Another Defender hint?

[ryanjl]

I don't hate it. In fact, it can look quite good. Just not sold on the "Defender" moniker for this.

But it's pretty clear why it appears the Discovery underwent a total redesign if they were sitting on this as the new Defender (although it's kind of strange that they have no qualms having the Discovery look similar, yet a little worse than a Range Rover Sport).

I imagine someone with more time than me will take these latest "Tusk" images and come up with a pretty good rendering of what it will look like without the camo.

 

[ryanjl]

Wait a second. Looking at the high res "Tusk" pic available here...

https://media.landrover.com/en-us/image-packs?start=0&brand=landrover

When you zoom in on the tires in the high res photo, it says the tire size is "275/35 ZR18." Those can't be 18" wheels, can they? If so, that wheel well is really small.

 

[TheWidup]

Wait a second. Looking at the high res "Tusk" pic available here...

https://media.landrover.com/en-us/image-packs?start=0&brand=landrover

When you zoom in on the tires in the high res photo, it says the tire size is "275/35 ZR18." Those can't be 18" wheels, can they? If so, that wheel well is really small.

I'm highly suspicious of these Tusk photos being highly photo shopped

 

[catman]

Wait a second. Looking at the high res "Tusk" pic available here...

https://media.landrover.com/en-us/image-packs?start=0&brand=landrover

When you zoom in on the tires in the high res photo, it says the tire size is "275/35 ZR18." Those can't be 18" wheels, can they? If so, that wheel well is really small.

Good catch! I think it should be 275/65/18 (32.1" tire) based on the mules in the desert having 255/60/20 tires (32" tires). At 275/35/18 it would be a 25.6" wheel/tire, not even possible. So, clearly this is a photoshopped image, but since it is on the LR website, I am still thinking the general shape is the real Defender in its finished form. It just makes sense based on which areas of the mules have obvious added pieces covering up the underlying body panels.

 

[ryanjl]

I'm highly suspicious of these Tusk photos being highly photo shopped

It's definitely photoshopped, but the tires are interesting. They clearly say "BF Goodrich" on the side, but no model (such as "Mud Terrain," "All Terrain," etc.) The tread sort of looks unlike any BF Goodrich tire I know of.

It sort of begs the question, though: even if they are photoshopped, how hard would it be to photoshop the correct tire size?

Proportionally, from a distance, these surely aren't 18" wheels given what we know about the dimensions of the new Defender. But how the hell do they come up with that size on the side of the tire?

 

[catman]

They say G-Force Sport in your photo (above the 275/35/18), but clearly that tread is not any G-Force line tire (racing, high-performace tires), so who knows what that tire is. The mules in the desert had 255/60/20 (113 load rated) Goodyear All-Terrain Adventure tires - a size that does not even exist, but where the date code on the tire would go it says LR, so I presume they are custom made for them to test with. The photoshopped tire on the Tusk image may be a prototype tread produced for LR to go on some derivation of the Defender.

 

[scott schmerge]

So, some encouraging news. I just spoke with a buddy who works for JLR tonight and he said their sales manager has seen the new Defender. He stated it looks almost identical to previous Defenders and what we are seeing is a very well disguised Defender. He said the D90 will start at about $45k. I had lost all hope- but if this is true, I’m now anxiously awaiting my first Defender.

My faith in the reliability of the information is about 50/50 so take it for what it’s worth.

 

[ryanjl]

I'll probably still buy one no matter what because I hate myself.

 

[ryanjl]

So, some encouraging news. I just spoke with a buddy who works for JLR tonight and he said their sales manager has seen the new Defender. He stated it looks almost identical to previous Defenders and what we are seeing is a very well disguised Defender. He said the D90 will start at about $45k. I had lost all hope- but if this is true, I’m now anxiously awaiting my first Defender.

My faith in the reliability of the information is about 50/50 so take it for what it’s worth.

If that's true, I'd guess a 110 would start at around $50k, unless the 110 automatically comes with a bunch more options. But this makes sense when you consider how many units Land Rover wants to sell of these--they can't be priced like a G-Wagon and achieve that type of volume.

I'd really like to consider a 90. One of the things I really liked about the original D90 (I guess that will be the Defender Series I and the 2020 model will be the Series II?) is that it was a little bigger than a Jeep Wrangler. Back then, of course, there were no Wrangler Unlimited models, and Wranglers had really no room inside. The D90 was a bit more use-able in that regard. It's just me, my wife, and my dog, but my dog is a 170lb beast and he takes up the whole back of my LR4 when we travel (our stuff gets tetris'd into the second row). A D90 Series II with a roof-rack could be the ticket, depending on how big it is inside.

First world problems, for sure.

 

[NASdiesel]

I'll probably still buy one no matter what because I hate myself.

This. Just made my day.