Hey ALL!

Hey there everyone, my name is Miles and im only 15- i currently own a nice little Defender 90, 2.5 Litre n/a Diesel, 1992. Considering im young i dont have much mechanical experience, if anyone can offer advice or tips i would be very grateful! Although saying that i am very interested in cars and Land Rovers especially, i have already started work on my defender - may upload a few pics to show you guys soon.
Thanks again,
Miles

Hello Miles and ......:welcome2:

you are 15 with a landy? nicely done u a farmers son or something? or use it for the school run

Yeah, ha no i live in Warwickshire which is quite rural, but i wanted one as my first car, so now i have one to refurbish for when im 17/18

impressive, good lad!

:welcome2: young man :welcome2:

Excellent choice young man. The N/A diesel is a lovely engine, not particularly powerful, but it is so understressed that 300k miles are fairly easily achieved. They are are also really easy to work on yourself. Also, learning to drive in your 90, will teach you so much more about driving than any modern car, as with no ABS or traction control to get you out of trouble, you have to learn how to avoid trouble in the first place.

yeah i agree, i love the car and cant wait to start learning driving myself with my dad in the local fields, i agree on the engine but from my experience its quite slow- was wondering if you had any ideas on the best option for speed? even if it means a new engine-what one? thanks

If you want to go fast buy something other than a land rover. The comfortable cruising speed of a 90 is about 60 mph no matter what engine you put in it. The low gearing and wind and engine noise make higher speed cruising wearisome after a fairly short time. Not only that, but any engine mods are like to put your already high insurance premiums through the roof.

yeah i know what you mean and i understand land rovers aren't necessarily built for speed , but do you think a 200tdi would suit better than a 2.5 n/a?

Miles96 said:

yeah i know what you mean and i understand land rovers aren't necessarily built for speed , but do you think a 200tdi would suit better than a 2.5 n/a?

Click to expand...

Yes, a 200Tdi is a very good engine, and would certainly be more powerful, but would also be a lot more expensive to insure.

Miles96 said:

yeah i agree, i love the car and cant wait to start learning driving myself with my dad in the local fields

Click to expand...

Watch out when getting your dad to teach you to drive, as he may, inadvertently, teach you his own bad habits because they are part of his natural driving style. I'm not saying he's a bad driver, but we all have our own driving style. I only recently passed my test and my instructor had unteach 10yrs of bad habits, most of which i picked up through off-road driving, before he could teach me to pass my test. Remember, driving lessons only teach you to pass your test, you don't truly learn to drive till after that.

Fair play on getting your first landy so young though and good luck

Re- Martin, alright good cause im looking into a 200tdi conversion and for insurance since i go to boarding school, to start off the insurance will be under my parents name untill i need it all the time then ill have to face the price myself! and re - zan , yeah i understand but i want to get a feel for the car and just to have some fun really but thanks for the advice-it will be taken into consideration!

Keep it as N/A for now, cheaper insurance and give you time to get no-claims bonus and save for a 200tdi conversion. Also a lot simpler engine so easier to learn to fix/service etc.

Hey Miles, stick with the N/A for now, if theres nothing wrong with it that is! like Martin said insurance would be a nightmare on a tdi, get a year or two under yer belt first. i know that sounds really old and boring but you've got plenty of time for more powerful motors, more than most of us on here infact!! oh and:welcome2: