New Defender News

[Corgi_express]

I would say with the SOTA updates, the current year glitches will be gone by the time you take delivery of a late 2020 model.

I got a SOTA update about a week ago, and after rebooting the Pivi Pro, a lot of stuff seems to be working much better - Spotify and the Weather app are back, it correctly recognizes that I am in the USA again, and the camera seems to come on more reliably. None of these were showstopper glitches for me, and I was faithful that they would be fixed, but it's nice to see them iterating and improving things.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

A review from Bahrain, with some off-road driving

I don't know his full resume, but the off-road racer seemed quite taken by it's performance. It was nice to see someone finally review the P300. I agree with @JackW that the P300 could be the sweet spot between power and complexity. I'm also very curious what the plans are with the D250, which I understand is intended to replace the D200 and D240 next year, hopefully to Euro6 standard, which then hopefully means a North American diesel option which I'd honestly only want for the range increase. I know, lots of "hopes" in that sentence! My expectations are low!

@Reulparts have used @braidwheels to make bespoke beadlock 18 imch versions equipped with @bfgoodrichtires km3 tyres for the New Defender, looks like there is a wheel spacer on herebut the wheel certainly looks good!

That looks really good. Thanks for keeping this thread updated with these Instagram finds (the other half of Chasing our Trunks is on Instagram, where I'm exclusively on the forums and Reddit, so I would miss a bunch of that if it wasn't shared here -- truly, I appreciate it!)

I really want to see some of these Defenders with aftermarket wheels tackle some terrain. That wheel looks awfully tight in the well, and while I believe they probably checked for rubbing at their shop, without getting it into "real world" scenarios it'll be hard to know if it's a good modification or not, or if the aim was aesthetics only.

 

[DieselRanger]

I got a SOTA update about a week ago, and after rebooting the Pivi Pro, a lot of stuff seems to be working much better - Spotify and the Weather app are back, it correctly recognizes that I am in the USA again, and the camera seems to come on more reliably. None of these were showstopper glitches for me, and I was faithful that they would be fixed, but it's nice to see them iterating and improving things.

...and you didn't have to go to the dealer to have it done.

 

[DieselRanger]

I don't know his full resume, but the off-road racer seemed quite taken by it's performance. It was nice to see someone finally review the P300. I agree with @JackW that the P300 could be the sweet spot between power and complexity. I'm also very curious what the plans are with the D250, which I understand is intended to replace the D200 and D240 next year, hopefully to Euro6 standard, which then hopefully means a North American diesel option which I'd honestly only want for the range increase. I know, lots of "hopes" in that sentence! My expectations are low!



That looks really good. Thanks for keeping this thread updated with these Instagram finds (the other half of Chasing our Trunks is on Instagram, where I'm exclusively on the forums and Reddit, so I would miss a bunch of that if it wasn't shared here -- truly, I appreciate it!)

I really want to see some of these Defenders with aftermarket wheels tackle some terrain. That wheel looks awfully tight in the well, and while I believe they probably checked for rubbing at their shop, without getting it into "real world" scenarios it'll be hard to know if it's a good modification or not, or if the aim was aesthetics only.

Most of them with these larger tires seem to have the bottom trim just behind the front wheel removed when driving, which suggests at full lock there's definitely some rubbing.

 

[soflorovers]

Most of them with these larger tires seem to have the bottom trim just behind the front wheel removed when driving, which suggests at full lock there's definitely some rubbing.

Maybe it's for added clearance? Could also be for purely aesthetic reasons. If you're trying to stuff a 33"+ tire in there, the dainty little aero deflector is probably going to get snagged on an obstacle.

 

[DieselRanger]

Maybe it's for added clearance? Could also be for purely aesthetic reasons. If you're trying to stuff a 33"+ tire in there, the dainty little aero deflector is probably going to get snagged on an obstacle.

It's the square lower plastic trim behind the front wheel and in front of the door - not the little aero deflector / mini mudflap. Definitely looks worse without it:

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

It's the square lower plastic trim behind the front wheel and in front of the door - not the little aero deflector / mini mudflap. Definitely looks worse without it:

View attachment 609410

View attachment 609435

Thanks Diesel - those photos illustrate it really well, and I agree with you it does look a lot worse without that trim piece. It also seems like that trim removal doesn't buy you a ton of room -- I know sometimes millimetres can make the difference on clearance, but there's a fair bit of metal panel behind where that trim piece went by the looks of it.

I'm sure this has been answered but I just did a search and got a few different results -- what is the biggest tire without modification that one can put on a Defender? 33"?

 

[Corgi_express]

I'm sure this has been answered but I just did a search and got a few different results -- what is the biggest tire without modification that one can put on a Defender? 33"?

I've been trying to collect different anecdotes about what people have tried, and what does and doesn't work, in a thread at landroverforums: https://landroverforums.com/forum/2020-defender-60/no-lift-tire-size-guide-work-progress-101530/

Without lift rods, even at 33 it varies a lot depending on the width / aspect ratio combo that gets you to that diameter, and there are mixed results.

 

[shawnpalmer]

I've been trying to collect different anecdotes about what people have tried, and what does and doesn't work, in a thread at landroverforums: https://landroverforums.com/forum/2020-defender-60/no-lift-tire-size-guide-work-progress-101530/

Without lift rods, even at 33 it varies a lot depending on the width / aspect ratio combo that gets you to that diameter, and there are mixed results.

275/60R20 Nitto Ridge Grappler Fit without any modifications on mine. I run them with the 1.5 Johnson Rods most of the time.
DM me for pics, the files are too large to upload. Or follow me on IG @bo_shawn_palmer

 

[naks]

Sent from my G8441 using Tapatalk

 

[naks]

 

[DieselRanger]

Sent from my G8441 using Tapatalk

Nice. Would love to see them take the P400 SE spec without the rear locker back to back with the P400 HSE with the locker on Chinaman or Wheeler.

Gonna be several inches of snow on that trail by Wednesday morning.

 

[Blaise]

I guess the day we see a no-rod-lift D2 hit the trial is the day I buy one.

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

[naks]

Well, it's flying off the shelves in ZA!

Here's how many Defender units Land Rover sold in SA in August 2020...

The new Land Rover Defender officially launched in South Africa late in July 2020. So, how many units were sold in its first full month on the market?

www.carmag.co.za

"...official sales data from Naamsa, which shows 125 examples of the Defender were registered locally in August 2020. For the record, this represents nearly 40 percent of Jaguar Land Rover sales for the month.

That, of course, makes the Defender the British firm’s best-seller in August, with the Range Rover Sport (47), Evoque (46) and Discovery Sport (23) quite some way behind. Next for Land Rover SA was the Discovery (22), Velar (20) and Range Rover (10).

And the Defender’s rivals? Well, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (which will later in 2020 receive a new engine option) managed 66 units, while the Jeep Wrangler ended the month on 25 units. Mitsubishi’s Pajero (which is still available, with production set to end in 2021) finished on 14 registrations. A single Toyota FJ Cruiser was registered, too. ..."

 

[soflorovers]

I guess the day we see a no-rod-lift D2 hit the trial is the day I buy one.

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I'm not usually one to defend lift-rods, but it seems this particular D2 with larger/heavier tires and a rear locker is doing pretty well with lift rods. It's a mild lift so it's not completely maxing out the suspension, and the extra sidewall and compliance from the wide 33's (plus low air pressure) has made this a very capable rig.

Assuming one wanted to start modifying a new D2 without completely rendering it useless or waiting for a GAP tool and SYA kit, this is a great start.