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Desert Dave



Member Since: 09 Feb 2016
Location: Dubai
Posts: 4

United Arab Emirates 
Desert Defender
Hello all, I'm Dave from Dubai and recently accepted I'm a Defenderhloic ! Having driven for many years out in the Arabian desert in both Toyota Land Cruiser's and Nissan Patrol's which are best suited for this environment I finally purchased my first (and probably last!) Defender last week. It is a 2013 Puma 2.2 Crew Cab.


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Post #524667 17th Apr 2016 9:10am
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Desert Dave



Member Since: 09 Feb 2016
Location: Dubai
Posts: 4

United Arab Emirates 
About six hours into ownership my intercooler hose popped off, followed immediately by the engine warning light and the Defender going into "safe" or "limp home" mode! Obviously not too impressed I did a quick Google search and discovered how common this issue is! One of the local Defender Specialist garages here ( Saluki Motorsports) recommended upgraded hoses from a supplier in Sussex, TMD tuning. By chance I was flying from Dubai to Gatwick the next day so had the hoses delivered to my hotel. Now installed I still notice some slippage as I am still using a standard jubilee clip. From the helpful posts here I will try find some Mikalor clamps and fingers crossed that will solve this annoying issue!

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Post #524672 17th Apr 2016 9:27am
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Rosco



Member Since: 03 Dec 2010
Location: Burntwood
Posts: 1815

United Kingdom 2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Montalcino Red
Dave welcome to the fold. That looks a pretty smart truck. Thumbs Up

Is that a water Jerry can mounted on the rear quarter? 2007 - Stornoway Grey 90 XS SW - Gone
2002 - Black Discovery II - Gone
2014 - Montalcino Red 110 XS SW
Post #524682 17th Apr 2016 9:48am
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Desert Dave



Member Since: 09 Feb 2016
Location: Dubai
Posts: 4

United Arab Emirates 
Thanks @Rosco. The Jerry can came with the Defender and yes, it's used to hold water. New to diesel powered motors I ran the tank down to the fuel light coming on. Filled it up (less than £20 here in Dubai) and covered almost 600km with the tank still not empty! It's very impressive compared to my other 4x4, a very thirsty 4.8L Nissan Patrol. That has a Jerry can for fuel, which is needed on longer desert drives!

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Post #524688 17th Apr 2016 10:08am
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GREENI



Member Since: 22 Aug 2010
Location: staffs
Posts: 10367

United Kingdom 
Welcome!!!

Nice truck....I had to check your plate, a mate of mine flies to Dubai a lot to work on race cars. The lad he works for has a Defender, as he knows I'm into bikes and defenders, he sent me this photo, made me look twice!!



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Post #524844 17th Apr 2016 9:01pm
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Crocodile110



Member Since: 23 Feb 2016
Location: Surrey
Posts: 17

United Kingdom 
Looks very smart, post some more pictures when you get a chance. How does it compare with the land cruisers and Patrol's in the desert?
Post #524889 17th Apr 2016 11:35pm
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familymad



Member Since: 13 Dec 2011
Location: Bucks
Posts: 3467

 2016 Defender 130 Puma 2.2 HCPU Santorini Black
Looks great. Must be unusual as a black one in Dubai. Most have white to fend the sun off?? 1951 80" S1 2.0
1995 110 300TDI
1995 90 300TDI
Post #524901 18th Apr 2016 2:35am
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williamthedog



Member Since: 29 Dec 2012
Location: south wales
Posts: 3441

2011 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 PU Tamar Blue
Nice, fancy swapping locations for a week or two ? Whistle
Post #524908 18th Apr 2016 6:12am
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Desert Dave



Member Since: 09 Feb 2016
Location: Dubai
Posts: 4

United Arab Emirates 
I'm pretty sure that Defender was just a few streets up from my house GREENI. Looked like it hadn't moved from the driveway in months. The owner had a new toy, a heavily modified Toyota Tundra truck. If it is the same house I'm thinking of the Defender has since gone, replaced by a Nissan GTR!

Black is an unusual colour out here in the desert heat familymad. Not ideal under the sun but it's garaged. More of an issue is the dust and sand. Black shows up everything. It's almost a waste of time washing it!

To answer your question Crocodile110, the Toyota Land Cruisers and Nissan Patrols in particular rule the dunes out here. They are tough, reliable and have around 300 BHP to tackle the steep dunes. They also have a wider wheel base so are very stable when cresting over the sharper dunes. I have yet to take the Defender on a proper desert trip but having the intercooler hose slip out twice has cast doubts on its reliability. Also, the 122 BHP makes climbing some of the medium to large dunes impossible. All that said, I have covered almost 600km so far on the one tank of diesel so I can understand why it's used more as an overland explorer. I will post a report on its first trip to the bigger dunes, hopefully this coming weekend.

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Post #524996 18th Apr 2016 1:35pm
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cozz



Member Since: 15 May 2013
Location: nottingham
Posts: 522

I've got a few fat bikes



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they are awesome
Post #525157 18th Apr 2016 9:36pm
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