Quote:

I’m completely rose tinted glasses. But the raw, hard work drive is why I love the classic defender. It’s not for everyone.

H1Tad wrote:

I just returned home from a week long trip in Iceland where my wife and I, along with another couple we're good friends with - rented a classic Defender (I think it was a 2015 but I'm not entirely sure).

The truck was perfect for Iceland's rugged terrain where we spent a good portion of our driving time on unpaved, unmarked, washboarded "roads" whose driving surface resembled the surface of the moon. We had room for all of our luggage - we drove up to waterfalls, through rivers and saw some simply amazing landscapes that cannot be captured through a camera lens. It has to be seen in person.

Caveat: The truck we got was a rental and lives its life in a harsh environment. I'm not under any illusions that a privately owned, well maintained and cared for vehicle would be a better experience. That being said, our rental was in incredible shape - everything worked, nothing was broken except for a windshield washer squirter that was misaligned. Our rental company ISAK4x4 were amazing to work with and highly recommend them.

I'd rather do 1,000,000 more miles in my H1 than another 500 miles in that Defender. It's simply a pain box. I'm a tall, solid gentleman at ... *damnit math* 198 centimeters tall and... *damnit more math* 111 kilos. I don't fit in all cars but I almost didn't fit in the Defender. It was a diesel manual which was awesome - but I couldn't operate the clutch safely with my left leg in constant contact with the steering wheel despite the seat being all the way back. So far back that a passenger couldn't sit behind me while I was driving. The clutch itself was binary - it was either engaged or not engaged and it felt like a cracked out donkey was in the back - kicking the rear end every time I changed gears.

The NVH was unacceptable for a vehicle produced in the last 25 years. The HVAC was incapable of keeping the windshield from fogging up when it rained. The windshield wipers were wholly inadequate. The powerband of the engine was so narrow... it didn't start making power until about 1600 RPM and then it dropped off a cliff around 2500RPM - which made gear hunting - especially through traffic circles, a real chore. The handling was so terrible that it required constant steering input to keep it on the road lest it drive itself into the ditch... it was so physically demanding that I was legitimately exhausted at the end of a 2 hour drive.

It's not even a comparable vehicle to the L663. The latter is simply a better vehicle all around than the classic Defender ever could be. Yes the classic Defender is raw and unapologetic about its roots and its purpose - but its a vehicle that simply doesn't compete in any way with modern offroaders that are on the market. The thing is, nothing we did as far as "offroad" in Iceland required a solid axle, super SUV as we didn't go up on any glaciers where the "super Defender" is required. There were TONS of L663's there (something we don't see over in the US) - I saw more L663's and Prados over there than I see 4Runners and Explorers over here but I'd only see maybe one or two classic Defenders. The river crossing we did could have been done in an L663 no problem and it would have been so much more comfortable doing it.

I kept thinking in the back of my head to pickup an imported Defender to replace my rusting and rotting away FJ Cruiser - however this experience cured me of that delusion. My H1 is much more capable, durable and comfortable than the classic Defender is - while our new Defender is in a different league altogether. I now clearly understand why JLR moved on from it.

River crossing video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL-orecsUL0/


Click image to enlarge


Click image to enlarge


Click image to enlarge

looks like an amazing trip made even more memorable by being in a classic defender. lovely.

Quote:

Land Rover could have built a Grenadier

However l doubt it would have sold anything like as many as the new Defender. But they could have done both.

lightning wrote:

... I think they missed an opportunity when Ratcliffe came to them and asked to take over Defender production.....