Hankering after a Defender

As a former Discovery owner, I have been driving around in a Ford Focus for most of the year, and am missing driving (and tinkering with) a Land Rover. I also miss the flexibility that the vehicle gave me in all situations/conditions (last winter was hilarious, even though it was expensive in terms if fuel!!!).
I'm now thinking of a Defender 90, hopefully a 6 seater (2 front, 4 rear side facing), 300tdi as I'm plenty familiar with it from a few years with the Disco.
Couple of questions really, just to set me off:
Fuel consumption. Elsewhere on the forum, suggests around 30ish mpg. Has anyone any experience of making a 90 more economical (thus is largely academic, as I'm not naive enough to think I'll get a decent mpg!)?
Related to above: transfer gearbox conversion to higher ratio. I do about 60 miles a day on the motorway, so having a top gear with a higher ratio would be good. Any advice about cost of modification?
I'm hoping to have about £4k to spend in one. What would you go for with that budget (age mileage)?
Clutch. Longevity on defender? Ease of replacement (have done quite a few Discovery jobs, but not z clutch yet!)?

Be most grateful for any pointers.

Use the 'search' function.

Its all been covered ...to death.

Fair play. Getting lazy.... found some answers to some questions...
Need to have a think now about age of vehicle that I'll be able to afford.
:0

As we move towards winter, possible that £4k won't get you much

Budget for 28 - 30 mpg - a thread last week from a guy getting 37 - no idea how!

Clutch - either engine out leaving gearbox in place, or tunnel and seats out and hoist through drivers door to take the weight

Can send you a buyers guide if you pm your email address - suspect you know what to look for from prev ownership, but happy to share if helpful

ady said:

As a former Discovery owner, I have been driving around in a Ford Focus for most of the year, and am missing driving (and tinkering with) a Land Rover. I also miss the flexibility that the vehicle gave me in all situations/conditions (last winter was hilarious, even though it was expensive in terms if fuel!!!).
I'm now thinking of a Defender 90, hopefully a 6 seater (2 front, 4 rear side facing), 300tdi as I'm plenty familiar with it from a few years with the Disco.
Couple of questions really, just to set me off:
Fuel consumption. Elsewhere on the forum, suggests around 30ish mpg. Has anyone any experience of making a 90 more economical (thus is largely academic, as I'm not naive enough to think I'll get a decent mpg!)?
Related to above: transfer gearbox conversion to higher ratio. I do about 60 miles a day on the motorway, so having a top gear with a higher ratio would be good. Any advice about cost of modification?
I'm hoping to have about £4k to spend in one. What would you go for with that budget (age mileage)?
Clutch. Longevity on defender? Ease of replacement (have done quite a few Discovery jobs, but not z clutch yet!)?

Be most grateful for any pointers.

Click to expand...

30mpg average is optimistic. But if you've had a Disco you should know this.

Personally can't see the point in changing the transfer case. A taller set of tyres would work just as well.

However from what you've said so far you'd be better off with a Disco or RRC.

300bhp/ton said:

30mpg average is optimistic. But if you've had a Disco you should know this.

Personally can't see the point in changing the transfer case. A taller set of tyres would work just as well.

However from what you've said so far you'd be better off with a Disco or RRC.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm probably trying to be optimistic in these times of high fuel costs!
Tyres. Yes, had looked at this (and obviously plenty of tyre choice out there), the main thing that led me to the transfer box issue was seeing modded Defender articles a couple of years back from those who off-roaded at weekend but did mileage in the week - I'm doing about 300 miles per week to and from work.

Thought also about another Disco. My last one was an auto. Good motor, but even less economy than others had reported - assume this just due to the auto box, but may be wrong.

I have a friend who builds and sells defenders. He has 2 for sale right now and he's just finished building one. He's after £3,750 for it. His second defender he's selling for £6,000. Just thaught I'd share that with you to help a little

P.s.
At the bottom it says I'm in Canada but my friend is in the UK inbox me if you want any details


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.343963,-75.641060

Station House said:

As we move towards winter, possible that £4k won't get you much

Budget for 28 - 30 mpg - a thread last week from a guy getting 37 - no idea how!

Clutch - either engine out leaving gearbox in place, or tunnel and seats out and hoist through drivers door to take the weight

Can send you a buyers guide if you pm your email address - suspect you know what to look for from prev ownership, but happy to share if helpful

Click to expand...

Many thanks for the reply. Yep, totally the wrong type of year to look for one! Typical for me . If it comes to it, I may have to wait till spring .

Know the main issues in terms of chassis rot, sill corrosion, alloy-meets-other metals points etc.

There are a few nice examples on eBay, that would be a good base for a long term Defender project (aren't all Defenders long term projects??!!) whilst I'm driving it.
Being well used to spannering on my Disco (steering box, gearbox oil cooler lines, oil cooler pipes, air con system, etc, etc - usual maintenance!), am quite happy to get as new/low mileage as I can for @£4k (I'll probably be selling a bike - yes - wrong time of year again), then when I sell my current car, I'll use that cash to repair/upgrade etc

...see how I'm talking myself back into the world of LR again?!

bought mine November last year - you're not alone with poor timing

That said, it was very useful throguh the snow!!!

Station House said:

bought mine November last year - you're not alone with poor timing

That said, it was very useful throguh the snow!!!

Click to expand...

Useful and then some. I loved my Disco last winter - the only drawback being the amount of fuel I fed it! My brother was eternally grateful for the ease of towing his van home when he was snowed in on a job!

Anytime Pal - good luck hunting

ady said:

Fair play. Getting lazy.... found some answers to some questions...
Need to have a think now about age of vehicle that I'll be able to afford.
:0

Click to expand...

Condition is far more important than age with these.

ady said:

Yeah, I'm probably trying to be optimistic in these times of high fuel costs!

Click to expand...

If you drive at more like 50-55mph and be gentle with the throttle you can make ok progress mpg wise.

But it won't be fun and arguably more effort than driving quickly.

Over 30mpg is possible, even more so if you are on low friction road tyres, but I'd realistically budget more like 25-28mpg as a norm with 30-32mpg+ only being on those occasions you try for it.

ady said:

Tyres. Yes, had looked at this (and obviously plenty of tyre choice out there), the main thing that led me to the transfer box issue was seeing modded Defender articles a couple of years back from those who off-roaded at weekend but did mileage in the week - I'm doing about 300 miles per week to and from work.

Click to expand...

I guess it depends what you are after.

But if you order a Defender on the tallest tyres LR offer, the mph/1000rpm is actually the same as a Disco 1 on it's standard smaller tyres.

So it's a bit of a misnomer that the Disco has lower cruising rpms. The only time this is true is if it's on taller tyres.

My main gripe about changing the transfer box is cost and hassle for very little gain. I suspect it'd take a long time to pay for itself in terms of saved fuel.

But it'll also blunt acceleration, which I find odd when so many seem to be chasing acceleration stats and performance.

By all means swap it out, it will make it slightly lower rpm for cruising, e.g.

If you had 31" tall tyres on a stock Defender with 3.54:1 diffs, then:

2500rpm = 56mph
3000rpm = 67mph

Compared to the same vehicle with a Disco transfer box:

2500rpm = 64mph
3000rpm = 77mph


Figures assume 5th 0.83:1 LT-77

There is a difference for sure, but these figures are skewed as a Disco wouldn't normally be running 31" tall tyres, normally 28", so a stock Disco would be:

2500rpm = 58mph
3000rpm = 70mph


In hind sight, maybe the transfer swap isn't such a bad idea if you are doing lots of motorway work.

ady said:

Thought also about another Disco. My last one was an auto. Good motor, but even less economy than others had reported - assume this just due to the auto box, but may be wrong.

Click to expand...

Auto's are less economical yes.

There is something about Defenders, they do appeal and I get this.

However, you'll buy more Disco for your money and it'll be more comfy on the road and almost as capable off it.

All comes down to what you want and how much though.

300bhp/ton said:

....cut.....


In hind sight, maybe the transfer swap isn't such a bad idea if you are doing lots of motorway work.


Auto's are less economical yes.

There is something about Defenders, they do appeal and I get this.

However, you'll buy more Disco for your money and it'll be more comfy on the road and almost as capable off it.

All comes down to what you want and how much though.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the comprehensive answer! Loads to think about there. Having had plenty of time in the Disco (and under it!!), still fancy a change to a Defender, which I'd like as a base as a long term driveable project. Driveable - as long as it's got a solid lump and is not a rot box - it'll be my main vehicle, both to and from work, and my forays offs beaten track in my visits to Scotland and many a green track! Project - well, I've got a blank canvas for fettling, and more bits available than u can shake a stick at! I'm sure I'll get something that will fit my requirements.

Improved mpg? How about an overdrive. GKN used to do one, now made by Roverdrive. Reduce rpm by 28% on the motorway, got to be worth thinking about. Just a thought.

ady said:

Thanks for the comprehensive answer! Loads to think about there. Having had plenty of time in the Disco (and under it!!), still fancy a change to a Defender, which I'd like as a base as a long term driveable project. Driveable - as long as it's got a solid lump and is not a rot box - it'll be my main vehicle, both to and from work, and my forays offs beaten track in my visits to Scotland and many a green track! Project - well, I've got a blank canvas for fettling, and more bits available than u can shake a stick at! I'm sure I'll get something that will fit my requirements.

Click to expand...

I think I might have been too negative before.

If you want a Defender - get one! They are fab and have huge sense of occasion.

If you buy wise you'll not lose money on it either, at least not in 12 months, so you could sell up this time next year if you really didn't get on with it for next to no actual cost.


The best thing about Defenders is you can always fix them. If you plan to keep it and have it as a rolling project you might be better off buying older to begin with, maybe a 2.5TD or even an ex-MoD.

It'll be less suited to motorway work straight off, but if solid and tidy will give a good basis to build from. Tdi swaps are easy and if you can buy an engine gearbox out of a Disco then it'll do the transfer swap at the same time.

Big green snail said:

Improved mpg? How about an overdrive. GKN used to do one, now made by Roverdrive. Reduce rpm by 28% on the motorway, got to be worth thinking about. Just a thought.

Click to expand...

Yeah, seen the GKN system. Quite slick, but bloody expensive! I suppose the advantage of this sort of approach is that the gear 'ratios' aren't compromised as they would be with the transfer box option.
My tack is to get a Defender first that runs nicely (after flogging my bike), then flog my car, and use the couple of grand for spares and bolt on goodies/upgrades to get it to the spec that I want. Can't think of a better base for this than a Defender 90.

I have a 200 and a 300. They do about 28mpg. Put Disco gearing in transfer box, not expensive, if doing lot of miles. Should get decent 200 for £3K. However much you pay lots of little things will go wrong and a big one I am experiencing now!!!!

OLDUN said:

I have a 200 and a 300. They do about 28mpg. Put Disco gearing in transfer box, not expensive, if doing lot of miles. Should get decent 200 for £3K. However much you pay lots of little things will go wrong and a big one I am experiencing now!!!!

Click to expand...

Yeah, like the transfer box option just for the 5th gear motorway miles as a cheap modification.
Will probably prep my bike for sale this weekend, chuck it on eBay and see how it goes, unless I find a Defender owner who wants a swap(!) , haha

Did you swap the box as a lump, or strip down and replace gearing?
There's always something that will need a fix! What's gone pop with yours?

I bought myself an ex MOD 110CSW 300Tdi last December and hit lucky my average mpg is 30 over the last 11 months (28000 miles) I have recently installed a gas conversion that has given me an extra 3-8 mpg at present, but I'm still tinkering with the setup.
My next purchase will be a Roverdrive as I've heard good thing about them.
Best advise I can offer is keep on top of basic maintenance and it will pay back in the long run.
Dave