New Defender News
- Thread starter blackangie
- Start date
During the winter some areas of Colorado see temps outside the automotive temp operating range, as would Northern areas of North America.
Then I’ll skip the option and get KO2’s. Hopefully Johnson Rods will be right around the corner for the new Defender.
I am not so sure you'd get Goodyears (at least not the Duratracs pictured above) when ordering from the factory. They have two levels of off-road tires you can option on a new Defender, a standard one in lieu of the all-season tires fitted at the factory, and an "extreme" off-road tire that can only be ordered from a local dealer - you can't pick the extreme version as a factory option.
My guess is that these Duratracs would be considered the "extreme off-road" dealer-only options, while from the UK you may get a milder and less aggressive A/T tire if ordering the off-road package (or off-road tires as a stand-alone option), not sure which brand would come from the UK however. Could be Goodyears as well.
Umberto
Todd n Natalie
OverCamper
So how do the air suspended vehicles do there?
DieselRanger
Well-known member
@Todd n Natalie I've left mine outside in a week's worth of -20F nights and 15F days and have had no ill effects on the EAS. It's a diesel so it takes a minute to get it out of bed and get up to temp, but that's just diesel engines.
DieselRanger
Well-known member
Judging by auto-show models, it looks like the factory fit AT option will be GY All Terrain Adventure with Kevlar, which isn't a bad tire - I've used them a ton and they hold up really well on everything from sand to razor-sharp limestone caliche, but they're not great in snow unless you get the commercial grade tire which is a lot heavier. I think DuraTracs will be dealer-installed or will come with the commercial variant.
EDIT: TireRack has the 2020 Defender in its configuration database. Looks like the base tire option will be either Pirelli Scorpion Zero or Conti CrossContact A/S; the OE AT option appears to be the Goodyear All Terrain Adventure with Kevlar, available in 18", 19", 20" but not 22" - all 32" tires. Even the 20" comes with a 60-series sidewall, which is quite sufficient for most overlanding applications, but if the D5 is any indication, there will be room to fit larger tires at each size, likely up to 2" taller without rubbing. Many compelling choices at 275/65-20 including Grabber X3 and Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar.
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Most are fine for the average temps seen in Colorado, early in their life. Get deep into the backcountry, -40degF and high levels of complexity disappear. Long term most air suspensions are swapped over to coil. It is rare that you find a older vehicle still running air suspension. Me, I plan on keeping my LR4 air suspension functional but that's me. My 95 RRC has been converted to coils when I started to wake up to corner sags. My D1 is ............. coils and requires zero attention. Well other than I upgraded to OME HD over factory many years ago.
Prediction - future points of contention / discussion in cold weather will be the latest MHEV/hybrid powertrains. Batteries typically don't like cold temps so all that added complexity will become a long term issue.
Blaise
Well-known member
Why in the hell would you want to ruin the suspension on a brand new rover?
You realize that it takes thousands and thousands of engineering hours of design and testing, etc to create an optimal suspension setup. You can't "upgrade" this by tricking the sensors. You also realize that tire selection is ANOTHER thing that engineers do. If the duratrac is what is selected, there's a good chance its for performance reasons as the price/unit is very similar compared to a KO2. Esp for a flagship car.
Think about this: It's like when people claim a 20hp upgrade from adding some fan into your car intake. If it worked, GM/Ford/JLR/VAG/etc would have done it LONG ago. The people working these systems from inside are the best, they aren't leaving 'free' performance on the table***
**(the exception here is when mandated by regulation, such as the enormous low-end power improvements on certain turbo engines which are illegal from an emissions compliance standpoint but otherwise have minimal impact on engine longevity)
morrisdl
Adventurer
I think what FLMotero really meant to say is, I hope GAP releases support for Defender2.
Agreed short rods are dumb, but I do like my adjustable sensor links for eliminating manufacturing variations and zeroing out calibration differences on all four corners. More range of motion without sensor errors.
Agreed short rods are dumb, but I do like my adjustable sensor links for eliminating manufacturing variations and zeroing out calibration differences on all four corners. More range of motion without sensor errors.
