OV9

Saw a new defender just now. Fuck me they're huge.

Beany wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 1:25 pm Saw a new defender just now. Fuck me they're huge.

I went to the dealers after they had closed for the night with the wife, the lucky lady, and she said the same thing.

Without the spare it’s basically the same length as mine with a spare on the back. I’d not run one with a spare wheel, they aren’t needed. The width though I need to find out as in black it was a real surprise how huge the thing looked.

A little bit gutted so I’ll get the measuring tape out.

Dave!

Beany wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 1:25 pm Saw a new defender just now. Fuck me they're huge.

They aren’t. Park one next to an old defender and you’ll see it’s quite deceptive, they’re a bit bigger but it’s no Mini -> BMW Mini

To be fair, it’s 200mm wider than the old one and about 200mm longer, so not a huge difference.

I can’t find figures for the rear wheel on though as that may be messing up the perception of it as it’s a bloody big wheel and tyre combo.

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:46 pm To be fair, it’s 200mm wider than the old one and about 200mm longer, so not a huge difference.

I can’t find figures for the rear wheel on though as that may be messing up the perception of it as it’s a bloody big wheel and tyre combo.

Dave!

200mm wider is a huge difference!

V8Granite wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:46 pm To be fair, it’s 200mm wider than the old one and about 200mm longer, so not a huge difference.

I can’t find figures for the rear wheel on though as that may be messing up the perception of it as it’s a bloody big wheel and tyre combo.

Dave!

I'll grant you it may be the overall design (thicker pillars, deeper wider grille, shallower glasshouse, whatever) but I've never looked at a classic defender and felt it looked 'weighty'. New Defender looks like it weighs about three tons. Progress, modern design cues etc likely play a part.

I'm still undecided on whether I like it or not. I didn't immediately hate it though, certainly.

I imagine once I've seen a few more in the metal I'll get a better idea.

Rich B wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:48 pm

V8Granite wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:46 pm To be fair, it’s 200mm wider than the old one and about 200mm longer, so not a huge difference.

I can’t find figures for the rear wheel on though as that may be messing up the perception of it as it’s a bloody big wheel and tyre combo.

Dave!

200mm wider is a huge difference!

On a car with thin doors only just wider than the glass it housed and you have to chop your right arm off to fit inside the new Defender could have justifiably been a lot more than 200mm wider

Beany wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:52 pm

V8Granite wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:46 pm To be fair, it’s 200mm wider than the old one and about 200mm longer, so not a huge difference.

I can’t find figures for the rear wheel on though as that may be messing up the perception of it as it’s a bloody big wheel and tyre combo.

Dave!

I'll grant you it may be the overall design (thicker pillars, deeper wider grille, shallower glasshouse, whatever) but I've never looked at a classic defender and felt it looked 'weighty'. New Defender looks like it weighs about three tons. Progress, modern design cues etc likely play a part.

It had to look like that, the masses think a chunky looking Tonka toy is more robust than a more svelt looking design.

Yeah, can't be helped I suppose.

Orange Cola wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:58 pm

Rich B wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:48 pm

V8Granite wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:46 pm To be fair, it’s 200mm wider than the old one and about 200mm longer, so not a huge difference.

I can’t find figures for the rear wheel on though as that may be messing up the perception of it as it’s a bloody big wheel and tyre combo.

Dave!

200mm wider is a huge difference!

On a car with thin doors only just wider than the glass it housed and you have to chop your right arm off to fit inside the new Defender could have justifiably been a lot more than 200mm wider

to add context though, the new defender is about 80mm wider than a discovery 3!

90mm wider than the ML, I can picture that a bit more.

That’s a surprise and definitely not going to help, without parent and child parking the ML is enough of a pain as it is.

Dave!

So it’s about a dong wider than the last one. Pffft that’s nothing.

Over 2m wide? Isn't that wider than a current Range Rover? Not much chance of getting out of that in a std parking space.

The Disco 3 is too big for plenty of green lanes in the UK. Making the new Defender bigger than that is a bit silly. Are there many obstacles on Land Rover’s own test tracks it won’t fit through?

Jobbo wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:20 am The Disco 3 is too big for plenty of green lanes in the UK. Making the new Defender bigger than that is a bit silly. Are there many obstacles on Land Rover’s own test tracks it won’t fit through?

I remember that, on a green lane recommendations post years ago there were quite a few gates that a Discovery wouldn’t get through unless it went off the track and approached it at a different angle.

Dave!

How many Land Cruisers can fit down UK green lanes?

How many Land Cruisers are used as the go to 4x4 world wide?

I would imagine the market share for uk greenlaners looking at brand new £40k 4x4s is a pretty small proportion of their overall sales targets

Anyone who’s making that class/size of 4x4 for that matter!

Orange Cola wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 11:18 am How many Land Cruisers can fit down UK green lanes?

How many Land Cruisers are used as the go to 4x4 world wide?

i wonder how our standard 2.4m wide carpark spaces compare to the rest of the world?

Land Cruisers don’t sell here anyway.

It’s a shame that they’ve moved the defender so far away from what it was.

They’ll probably sell so many to people who currently drive lifted defenders round cities that they won’t even notice that people who need something that works have stopped buying them though