Best off road, Defender or Series?

What are the pros and cons of each?

Depends what you mean by off-road........after today I'm feeling a Series would definitely be better off-a-cliff :frusty:

a series in the hands of an experienced driver will be better than a defender in the hands of a muppet

but a defender in the right hands imo will be better,me personally ive never taken to the series,sean the sheep always springs to my mind

thats my opinion but maybe not the opinion of others

Right tyres and both are good, just the defender is better as a general rule.



Lynall

Well as the defender is the evolution of the series I'd go defender

However not the new ones, will have to be V8, late TD5 or 300tdi

why not 2.5NA? The complete lack of torque and power means you won't be spinning the wheels quite as easily in mud, and in the low ratio box, you're not going to struggle for power either

anyway, the 90/110/defender is superior technically in pretty much every way to the series!

For off road or trials I would ... and have pitted a standard 2 litre 86" Series I against Series II's, III's and early Fenders and finished better placed than most of them.

Bear in mind that the trials were about skill to get from A to B, and not about speed.

However Simmy's AWD Club was an out and out foot down organisation and we lost a lot of good drivers to them.

Give me an old, well shod Series, any day! If anyone's still up for a challenge sometime, and I can borrow one, let's try it out!

OSD

I'll take you on in the V8 when it's ready

Dr_evil said:

I'll take you on in the V8 when it's ready

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If anyone can supply me with a Series for the day, you're on!

OSD

What you in at the mo ?

1990 Fender 110 2.5 N/A diesel van.

OSD

defender off road, it can get through deeper ruts as the spring hangers aint in the way, otherwise its down to driver/tyres/mods

natas said:

What are the pros and cons of each?

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There is no real answer to this, not without first asking and answering some other questions:

1. For use at what off road?
2. Standard or modified, if the latter, how radical?


In short the Defender has more power, power steering, better steering lock, stronger axles and gearbox, more wheel travel, better flex and more suspension travel.

So in general a Defender will be more capable.


However, something like an 80" Series 1 has huge advantages on some terrain. It's a lot smaller in all measurements, so has a better breakover angle and is far more nimble. For trialling or use in tight confined terrain (forrest/woods) it's size is a real advantage.

It's also lighter, so arguably better on lose surfaces like sand.

Downsides are Series 1's aren't very powerful and the standard suspension has little travel, even compared to a Series II (front suspension).


If you allow mods, then a Series can be highly capable and lots of available options to improve them.

But it comes down to what you want to do with them. If you are rock crawling Moab style, then a 100" wheelbase Defender is likely a better bet than an 80" Series. The longer wheelbase will offer greater stability.

Defender, purely because you will have a spine still at the end of the day. Coil springs ftw

I would say fender but that's cos I have one ;-)

300bhp/ton said:

there is no real answer to this, not without first asking and answering some other questions:

1. For use at what off road?
2. Standard or modified, if the latter, how radical?


In short the defender has more power,

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lies, huge bigoted lies

'91 Defender said:

Defender, purely because you will have a spine still at the end of the day. Coil springs ftw

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Yep, driving across the rows on a stubble field in a series is painful to say the least.

If we're talking equivalent cars (eg. a standard fender vs a standard series or a kitted up fender vs a kitted up series) then the defender is better. Tbh you get very extreme before you start to see a difference. Coil springs and a much more powerful engine are a big help.

khaos said:

If we're talking equivalent cars (eg. a standard fender vs a standard series or a kitted up fender vs a kitted up series) then the defender is better. Tbh you get very extreme before you start to see a difference. Coil springs and a much more powerful engine are a big help.

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As I said the V8's are the same more or less unless you've got a limited edition fender with a thor in it or some other weird incarnation of the buick block


Now the one thing I would say gives the fender a huge advantage is power steering as it makes life a lot easier when you get a little stuck

sible88 said:

I would say fender but that's cos I have one ;-)

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I didn't see you following me on Sunday mate.