 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > What’s your favorite aspect of the Defender? |
 
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| Soup Dragon Member Since: 22 Sep 2023 Location: Cheshire Posts: 73  
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Agree with your analysis.
If I could summarise in one word, I’d say ‘versatility’. A super comfortable motorway cruiser which you could drive across any muddy field. Excellent visibility. Robust interior. Great infotainment (Pivi). Silky smooth diesel engine. Much improved reliability relative to past JLR products. The not so good - headlights seriously below par. Hifi that deserves to damage the Meridian brand. Windscreen that chips/cracks far too easily. Keyless entry that only helps thieves. Poor choice of smaller wheels. Headache inducing ClearSight mirror. |
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27th Mar 2024 11:56pm |
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| Co1 Member Since: 19 Aug 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 3616  
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Coming from a puma defender, I’d say the headlights are superb!! The stereo is superb!! The seats are amazing!! It’s all relative ain’t it!!
Off road it is a match for my ATB equipped puma. On road is not comparable. Surprisingly, I enjoy the driving experience as much as the old one. If anything, I expected slightly better fuel economy than the 33mpg I’m getting, but it’s better than the puma. |
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28th Mar 2024 7:21am |
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| DrRob Member Since: 29 Mar 2017 Location: Hampshire Posts: 71
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It can be turned off.... 
?si=rOY7HtUYUaTW81G3 New 90 on order for delivery in May 2024. D300 X-Dynamic HSE in Eiger 2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory interior and clear glass = "Rory" Will be up for sale in Spring 2024 1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie" -------------------------------------------------- Series 2A V8 Lightweight - gone 1952 80" - gone 1949 80" - still in family since 1975 |
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28th Mar 2024 8:40am |
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| Moo Member Since: 01 Oct 2021 Location: Bath Posts: 1035 
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Things I like:
Driving position - very D3/4 Cabin cubby hole storage On road manners, off road capability Mile munching ability 360 cameras D250 engine Loading flexibility of three way split rear seats Things I dislike Crude and cr4p ACC Headlights - dire. My daughters D3 Xenons are leagues ahead as where my XC90s matrix. Boot size, aperture and side opening door. Meridian sound system - after the Volvos it is staggeringly poor. Usual crap dealer service (Dick Lovett being the exception). Battery drain when camping or just working on it. Paper thin windscreen - I'm about to fit my third in 25000 miles! Gearbox dropping down gears going down hill and engine revving. Now use stick to change it. Other than that it's great, but I miss the versatility of the D3/4. It's defiantly not a D3/4 replacement. Eiger Grey MY23 D250 SE with bits. Known as Noddy. |
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28th Mar 2024 9:35am |
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| mbso Member Since: 01 Sep 2021 Location: Genoa Posts: 91 
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Things I like:
-On road manners, off road capability -Mile munching ability -360 cameras, off-road cameras -D250 engine -Loading flexibility of three way split rear seats -ZF 8-speed automatic transmission -Towing trailers with or without reduced gears Things I dislike -Driving position could be better for me 7/10 (for my wife 6/10, she prefer Volvo seats) -ACC 6/10 (Volvo XC40 or V60 CC or XC90 9/10) -Headlights Matrix Led 6,5/10 (XC40 Matrix Led 9/10 or 10/10) -Door seals noise (I use Rifton's "Gummy Pflege Stift  DISCOVERY 4 2013
VOLVO XC90 2017 MY23.5 110 D250 SE in Santorini Black |
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30th Mar 2024 11:17am |
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| lightning Member Since: 23 Apr 2009 Location: High Peak, Derbyshire Posts: 2247
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"Other than that it's great, but I miss the versatility of the D3/4. It's defiantly not a D3/4 replacement"
The new Defender was never designed to be a D3/4 replacement. |
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30th Mar 2024 8:20pm |
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| DSC-off Member Since: 16 Oct 2014 Location: North East Posts: 1351 
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Affordability.
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31st Mar 2024 12:25am |
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| Moo Member Since: 01 Oct 2021 Location: Bath Posts: 1035
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You’re right it wasn’t, but many have moved from the D3/4 to the Defender bypassing the D5. For those of us who have had a D3/4, we miss the do all capability whilst enjoying near limo comfort and the practicality of a van. JLR pretty well got it right with the D3/4 but made a right royal mess of the D5. The Defender has partially dug them out of a hole but they still need to find a solution for the D3/4. The new Toyota Land Cruiser might yet be it  Eiger Grey MY23 D250 SE with bits. Known as Noddy. |
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31st Mar 2024 1:53am |
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| lightning Member Since: 23 Apr 2009 Location: High Peak, Derbyshire Posts: 2247
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True enough
My friend moved from a D4 to a Defender 110 and says he misses the amount of room in the back of the D4 for his dogs. ln fact l nearly bought it off him instead of buying my Defender, it was only the ongoing fear of engine failure that put me off. |
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31st Mar 2024 12:47pm |
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| CarMan Member Since: 29 Nov 2010 Location: Cotswolds Posts: 1778
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If it ever gets here  Rob
1993 200tdi 90 hard-top 1998 300tdi 90 soft-top 2016 2.2 XS 90 hard-top |
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31st Mar 2024 12:50pm |
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| Tobers Member Since: 01 Oct 2023 Location: Skye Posts: 34
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D250 90 HSE 4 months old.
Pros: Superb engine. So smooth and torquey. Lovely smooth ride (air suspension). Flexibility. Long distance mile munching (south England to north Scotland regularly), do anything capability. Clearsight mirror. No need to change mirror position between me & Mrs T. Solidity. Driving position is great. Quieter than I thought it would be. Totally unfussed by the appalling state of the roads in Scotland. Nice big wing mirrors. All round cameras for parking etc. Airy with light headlining, sunroof and big windows. Fuel economy (over 40mpg on a 45 mile trip today) much better than expected. Cons: ACC too coarse. Over-harsh acceleration when coming back to speed. Undertakes dangerously. Too much bonging and binging. I turn driver assist to minimum and treat the first bong is a reminder. Lack of rear load space levelling tray thing (grrr). Concerns about electronic complexity but no problems so far. Brake calipers corroding. Steering wheel “buttons” feel cheap. Reversing lights poor (Powerful ones added) Front seat squabs too short for me (6’2”) but fine for my wife (5’3”). Neither pros nor cons: Stereo is fine and as expected (standard Meridian, not surround) Phone integration works as it should and actually quite good (Carplay & Android Auto). |
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31st Mar 2024 9:02pm |
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| steam_simon Member Since: 24 Sep 2022 Location: London Posts: 74
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Have a MY23.5 D250 110
Likes: On road and off road capability Smooth engine Hold and start very smooth Feels like a luxury, go anywhere, do anything car Surround Cameras 7 seats just about good enough Very quiet Fuel Consumption - 35MPG HUGE Dislike ACC - it's awful (have just been to USA where a bog standard rental Nissan with ACC was 1000% better. even the ACC on an RV was better). |
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18th Apr 2024 2:33pm |
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| Soup Dragon Member Since: 22 Sep 2023 Location: Cheshire Posts: 73
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Seems like the ACC is coming in for some (well deserved) slating based on the above comments.
Pardon my technical ignorance of ACC but could some of the issues described be resolved through SOTA updates? Would be nice to think so! |
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18th Apr 2024 8:37pm |
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| Moo Member Since: 01 Oct 2021 Location: Bath Posts: 1035
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Mine has all the latest software and has had the ACC recalibrated. All my mates that have the Defender all hate the ACC. It's really poor. Eiger Grey MY23 D250 SE with bits. Known as Noddy.
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18th Apr 2024 9:32pm |
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