"Jay Dennett" <j.dennett@wanadoo.nl> wrote in message
news:425c0980$0$68148$dbd49001@news.wanadoo.nl...
> Does anyone know anything about the Santana?
>
> How does it compare with a Defender, can you get it serviced, reliability
> etc.
>
>
>
By coincidence I spent the Saturday before last at a demo day for these
things, having a test drive.
They are surprisingly capable units despite having leaf springs. The axle
articulation is particularly impressive for a leaf sprung vehicle and the
ride is also better than I expected. This is probably down to the spring
design which allows a very small contact area between the leafs. In fact the
articulation was so good that I found little difference between the unladen
Santana and my LR110.
The LT85 gearbox, as used in V8 Defender vehicles, is good and strong but
rather notchy, needing a good whack into the reverse plane.
The wheels have the same stud pattern as Defender although these long
wheelbase vehicles do not use the Dana/Salisbury type rear axle even though
they are part time 4x4 and put a lot of load through the rear drivetrain.
The body is steel rather than aluminium but is quite heavy gauge and appears
well protected from rust. A weak point for corrosion might be the top inner
edge of the new pick-up body where the steel is folded back on itself. There
is a huge gap between the body and tailgate when it is open. The pick-up has
a big roll bar behind the cab for roll-over protection.
The roof is a fibre type material.
The dash is rather poorly finished by today's standards but has all that is
needed for an utility vehicle.
Two front seats are standard and there is more length in the cab than a
truck-cab Defender.
The engine is a superb common-rail Iveco 2.8 unit which is adequately
powerful though never refined in this application.
The steering is nothing special and rather less satisfactory than a
Defender's but surely no less durable, not that this is any recommendation.
The front axle is similar to a series111 unit in that the swivel pins do not
contain CV joints but only single UJ's it seems.
The assembly quality is below par and I found loose bolts holding the swivel
pin housing oil seals on one vehicle.
That concludes the verdict of the West Wales jury.
Huw
