Land Rover's Defender Returns for One Last, £150k Model

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Land Rover's Defender Returns for One Last, £150k Model

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on January 17th, 2018 in the Automotive News category.

 

[Aaron Lean]

Not bad for a Land Rover

 

[Famine]

Meanwhile, at just over a quarter of the price, a V8 Land Rover Defender.

 

[MisterWaffles]

You could get six Jeep Wrangler Rubicons and still have 19,800 left over if you lived in Canada. That car isn't exactly a slouch off-road either, and you won't be afraid to take the Jeep off-road or abuse it a bit. Makes this Defender a bit of a pointless investment outside of being a garage queen.

 

[Joey D]

You could get six Jeep Wrangler Rubicons and still have 19,800 left over if you lived in Canada. That car isn't exactly a slouch off-road either, and you won't be afraid to take the Jeep off-road or abuse it a bit. Makes this Defender a bit of a pointless investment outside of being a garage queen.

Ya but then you'd have to deal with Jeep Brahs and being in on that thing only Jeep people understand for some reason

This Defender is fairly overpriced, but it's a "collectors" car that will probably live most of it's life in a garage. However, a used Defender is totally worth the price, even here in the US. They are very capable vehicles and probably better suited to some off-road situations than a Wrangler out of the box.

 

[MisterWaffles]

This Defender is fairly overpriced, but it's a "collectors" car that will probably live most of it's life in a garage. However, a used Defender is totally worth the price, even here in the US. They are very capable vehicles and probably better suited to some off-road situations than a Wrangler out of the box.

I wonder how many used Defenders a person could buy for the price of this one special Defender.

Edit: the average asking price I could see for a 2000-4 Defender 110 on the Canadian Autotrader was ~$50,000. So that's still a good 4 defenders and 28,000 left over to get a Miata and some gas or something.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Ya but then you'd have to deal with Jeep Brahs and being in on that thing only Jeep people understand for some reason

I kid you not, but a Wangler Unlimited still stands as one of my favorite drives ever. Alright, it was part of the FH3 event back in 2016, but so what. Driving the Jeep through the twisty mountains in BC in perfect September weather blasting Daft Punk was awesome. Then again, that drive would've been great in practically anything.

This Defender is fairly overpriced, but it's a "collectors" car that will probably live most of it's life in a garage. However, a used Defender is totally worth the price, even here in the US. They are very capable vehicles and probably better suited to some off-road situations than a Wrangler out of the box.

It's probably because they're imports, and thus far more rare, but I feel like Defenders have more charm too. I smile whenever I see one.

This is certainly priced like a collector's edition, but I'm not sure there's a market for that yet.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Does that mean farmers can get his sheep to farmers market 3 time faster as well

 

[TexRex]

Am I the only one that has more of ann issue with the wheels than the price?

There's also the whole retro money-grab angle that I don't care for, but at least the Defender hasn't seen a huge visual change since its introduction.

I still want a 127 pickup--those corner windows.

 

[Eggstor]

Am I the only one who's thinking at least 3 of the speeds on this vehicle are completely wasted on a vehicle with 399 hp and a governor-limited top speed of 106 mph?

 

[05XR8]

See? This is what Ford should have done with the Bullitt. Use those replacement '68 Mustang shells and make 50 at $260k each.

 

[Joey D]

Am I the only one who's thinking at least 3 of the speeds on this vehicle are completely wasted on a vehicle with 399 hp and a governor-limited top speed of 106 mph?

They look like BFGoodrich KO2 tires, if you hit 106mph on them you'd be screaming for dear life. My Tacoma had those tires and at 85 they were pretty squishy.

 

[cbabb]

I'm sorry but those badges use Arial as the font. "Works VA" and "70th Edition"
A font like that should not be used on something so glorious. I studied type design. Arial is a free to use, shameless rip-off Helvetica with horrible metrics and kerning (thanks Microsoft). I would get those badges remade ASAP.
/nerdrant

 

[TexRex]

Am I the only one who's thinking at least 3 of the speeds on this vehicle are completely wasted on a vehicle with 399 hp and a governor-limited top speed of 106 mph?

Is 399hp relevant because it should be ample power to cope with larger gear splits, or is 399hp relevant because it's not nearly enough power to take advantage of the ridiculously high top speed an 8-speed presumably allows?

I suspect the 8HP70 (whuch I assume is the model selected, as it's already used in the Range Rover Sport and should cope with the available power and demanding situations without resorting to the 75 or 90) was chosen for optimal gearing in all conditions. I'd prefer a proper manual, though an auto can be handy for maintaining momentum without, however briefly, interrupting steering control.

 

[Eggstor]

Is 399hp relevant because it should be ample power to cope with larger gear splits, or is 399hp relevant because it's not nearly enough power to take advantage of the ridiculously high top speed an 8-speed presumably allows?

I suspect the 8HP70 (whuch I assume is the model selected, as it's already used in the Range Rover Sport and should cope with the available power and demanding situations without resorting to the 75 or 90) was chosen for optimal gearing in all conditions. I'd prefer a proper manual, though an auto can be handy for maintaining momentum without, however briefly, interrupting steering control.

I'd think that 399 hp would be sufficient to get a vehicle to 106 mph rather quickly and still have acceptable gas mileage without 8 gears.

 

[TexRex]

I'd think that 399 hp would be sufficient to get a vehicle to 106 mph rather quickly and still have acceptable gas mileage without 8 gears.

Fuel efficiency isn't the only consideration where gearing is concerned when you're looking at a vehicle's ability to navigate less-than-ideal terrain and conditions. While the 8HP may not be necessary, I genuinely believe it affords more opportunities than the 6HP.

 

[Roo]

I'd think that 399 hp would be sufficient to get a vehicle to 106 mph rather quickly and still have acceptable gas mileage without 8 gears.

In a normal car, yes.

In a car with a Cd of 0.8, not so much.

5 years ago Land Rover modifier Twisted stuck a 520hp LS3 in a 110 and took it to Bruntingthorpe proving ground to see how fast they could make it go. On a 2 mile long runway, they couldn't crack 130mph - 129 in a slight headwind was the best they could manage.

Although I suppose it depends on what fuel economy you find "acceptable"; from any engine, 27mpUKg is a good return in a Defender. If you were careful you could get 16mpg from the old Rover V8s.

 

[TexRex]

It's important to consider actual gear ratios when looking at fuel economy, too. The previous (2007+) ZF 6HP26X auto with its six forward gears topped out with a .691:1 where the 8HP70 utilizes either a .667 or a .640 depending on application. The additional two gears aren't necessary to achieve that ratio with reasonable splits; that's the beauty of a six-speed.

Also worth noting that the .691-.667 leap is fairly significant. The best thing I can reference in my own experience is "freeway flyer" gearing for Volkswagen longitudinal 4-speeds. The change from the factory .89 fourth to .82 with the existing 4.12 final results in more significant reduction in engine speed than even a 3.88 final drive with the factory .89 fourth.