New Defender News

[mpinco]

If you have ever driven in an intense winter storm or high snow / ice rates you will immediately understand the value of a heated windshield. It becomes a "no-brainer".

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

If you have ever driven in an intense winter storm or high snow / ice rates you will immediately understand the value of a heated windshield. It becomes a "no-brainer".

I've got plenty of miles in winter driving as that's the nature of living in the frozen north with family in another province. I've never had a vehicle with a heated screen -- it's never been an option in either of my JKs or any of my Silverados -- so I'll have to give it a try based on your and @A.J.M 's endorsement of them. In a similar vein, I used to think heated seats were unnecessary, but now that I have them, I'll be hard pressed to give them up (Granted that's a comfort item, not a visibility/safety one, but it's still a case of not knowing till you try it).

See, I said I shouldn't have asked. Now my Defender build will probably include the heated screen. I need to un-sub from this thread or my rig will be too posh to off-road and cost me 6 figures!

 

[JackW]

I've had several vehicles with heated screens and they are very nice when you come out to a frost covered vehicle in the morning. My 2003 Mini introduced me to the benefits of heated seats but true decadence is the heated steering wheel (and heated AND cooled seats) in the new Defender.
My LR3 had the heated wheel but I never used it much - but the Discovery 5 really introduced me to the benefits of a toasty steering wheel on cold mornings. Old guys like a little luxury in our off road Cadillacs...

A few winter time trips to upstate New York will make you appreciate things like this a lot more.

 

[merrion13]

true decadence is the heated steering wheel (and heated AND cooled seats) in the new Defender.

Agree 100%!
I wouldn't get a vehicle w/o a heated steering wheel anymore. When it's a January morning and 15 degrees, it's an amazing feeling to right away get in the car and be toasty.

 

[DieselRanger]

Thanks @A.J.M . Great photo of your Disco too -- looks right at home in that stuff! We tend to have dryer weather but as soon as I saw your photo I was reminded of that sticky, melts-then-freezes-and-builds-up snow that I've encountered on a few occasions, and looking back a heated screen would be an asset. If I was in a region that saw that a lot, I can see the value; here it tends to be a bit too dry and cold to get the really sticky stuff. We still get lots of it but for whatever reason it doesn't have that same "build up" effect that the snow type in your photo seems to have.

The way we currently do it is max heat pumped right into the windshield, which tends to do the trick but at the cost of then being unable to send heat elsewhere in the vehicle. No problem in my truck as it's insulated, but in my jeep, with it's uninsulated doors, it made for some chilly drives!

Good point on the insurance thing - I've never had so I had forgotten it as an option. that but it would make the sticker price of a replacement a lot more palatable.

Here in Colorado the plows drop pea gravel mixed with a little bit of sand, so you're constantly getting rock chips and stars. I average a new windshield about every two years. After a few months your window looks like it's got glitter all over it from the little stuff that's constantly getting kicked up.

"Why don't you follow farther back," you say? Yeah, with all the transplants from the coasts who are all apparently aspiring proctologists and/or love a bit of vehicular rimming, you often find yourself going backward in traffic from being cut off if you leave more than about a car length and a half ahead.

 

[DieselRanger]

If you have ever driven in an intense winter storm or high snow / ice rates you will immediately understand the value of a heated windshield. It becomes a "no-brainer".

I have this thing called "defrost" that blows hot, dry air over the inside of my windshield, heating it passively, which melts the ice on the outside.

Works great.

 

[umbertob]

How in the world does he accidentally hit his knee against the door lock/unlock buttons? My left knee rests at least 3 or 4" behind those buttons (just behind the door lever), and I am no giant. Even if I tried I wouldn't come close to hitting them.

 

[TexasTJ]

How in the world does he accidentally hit his knee against the door lock/unlock buttons? My left knee rests at least 3 or 4" behind those buttons (just behind the door lever), and I am no giant. Even if I tried I wouldn't come close to hitting them.

He comments a lot that he is vary tall.

 

[A.J.M]

I have this thing called "defrost" that blows hot, dry air over the inside of my windshield, heating it passively, which melts the ice on the outside.

Works great.

That works well with a petrol engined car like you all are fortunate to have.

we don’t get many land rovers now with petrol engines.
Disco 3 V8 stopped in 2006. The Disco 4 never got one here.
Diesels take a bloody age to warm up so heated screens help with that.
some come with an auxiliary heater, mine never worked in the D3.
The freeby has an electric heater aid which is great but it doesn’t go fully till the cars moving. Which unless you drive like ace Ventura, ain’t ideal...

 

[DieselRanger]

That works well with a petrol engined car like you all are fortunate to have.

we don’t get many land rovers now with petrol engines.
Disco 3 V8 stopped in 2006. The Disco 4 never got one here.
Diesels take a bloody age to warm up so heated screens help with that.
some come with an auxiliary heater, mine never worked in the D3.
The freeby has an electric heater aid which is great but it doesn’t go fully till the cars moving. Which unless you drive like ace Ventura, ain’t ideal...

Mine is a Td6. No auxiliary heater. If the window is iced up, I use one of these:



Heated windshields are great if you're driving in those rare situations where it's sleeting, but the windchill is so low that the sleet freezes over your windshield as you're driving. Unfortunately, when they crack and chip, they're extremely expensive to replace. Land Rover windshields are already expensive because they're double paned, laminated, UV and IR rejecting.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

Here in Colorado the plows drop pea gravel mixed with a little bit of sand, so you're constantly getting rock chips and stars. I average a new windshield about every two years. After a few months your window looks like it's got glitter all over it from the little stuff that's constantly getting kicked up.

"Why don't you follow farther back," you say? Yeah, with all the transplants from the coasts who are all apparently aspiring proctologists and/or love a bit of vehicular rimming, you often find yourself going backward in traffic from being cut off if you leave more than about a car length and a half ahead.

Same here in Alberta. I used to be OK with it because it meant they didn't salt the roads, and I'd prefer stone chips over salt any day of the week, but now the cities are going to salt on the roads and the smaller towns are still using gravel -- literally the worst of both worlds.

I wonder what the price differential is between a heated and non-heated screens? Anyone have experience replacing both on other models? For instance if an unheated screen is $1400 and the heated one is $1600, it's not as big a financial burden to replace as it's only incrementally more, but if a non-heated is $800 versus $1600, then that's another story.

 

[Carson G]

Same here in Alberta. I used to be OK with it because it meant they didn't salt the roads, and I'd prefer stone chips over salt any day of the week, but now the cities are going to salt on the roads and the smaller towns are still using gravel -- literally the worst of both worlds.

I wonder what the price differential is between a heated and non-heated screens? Anyone have experience replacing both on other models? For instance if an unheated screen is $1400 and the heated one is $1600, it's not as big a financial burden to replace as it's only incrementally more, but if a non-heated is $800 versus $1600, then that's another story.

I’m replacing the windshield on my LR3 when it gets painted this year and it’s about a $188 difference between heated and non heated. Non heated is $430 and heated is $618 both directly from JLR. Probably could get them cheaper from Pilkington.

 

[Carson G]

The D5 non heated windshield is $816 and heated is $1,044. So it’s about a $200 difference on most LR windshields.

 

[A.J.M]

Is it a US thing where you don’t have screen cover with car insurance?

I had my heated screen on my Disco 3 changed and it was only £80 excess for the Pilkinton glass.
Are you having to pay full price for a screen change?

As for the scraper thing, being a tad vertically challenged at 5,8 on a good day.
I would have to climb on the tyre and reach in to get the middle. Which was a pain when trying to wash it...

 

[Carson G]

Is it a US thing where you don’t have screen cover with car insurance?

I had my heated screen on my Disco 3 changed and it was only £80 excess for the Pilkinton glass.
Are you having to pay full price for a screen change?

As for the scraper thing, being a tad vertically challenged at 5,8 on a good day.
I would have to climb on the tyre and reach in to get the middle. Which was a pain when trying to wash it...

I think it depends. If you have comprehensive they’ll usually cover it. Mine is delaminating I haven’t checked to see if they’ll cover it.