New Defender News

[DieselRanger]

I’ve known people that have bought them not knowing the expensive turds they would be. It’s one thing to get an older one w/problems but not in 2021, they should be better by now.

Mine has been absolutely flawless for going on four years and 50,000 miles. Lots of others I know with D2's and LR3-4's who similarly have never had anything more serious than an oxygen sensor or similar items that fail on every car eventually.

 

[DieselRanger]

Should JLR have smaller wheels on the P400.
Yes. It’s a silly mistake to not have that.

I would like to see what compromise you get with the Lucky8 18" wheel kit that is a fairly robust redesign of the caliper. The MHEV regen plus ever-tightening stability requirements (moose test, etc) mean more braking power and design impacts that force larger wheels are required.

Yes, yes, Wranglers, Broncos, etc - but they fare very poorly in stability and safety tests and are horrible to drive on the road where - even for a Wrangleror Squatch - is where they will spend 90%+ of their useful lives.

 

[T-Willy]

Is a 60-series tire "low profile"? Only if you're driving KOH style or racing in Baja, or you line up 6 feet from a square edged obstacle and hit the gas, as "the best offroad driver" in that party did.

And no, I would not drive at 70mph in Baja on those tires, but climbing a forest road in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico (over razor sharp caliche).... I do it all the time.

Ignore the fact that Land Rovers drive on these wheels and tires all the time, if you want.

Drive appropriately for your gear and the conditions, not that hard a concept.

Yes, a 60 series tire on a one-ton payload off-road tourer is low profile. It begs needless failures avoidable with conventional 70 or better 80 series tires.

 

[onemanarmy]

Trophy Edition

View attachment 673962

wow. that's worse than the LC200 series 'heritage' edition.

Sweet! a wrap and a tow hitch! You telling me that a premier offroader 'truck' doesn't come stock with a tow hitch?

 

[DieselRanger]

New vid. Some unnecessary mods on the Defender - it has lift rods AND a 2" subframe lift. A 4" subframe lift is available - if you want 4" lift, I'd spend the extra money for that vs. a 2" lift plus lift rods.

 

[DieselRanger]

Yes, a 60 series tire on a one-ton payload off-road tourer is low profile. It begs needless failures avoidable with conventional 70 or better 80 series tires.

If you drive poorly, more sidewall is more forgiving of mistakes and poor line choice. The 20" wheel/tire combo differs by about 1.5% vs. the original Defender's 80-series 16-inch tire volume, and a 19" wheel/tire package with the same sidewall height and more volume is available as a no-cost factory spec option. Or just, you know, buy the tires you prefer like most people do. This will work for 99.99% of all New Defender drivers.

On the other hand, for the 0.01% of Defender owners who want to drive the kind of trail TFL did on their follow up vid, lots of aftermarket options available to unlock its full potential.

 

[RoninWanderer]

Hard to top a Wrangler on 39’s on terrain like that, but the other trucks did really well. I remember in another video that the Defender guy said he would go with the 3” subframe lift and a 1” airbag bump if he could do it again. Tons of clearance but no articulation. I wonder if he also had it set to Offroad mode (on top of the sensor hack)? Like or hate TFL, that was a cool video. The new Broncos are looking to be rad. I’ve seen only one in person so far. Also been seeing the new 2-door Defender lately ?. I’m such a sucker for 2-doors!! ?

 

[DieselRanger]

Hard to top a Wrangler on 39’s on terrain like that, but the other trucks did really well. I remember in another video that the Defender guy said he would go with the 3” subframe lift and a 1” airbag bump if he could do it again. Tons of clearance but no articulation. I wonder if he also had it set to Offroad mode (on top of the sensor hack)? Like or hate TFL, that was a cool video. The new Broncos are looking to be rad. I’ve seen only one in person so far. Also been seeing the new 2-door Defender lately ?. I’m such a sucker for 2-doors!! ?

Lift rods hamper suspension travel, but the new subframe lifts for Defender preserve Defender's wheel travel and all height modes. But lift rods are $80, and a subframe lift is on the order of $5,000 installed, so a fine option if you just want your truck to *look* good.

 

[T-Willy]

If you drive poorly, more sidewall is more forgiving of mistakes and poor line choice. The 20" wheel/tire combo differs by about 1.5% vs. the original Defender's 80-series 16-inch tire volume, and a 19" wheel/tire package with the same sidewall height and more volume is available as a no-cost factory spec option. Or just, you know, buy the tires you prefer like most people do. This will work for 99.99% of all New Defender drivers.

On the other hand, for the 0.01% of Defender owners who want to drive the kind of trail TFL did on their follow up vid, lots of aftermarket options available to unlock its full potential.

Loaded touring on rocky roads would risk similar failures to what TFL saw. This is why I would never run such a wheel/tire combo in Baja, for example--a failure would be almost assured. Its problems reach beyond rock crawling.

At the end of the day a 17" or at most 18" wheel with much more sidewall would have been the logical "off road" option for for the one-ton off-road-touring Defender. It would be less prone to tire damage in stock form and afford more and better aftermarket tire options.

But it's true that the vast majority of Defender owners will never use their Defenders for loaded off-road touring.

 

[umbertob]

Matzker released a video of what appears to be a roll cage, real snorkel and complete underbody protection for a D110. Everything is made of unobtanium so far (can't buy any of this stuff and their website only has generic descriptions, nosebleed pricing and "Delivery Time Not Available" for their underbody skid plates and rock sliders, photos of which have been up for at least a year.) Hopefully release of these products - some of which look really good - is imminent.

 

[brickpaul65]

I am about to pull the trigger on a set of tires, just pinging for some group thoughts:

265/70r18 Cooper ST Maxx
275/65r18 Yokohama MT G003

I like the coopers but they are about $100 more a tire. I prefer the dimensions. I know one of the defender community members runs 275/70r18's for the yokohama's but they installed the 2" proud rhino rods at the same time. I would prefer not run rods but would not mind the 1" option from proud rhino. I still think those tires might be tall - plus the extra section width would probably be a concern.

Any thoughts from the group? Honestly the STT Pro's in OWL is what I really want to run but totally don't need. The matzker build looks great!

 

[catmann]

New Defender V8 Bond Edition is spy-themed limited-run special | Autocar

Limited-run version of new V8-powered off-roader features bespoke styling details

www.autocar.co.uk

 

[RoninWanderer]

I am about to pull the trigger on a set of tires, just pinging for some group thoughts:

265/70r18 Cooper ST Maxx
275/65r18 Yokohama MT G003

I like the coopers but they are about $100 more a tire. I prefer the dimensions. I know one of the defender community members runs 275/70r18's for the yokohama's but they installed the 2" proud rhino rods at the same time. I would prefer not run rods but would not mind the 1" option from proud rhino. I still think those tires might be tall - plus the extra section width would probably be a concern.

Any thoughts from the group? Honestly the STT Pro's in OWL is what I really want to run but totally don't need. The matzker build looks great!

I say get what you want and make it work! ?

 

[brickpaul65]

I say get what you want and make it work! ?

I went with the cooper st maxx. Great fit!

 

[Corgi_express]

I haven't checked this thread in ages, because it was overrun by New Defender haters arguing endlessly about stuff like tire sizes. And now, hundreds posts later, it's still the same crybabies beating the same dead horses.

Some of you people need a hobby. Have you considered taking up some sort of activity that will get you out in the woods away from your computers and cell phones? I hear they make motorized devices that are designed for locomotion upon non-paved surfaces.


Is there any actual news to discuss in the news thread?