am on a bit of a high still: yesterday I took a 2011 Defender 90 for a test drive. It had only done 29,000kms so was like new. This was the first Defender I had ever driven (remember I drive a Ninety - pre-Defender) and it was a revelation!
The new interior seemed solid and well screwed together, with good quality plastics on the door trim etc. The first thing I tried was the air conditioning as it was about 28 degrees yesterday, I was amazed as how effective it was - not something I expected from a Defender
I really liked the chunky gearbox, and the torque from the 2.4Tdci was amazing (my Ninety has a non-turbo diesel engine so this was a big difference). On the motorway 100km/h (60mph for your Britons) in 6th gear equated to 2000rpm (I think it is about 3000rpm in my Ninety )
I had great fun trying the anti-stall system - like a child with a new toy. The only little annoyance with the vehicle was I sometimes felt the gap from 2nd to 3rd was too big. I am sure I have read about this on forums. Am I right in saying that the power delivery from the 2.2 litre engine matches the gearbox slightly better? Has anyone driven both a 2.4 and a 2.2?
I am hoping to get a new Defender before production ceases as I am worried about the prices of proper Defenders increasing after LR introduce a new model. I am also considering a late model Td5 with low kms (if I can find one) as I think they might hold their value well since they have the last Land Rover engine.
Having driven the Puma, I now really want to try a Td5 and see what they are like. If only the current Defender could stay in production...sigh...
The new interior seemed solid and well screwed together, with good quality plastics on the door trim etc. The first thing I tried was the air conditioning as it was about 28 degrees yesterday, I was amazed as how effective it was - not something I expected from a Defender
I really liked the chunky gearbox, and the torque from the 2.4Tdci was amazing (my Ninety has a non-turbo diesel engine so this was a big difference). On the motorway 100km/h (60mph for your Britons) in 6th gear equated to 2000rpm (I think it is about 3000rpm in my Ninety )
I had great fun trying the anti-stall system - like a child with a new toy. The only little annoyance with the vehicle was I sometimes felt the gap from 2nd to 3rd was too big. I am sure I have read about this on forums. Am I right in saying that the power delivery from the 2.2 litre engine matches the gearbox slightly better? Has anyone driven both a 2.4 and a 2.2?
I am hoping to get a new Defender before production ceases as I am worried about the prices of proper Defenders increasing after LR introduce a new model. I am also considering a late model Td5 with low kms (if I can find one) as I think they might hold their value well since they have the last Land Rover engine.
Having driven the Puma, I now really want to try a Td5 and see what they are like. If only the current Defender could stay in production...sigh...