New Defender News

[onemanarmy]

So silly that towing capacity would even be a topic of convo for a Defender.
They Defender is supposed to be the rugged, no frills, reliable, only what you need model.
LR already has plenty of models for all other needs and wants.
Wonder why that was such a hard concept for them to grasp?

 

[Red90]

So silly that towing capacity would even be a topic of convo for a Defender.
They Defender is supposed to be the rugged, no frills, reliable, only what you need model.
LR already has plenty of models for all other needs and wants.
Wonder why that was such a hard concept for them to grasp?

There are quite a few on here that have brand blindness.

 

[JackW]

We've towed a wide variety of stuff with my LR3 and D5 from utility trailers and campers to a 26' enclosed car transporter.
I had a Prodigy brake controller which plugged into the LR3 and worked great.

I'd like to be able to tow my 88" Series IIA on an open trailer behind the new 110 to Land Rover events around the southeast and I will be using it tow my travel trailer.

 

[mpinco]

For us the vehicle requirement to tow is the ideal. The travel trailer is 19', relatively small, and becomes our base camp from which we explore/travel/etc. We can disperse camp for 3 to 4 days, hit an improved camp for resupply, and continue on for weeks. The tow vehicle is dual purpose, strong enough to move the 'package' and small enough to take advantage of Intermountain West terrain/4WD trails.

The camp trailer is 4400 lbs and can easily hit 5000 lbs. The Defender is 5000 lbs so my requirement is the powertrain must move 10K lbs at altitude/up long passes.

 

[naks]

 

[Utah KJ]

It's a music video

 

[Blaise]

For us the vehicle requirement to tow is the ideal. The travel trailer is 19', relatively small, and becomes our base camp from which we explore/travel/etc. We can disperse camp for 3 to 4 days, hit an improved camp for resupply, and continue on for weeks. The tow vehicle is dual purpose, strong enough to move the 'package' and small enough to take advantage of Intermountain West terrain/4WD trails.

The camp trailer is 4400 lbs and can easily hit 5000 lbs. The Defender is 5000 lbs so my requirement is the powertrain must move 10K lbs at altitude/up long passes.

That's a great setup! Yeah, you should be just fine. Here's the SAE spec for ya:

To simulate some of the toughest conditions a truck and trailer combination will face, the J2807 “Highway Gradeability” tests take place on a well-known stretch of Arizona highway, the 11.4-mile-long Davis Dam Grade. If trucks are not tested on this specific stretch of steep road, they can be run in a simulation using a “climactic” wind tunnel. Ambient temperature plays a significant role in this test with a minimum temperature of 100 degrees required at the base of the grade. In addition to a hot climate outside the truck, the test requires the air conditioning system to be set at maximum cold, with outside air selected (not recirculating) and the fan running at full blower speed.

Once those criteria are met, the evaluation can begin on the famous stretch of SR 68 between Bullhead City and Golden Valley, Arizona. To pass this test, a truck-and-trailer combination must be able to drive at 40 mph (35 mph for dualies) and never drop below that speed until the end of the test segment at the peak of Union Pass. Testdrivers are allowed to go faster than the minimum speed requirement in the sections of the grade where posted speed limits are 55 mph and 65 mph, but there are other requirements the vehicle must still meet. Under “drivetrain system performance,” the J2807 standard requires there be no component failures, along with no “check engine” lights or any other alerts or warnings for the driver. The “cooling system performance” requirement also requires zero part failures, no error codes, no driver warnings of any other kind, and no loss of coolant fluid during the test.

TLDR: If you buy a truck after 2013, you can tow whatever it's rated to tow. Beware of GVWR guidelines as well, of course.

More TLDR: The 2.0 is rated to 7716lb. So if you're only towing 5klb, a 2.0 liter is indeed enough. And then some.

 

[DieselRanger]

For us the vehicle requirement to tow is the ideal. The travel trailer is 19', relatively small, and becomes our base camp from which we explore/travel/etc. We can disperse camp for 3 to 4 days, hit an improved camp for resupply, and continue on for weeks. The tow vehicle is dual purpose, strong enough to move the 'package' and small enough to take advantage of Intermountain West terrain/4WD trails.

The camp trailer is 4400 lbs and can easily hit 5000 lbs. The Defender is 5000 lbs so my requirement is the powertrain must move 10K lbs at altitude/up long passes.

Lucky for you it's rated to tow 8700lbs 7716lbs with the P300, and the GVWR is over 14,500 lbs like the Disco. The P400 spec is 8,201lbs with GVWR over 15,000lbs. I see Tacos and 4Runners with lower ratings towing 5th wheels or toy haulers over high passes all the time, and they have lower power and torque ratings, and are naturally aspirated to boot. Now, if you want to get 20+ mpg while you're doing it, then sure, you want/need a 3.0L turbodiesel.

EDITED for correct tow ratings (oops).

 

[mpinco]

My Disco I with a 4.0 small block Buick is rated to tow ...... 7700 lbs. ...... LOL

It worked, slowly, for a small mid-80s popup of roughly 1500 lbs. I was ALWAYS downshifting.

My seat of the pants data over-rules any manicured ski slope report.

 

[mpinco]

Lucky for you it's rated to tow 8700lbs 7716lbs with the P300, and the GVWR is over 14,500 lbs like the Disco. The P400 spec is 8,201lbs with GVWR over 15,000lbs. I see Tacos and 4Runners with lower ratings towing 5th wheels or toy haulers over high passes all the time, and they have lower power and torque ratings, and are naturally aspirated to boot. Now, if you want to get 20+ mpg while you're doing it, then sure, you want/need a 3.0L turbodiesel.

EDITED for correct tow ratings (oops).

Agreed, the only offered engine that might work for us is the P400. Last I checked it was a $12K adder that as pointed out comes with many options. I think we backed into a cost adder of roughly $7-8K for the MHEV 6-cyl. That's stupid.

Maybe the global recession will reset LRs product offerings.

 

[Blaise]

My Disco I with a 4.0 small block Buick is rated to tow ...... 7700 lbs. ...... LOL

It worked, slowly, for a small mid-80s popup of roughly 1500 lbs. I was ALWAYS downshifting.

My seat of the pants data over-rules any manicured ski slope report.

Your Disco didn't have a 300hp turbocharged engine. It had a 190hp NA motor and half the gears of the new defender.

I cannot believe that somebody is trying to tell me that their eyeballed data is better than a freakin-SAE test. Seriously man. Why even trust power ratings? You know those are also SAE right?

I almost started to explain the mathematics behind vehicle dynamics to determine tow ratings for the US vs europe, but it doesn't matter. This guy knows better than any of the engineers. He's got data in his pants!

 

[Victory_Overland]

@Blaise @DieselRanger you two better knock it off with the facts; this is a feelings based thread that will never win with the nay-sayers who are nay-saying their own nay-sayings.

And all of those videos were clearly Jeeps, H2 and H3 Hummers, and 1982 Defender (Maybe Santanas) with balloon bodies like those bouncy Sumo Suits cuz that one Defender definitely had a cracked windscreen and ASPW wouldn't allow that passed his reviews without immediate repair and replacement part from Terrain Tamer. If the Goodyears had a blowout, they should have been on Falkens and it would surely be directly related to the 18" and no other reason at all; not even the thousands of KM spent on jagged rocks and airing up and down on various gravel/sand terrain. Disclaimer: I would surely love to see 17's but maybe they will fit and maybe they won't; waiting on you Lucky8! Got a slow leak in one of 17" KM2's time to change brands and find a way to stuff 16"ers on the LR3; BFG is clearly garbage now so I think I'll put the 20's on and head to the mall.

Can't wait to see a bone stock Defender hit the Rubicon and then there is no more talk possible because it already has covered more of the globe than any other promotional videos or actual adventures made by ANY new car/SUV manufacturer; can't believe people can't seriously give credit to that Namibia trip and the 50k miles they did before it. Even if it's fake news like everyone seems to say; I give more and more credit seeing almost 2-3 Defender release videos a day from a few thousand miles of the planet in an "overland environment" in which everyone seems to think it wasn't designed for. The tow numbers are pretty legit, even if you back them off for bias but let's not mistake that like the Defender, there are a ton of other vehicles not designed around towing that are made for what you are intending to tow with. I'd say if you are towing a travel trailer that size, you will have no problem getting to your trailhead behind the new Defender with the correct and safe planning you do now with your trailer and your current tow vehicle. I wouldn't tow that trailer but short or flat distances behind my LR3 just due to the track width difference from tow vehicle to trailer and my LR3 had plenty of power to do it; just don't feel its mission is towing in any sense.

Its not a rock crawler, its not a dedicated tow vehicle, and it surely is not a flat out mall-crawler even though it's where the vast majority will spend their lives; we have to buy the vehicle that meets the needs and can't ********** if it doesn't fall into the exception category. Finally, I'd say it clears up room for us to snatch up a lease turnover at a significantly discounted price with the 6 Banger in it a few years down the road. Let someone else eat the depreciation to make that 6 banger affordable to those of us who can't eat the 12k up-charge on the new car smell.

Off my soap-box.....

 

[Blaise]

I can't wait for those lease returns. I CANNOT WAIT. The first editions are almost perfectly optioned provided I can find one with the locker checked. I just wish they chose a higher end audio system. I'll deal.

 

[Victory_Overland]

Yeah man, especially you know some of these peeps do early lease turn-overs too! On that note, upgrade speakers are probably not going to be hard to come by and you're not gonna be able to hear those sweet beats in that beast anyway over the awesomeness of your new Defender hoots and hollers from streets and trails YO!

 

[REDROVER]

You want a tow rig go buy Dodge Ram 3500,
new defender will not be able to tow more than 3500lb
word (Rated) in America means 50% inflated marketing gimmick.
Just like when they advertise ( military grade ) that means it’s absolutely not, it just looks military.

Perfect example my 2017 Tacoma trd off road , (( rated )) tow capacity 6400lb, I call it BS, I towed 4500lb land cruiser behind the Tacoma and it was struggling,
forget about going up 6% grade.

you professors here who believe in a word, rated, will have a nice surprise when you try to tow with the new defender.

by the way that’s not a deal breaker to say it’s bad or anything, it’s just not made for towing.
but one thing I know for sure, my Tacoma would love to tow it stuck new defender regardless of defenders fat ass weight ??

We should do tug a war see who lies more, Toyota or Land Rover.