just seen this on the tube, clearly they have never driven a tdci defender!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/vwcommercialvehicles?ppc=youtube

Thus conclusively proving that what they really needed was shorter cables....

that would of been more fun!!

its a pick-up truck with rear leaf springs ancient technology like my ford ranger. bouncy as hell on the road but cheap to manufacture and gives the 1 tonne payload need to class as a commercial for all important for tax purposes.


That said I will price one up when eventually changing my ford.

Such trucks became very trendy about 10 years ago due to tax etc , but once buyers owned them for a while they decided paying tax is better than pretending a pickup is a good choice as a family car.
Also mitubishi and nissan built up a good name then started making them out of chewing gum and recycled oxen,ask any former nissan truck owner about his rear diff, if you dare toyotas are pretty reliable but not as bullet proof as top gear made out.

my mates ranger is on 175,000 miles one engine rebuild and a partial gearbox rebuild, needs more gearbox attention as it take him about a minute to change gear. mine is on 25,000 miles and the gears are as good (read bad) as new still 5 years of finance is up next week so its mine all mine

and yes 5k p.a in a pickup doesnt sound much but trust me its plenty many of those mile where simply shunting into parking spaces as its so long and the steering lock is terrible.

Not even good towing vehicle due to the feather light back end, many towers chuck a few bags of sand etc in the back .

not that defenders are much more/less comfortable though , they are more fun to drive assuming you don't have elbows or knees. At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Nice summation Chicken G. Here in Oz, there are squillions of single and duel cab pick-ups running around, loaded with tools thru the weeks and kayaks and camping gear on the weekends. There are so many of them that I nearly included them in my repertoire of new drives back a while. Your pragmatic analysis makes me think I was wise not to have treated them too seriously. I was tempted to wait for the new Mazda BT50 and the Ford Ranger, designed here in Australia for offroad conditions and destined for worldwide rollout, but the (stated) ride comfort of the FL2 kept me pure to the cause. I'm still testing the boundaries of the SD4 and it continues to amaze me (and others) with its capabilities offroad. I can still load bags of concrete in the back and with 420Nm of torque, the heavy duty trailer on the back lugs more than most duel cab pick-ups can handle anyway. Thanks for the review.

oh and on all but the most expensive pickup the 4x4 system is victorian at best, no center diff, mine atleast has auto locking free wheel hubs on the front with a switch to unlock them again, but I have to stop to engage 4x4 then set of slowly otherwise the locks bang in a very nasty way while clicking in. My mate with an elderly toyota has to get out and engage the locks by hand on each hub, normally after he has got stuck in a bog hole

steering on tarmac is not good whilst in 4x4 supertankers have a better turning circle. At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race