Another Defender hint?

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manoftaste

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View attachment 8653

This is the 4 door. Looks like a pipe there. I could be wrong.

Yeap, thats a nice and shiny looking metal pipe alright. And you could clearly see it running under the diff in the other pictures as well.

I hope I am wrong and that this is just a visual illusion. But if I am not, it just amazes me, really, it does, the laziness of these guys these days, that is.

I mean, you think the IBF, cross linked suspension, and TR was the result of the type of spirit and the will that currently prevails at LR? No one in the market was asking for all that at the time. Those achievements were purely the result of ingenuity, innovation, hard work, and the much needed element, the real will to problem-solve, that drove it all. They had a bunch of problems at hand at the time and they solved them to a great extent, benefiting their existing customers as well as winning the new ones.

Fast forward to 2018, and the current crew of executives at TATA/LR cant find the will to have a solution to exhaust pipes under the diff in a, supposedly the "Best 4x4 By Far" which is being reborn in lieu of a much anticipated seventy year old 4x4 icon.

But, on the other hand they certainly have plenty of will to achieve such amazing engineering feats, marvels, and technological advancements in the trade of modern automaking such as installing barbecue grills inside a Discovery 5 at their SVO div. Nice going.

Just the pedigree alone of this seventy year old icon would have been plenty enough for any other automaker to be respectful.

I have a real feeling that they are about to screw it up, again, and that they are about to reveal something that could make the DC100 look a lot better :)
 
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manoftaste

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You guys think that this thing may actually have a stepped roof like our LR3/4s?

Looking at the pix, seems like they have a tall covering over the front part of the roof.

A stepped roof could be a great design element there. It is one of the clearly distinguishable signature design feature (including the asymmetrical rear window design) which sets the LR3/4 apart from the rest.
 

ryanjl

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It will probably have a sloped roof, similar to the Defender 90 and 110.
 

Fuji4

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My dream defender would be to take an LR4, shave 500lbs out of it like the new D5, put factory 33" tires (with wells to accommodate 35") with the suspension to match, and slam the diesel in there, with an option for a SCV8 (550hp). Done. how hard is that? I bet that diesel would still get 18MPG combined rolling 35"s. There's a truck i would buy.

It's pretty close to what I have....but 30% better.
 

manoftaste

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My dream defender would be to take an LR4, shave 500lbs out of it like the new D5, put factory 33" tires (with wells to accommodate 35") with the suspension to match, and slam the diesel in there, with an option for a SCV8 (550hp). Done. how hard is that? I bet that diesel would still get 18MPG combined rolling 35"s. There's a truck i would buy.

It's pretty close to what I have....but 30% better.

Would definitely not want to shave any weight off at all.

Its actually that Rolls Royce like weight of LR3/4 that gives us that unflappable Rolls like well-planted, glued to the tarmac (dry or wet), smooth, comfortable ride even at 90 mph even with its largely vertically oriented form-follows-function design and even with those ridiculously contract-grade stock contis. No other SUV in its class (and some even outside its class), even with their horizontally favored aerodynamics, will be able to provide this type of sure footed ride quality at such speeds. Try pushing an Audi Q, X5, or an GX460/70 a little past 85 or 90mph, specially in rain, then get back into your LR4 and do the same, and you'll know what I mean. The top dog, LX570, pretty close in weight if not less than an LR4, would be a distant second but still, in evasive maneuvers such as a lane change in a hurry or catching that exit ramp at the last minute, the truck like ladder frame of LX is bound to flex (just physics), whereas our LR3/4 would feel more compliant, responsive, demonstrating well-controlled movements to driver' sudden inputs due to its IBF' rigidity and that lower center of gravity.

The two things that LR3/4 has got going for itself at freeway speeds, specially during heavy downpours, is its heft/weight and its lower center of gravity. Thats what sets it apart from the rest including its big brother as far as SUVs go.

If you get an LR3/4 to hydroplane, specially with good rubber and proper tire pressures on all four corners, you most certainly are doing something stupid that you should actually not be doing. Its a little bit more work to get this thing to hydroplane compared to its counterparts as well as its own siblings.

I think someone here recently shared their experience which is exactly what my experience has been as far as driving this thing in bad weather situations. Some of my most memorable, enjoyable, and pleasurable drives in LR3/4 over the past twelve years have been in bad weather, snow/rain and/or high cross winds. An LR3/4 really is in its pure element in a bad weather situation, and that is directly owed to its heft/weight and lower center of gravity.

SCV8, yes.

But for me, if there ever was an engine produced for an LR3/4 duty over at the LR engineering it would have been that 4.4 liter TDV8 (yes, thats an "8" in there, not six :) ) which was offered briefly in the FFRR Vogue in UK (and maybe other markets). That motor was born to serve an SUV like LR3/4. That thing produced 516 lb/ft of torque at only 1,500-3,000 RPM, and 300 plus of hp. What a perfect match it would have been for LR4.

In an LR4, that 4.4 TDV8 would, effortlessly, cut thru any headwind at any altitude at any highway speed with any payload with any boat/trailer being towed and with any drag producing rooftop cargo box, like a hot knife thru butter without ever needing to downshift.

If LR simply tidied that motor up for emissions regulations, mated it to the current 8 speed ZF, threw that lovely powertrain on an LR4 chassis, de-blinged the front end and subtly (as not much is needed there), and more importantly, "tastefully" updated the overall design of LR4 to bring it into the modern world among other technological advancements (such as Adaptive Dynamics) and those long over-due fixes/improvements (such as those exhaust pipes under the rear diff, etc), that would simply be it.

I am going to start working hard to make my first billion so I could call up the SVO and have em produce such a thing for some of us here, and in the process, relieve those talented engineers there of chores like installing household items in the new Discovery. I am pretty sure they will have more fun R&D'ing and producing the above described model vs what they have been tasked to do so far by TATA :)
 
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Mcb14230

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It's hard to understand how to be optimistic about a design philosophy coming from the same folks responsible for the current generation of Land Rovers (the Evoque, Velar, RRS, longbody RR, et). The current, standard-body RR has grown on me a *bit*, but I still prefer the previous body style by a large, large margin.

I'll have to admit, I'm not entirely clear on why so many of these new models look like those awful Ford models (Explorer, Edge, etc), so any light anyone can shed on that would be appreciated. McGovern worked for Ford, yes? But did he design or guide the design of those Ford models?

All I know is that I'd pay at least twice what I've paid for either of my last two Discovery models (3 and 4) for a Disco 6 that has at least a 100-mile PHEV range and that is, design wise, true to the model's lineage.
It isn’t just rover that has rounded off all body lines. All major manufacturers have been doing that since the 90’s except Toyota. And their sales are climbing. Here in the US the best selling vehicles all nod to classic designs with plenty of performance: see mustang, Camaro, and the Dodge Challenger. Hell even the Jag coupe is a nod to the past. We are all hopeful that Rover will get it right
 

ryanjl

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Another spy shot.

The top of the rear door looks very LR4-esque.

46307992_10217742444691969_8652846413958348800_n.jpg


This shot also makes it look pretty short. This is obviously the 2-door variant, but one of the things I always liked about the D90 is that it had some usable space in it, unlike the 2-door Wrangler.

I don't see them selling very many 2-doors in the U.S., but I'll hold out until I see the real deal to make any real proclamations.

Some bad news in this photo is that I don't see any sign of the little windows that were to the left and right of the rear hatch on the Defender. To me anyhow, those were key part of the Defender's signature look.
 
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catman

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Now that looks like a Spy Shot. Most of the time these "spy shots" look like prearranged promo shoots from the manufacturers. Looks like a decent amount of cargo room for a 2-door. Bigger than a 2-door Jeep, perhaps like the old 2-door Wrangler Unlimited in size.
 

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