, and outback that I experienced on cattle ranches. The wildlife, friendly people, and sense of freedom was unique and memorable.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Looks like you're enjoying some great experiences there. Having spent time in your land down under in my earlier years, I look back on it fondly. I'd very much like to take my family back some day and revisit the coastlines, rain forest, and outback that I experienced on cattle ranches. The wildlife, friendly people, and sense of freedom was unique and memorable.

Thanks. We are very privileged, no question about that.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[soflorovers]

It's not my fault their products have gone downhill to the point that few people, even relative to the few people that use other brand's products off-road, have any interest in using them as supposedly intended. Ask nearly any average non-enthusiast person what they associate with Land Rover, and I guarantee the response will be something about reliability, expense, or soccer-moms. They earned it.

I think you're also being a little unrealistic in your take. As time goes on and these vehicles become more affordable, I believe you'll see more and more vehicles out on the trail. The fact that right now you're not finding many people bashing L405s against boulders isn't exactly surprising. Furthermore, I think LR owners go off road far more than your average Jeep owner (if you take it as a percentage of overall sales). That said, many people are finally starting to heavily mod LR3/4's, L322's and first-gen sports. These trucks probably don't fit into your definition of what an LR "should" be, but here we are showing people that a modern LR is extremely capable. Many people use them as intended, but don't ask people to lose complete respect for their hard-earned money and go destroying vehicles. Go give "Petersenrovers" or my own account a follow on Instagram, and you'll see exactly what I mean.

EDIT: Go ask any non-enthusiast person what they associate with Jeep Wranglers, and they'll tell you "Frat Bro" or "Sorority car". Heck, the phrase "lights before lockers" was coined because so many people don't use Wranglers as intended. I'd be willing to bet you everything in my bank account that far more Tacomas exist in 2wd trim with "pool service" plastered on the door than Tacomas that have left the pavement, let alone run the Rubicon. It's 2020...you need to come to grips with the reality of the world you live in.