Another Defender hint?

The Powerful UK guy looks at some of the details. I like this guy's videos, and he goes in deeper on nooks and crannies than a lot of the other people I've seen.


Plastic skidplates? Surely the production model will be metal? Even our LR4s come factory standard with metal skidplates under the engine. I've seen videos from Land Rover that make it sound like there are metal skidplates. Big disappointment if they are actually plastic, but I imagine that's something the aftermarket will address quickly.

The control arm bushings are large. I've seen mention of this in other places.

The headlights are interesting. Like he says in the video, I thought there was a clear plastic piece at the front, but the headlights are actually open. My guess is it has something to do with the way the headlights can selectively light areas in the front depending on oncoming traffic, and having the clear plastic piece would cause weird reflections?

The interior on these things gets an A in my book.

Review of the underbody.

https://jalopnik.com/what-i-found-when-i-crawled-under-the-2020-land-rover-d-1838080009

I emailed the forum moderators, we need a new Defender thread.

remember5 said:

Defender thread

Click to expand...

Yes we do. I’m pretty sure I’ve decided to just stay on the LR4 secondary market for quite awhile. After thinking about it I just don’t see capability upgrades in the Defender but more technology updates/upgrades. I like it overall but every time I get into the LR4 it just feels great and I don’t see that being swayed by the defender.

TheWidup said:

Yes we do. I’m pretty sure I’ve decided to just stay on the LR4 secondary market for quite awhile. After thinking about it I just don’t see capability upgrades in the Defender but more technology updates/upgrades. I like it overall but every time I get into the LR4 it just feels great and I don’t see that being swayed by the defender.

Click to expand...

LR4 is one of the best looking SUVs ever made. It has a classy but capable look to it. I'll never understand how LR went from that to the D5.

"Speaking with the engineering team, I asked about the ability to fit larger off-road tires. They said a 35-inch tire will certainly fit, but will require a one-inch suspension lift. A response that direct gave me the feeling that someone at Land Rover had already tried this. "

Not from an automotive journalist...
https://www.outsideonline.com/2401929/new-land-rover-defender

If that’s true it will be a boon to Defender sales as mods and particularly lifts are popular. Seems to me lifts only support larger tires in certain circumstances but let’s hope.

jpjp said:

"Speaking with the engineering team, I asked about the ability to fit larger off-road tires. They said a 35-inch tire will certainly fit, but will require a one-inch suspension lift. A response that direct gave me the feeling that someone at Land Rover had already tried this. "

Not from an automotive journalist...
https://www.outsideonline.com/2401929/new-land-rover-defender

Click to expand...

So I wonder what they mean by a 1" lift?

Are they actually talking about the fricken lift rods? Or are they talking about something more substantial?

For what it's worth, when Scott Brady looked at it and wrote the Expo article, he said 33" might be the upper end as more than that looked like it would have the tires rubbing on the back part of the front wheel wells.

I am hoping the 18" Compos will fit on both petrol versions of this puppy. If I pulled the trigger on the new Defender it would be for the 110 with P400 engine, which comes with larger brakes and (apparently) won't take the 18" factory wheels. 35" seems a bit far fetched considering the clearances shown in the photos and videos, but 33" tires on 18" wheels already gives you some real meaty choices. It would be cool if I could take my beloved Compos with me from the LR4, they've already paid for themselves 10 times over.

Bummer that some of the "essential" off-road accessories, such as a winch and skid plates / underbody armor, don't seem to be available at launch despite the promo videos showing them off. On the other hand, when the factory winch does become available, I reckon it will probably cost 3 times as much as a similar unit in the aftermarket.

I am awfully tempted by this model. On paper at least, I think Land Rover nailed almost every detail about it. Like all of you I love my LR4 to death, but I have 210K miles on it (pretty much trouble free, considering the abuses of regularly wheeling it) and it feels like I am living on borrowed time.

According to the Outsideonline article, the P300 has 4.10 gears in the diffs, but the P400 has 3.55.

So, if you get the P400 and bump up the tire size, there are factory 4.10 gears to which you can switch.