New Defender, 2020

WreckITFrank

WreckITFrank

Technical Excellence Contributor
donb said:
I did not like:
- Wheels - from the pictures I've seen the steel wheel should be the staple. Or an aluminum version of it. The 5 star silver 20" alloys seem generic.
- The thick C pillar is horrible and I have no clue why they designed it that way. I think more traditional looks on the top half would have done it a lot better.
- The new dealership look and feel. I guess that is the clientele now but Land Rover seems to be loosing it soul. Same with the Jaguar side too.
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so true. i legitimately hate the wheels. not because I need to get all Heritage about it, but the standard ones are terrible. but i recognize that wheels are largely a matter of opinion, similar to hurricane, freestyle, boosts, deep dish, etc.
 
RBBailey

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
Yeah, the driver was inexperienced, and the tires were really holding it back. Which really is a design flaw on Land Rover's part because of the inability to fit proper off road tires.
 
waveridin1959

waveridin1959

Well-known member
I hate being overly negative about the Newfender*, but I can not find anything endearing about the vehicle. It just isnt very big. One would think the vehicle would have more cargo room than the Discovery. My Classic has more cargo room. The plastic tread plate nearly set me off. Feels it came from the rack at autozone.

In my eyes its not remotely good looking. Land Rover failed in every aspect once I saw it in person. McGovern has found a way to turn every land rover into a purse with wheels.
 
BarryO

BarryO

Well-known member
RBBailey said:
Yeah, the driver was inexperienced, and the tires were really holding it back. Which really is a design flaw on Land Rover's part because of the inability to fit proper off road tires.
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Yep. It also appeared that the traction control was not functioning properly. I think I could crawl up that thing in my Disco 2. ;)

That D90 has good tires and either a front locker or traction control. The part with the left front tire in the air: it wasn't turning when it should have been spinning twice as fast as the rear tires.
 
O

O2batsea

Well-known member
I agree that they didn't do a fair side by side comparison. Even changing drivers would be a huge difference. I don't understand the language so I wasn't able to make out if it was same driver same line for both.
 
RBBailey

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
Hebrew is difficult. But I got it. .......with the auto translate turned on!

At the end, one of the instructors takes over and does get the vehicle up the hill. Not as smoothly as the 110 or 90, but it worked.
 
Dan kemper

Dan kemper

Founding Member
Callsign: KK6ECF
It just looks terrible to me. I even like and own newer generation of landrovers. Give me the full size rr all day long over this. Huge fail.
 
RBBailey

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
That last video really kind of makes me even more sad about the New Defender. Think of how long it took them to simply rebadge, and effectively destroy, not only the Defender, but now it is apparent, the Disco as well. The new Disco would be great as a Freelander. The new Defender should have been a better Disco (it seems to be even worse in a lot of ways) and we should still be seeing the old shape of the old Defender coming out of factories -- like Jeep, Toyota, and Mercedes have all done. This video just makes me want to pick up an LR3/4.
 
blueboy

blueboy

Well-known member
UnfrozenCaveman said:
...sigh... we're no longer the target market boys :(
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Exactly!! And while it makes for nice banter, our discussion points are not criteria for LR product.
Some here probably recognize the name Bill Burke. He has been driving Rovers in his business for decades, on US CT team, and a very knowledgeable / personable guy that currently has a fleet of Rovers. One might have thought LR would have approached him for some input. Nope. Not the target market. He actually uses his in off road conditions on a daily basis.
 
jymmiejamz

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
I would argue the Defender is the cornerstone of Land Rover. Imagine if Porsche made the 911 into some retro futuristic vehicle with a front engine? It could easily be better than a 911, but it wouldn't be a 911. Porsche is the 911.

People who buy the new Defender are the same people who would buy a Rolex smart watch.
 
B

brdhmltn

Well-known member

It's still a disco and not really a defender to me, but it looks a lot better with size references. It's bigger than it appears in pictures. I'm not all that upset other than they used the wrong name. I think it could be really popular if they can get them across the ocean.
 
RBBailey

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
BarryO said:
They did. The 928 was originally intended as the replacement for the 911. Then Porsche came to their senses.
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So what would coming to their senses look like now? A factory recall to swap all badges across the line to where they should be; making a new hole where a real Defender can still fit? We can only hope....

I just keep coming back to the real world where Jeep and Mercedes pulled off their new gen flagships and “somehow” made it work to pass emissions and safety standards.

I do still want to see and drive one. I just hope Land Rover will come to their senses before it’s too late.
 
waveridin1959

waveridin1959

Well-known member
BarryO said:
They did. The 928 was originally intended as the replacement for the 911. Then Porsche came to their senses.
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Luckily Porsche had the sense to not call it a 911. My contempt for the new vehicle boils down to the name they put on it.
 
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donb

donb

Well-known member
jymmiejamz said:
Demote Gerry McGovern. I'm convinced he is the one in charge of JLR, not Ralf Speth.
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Sad part is that the Jaguar side has some holes in it too. My mother-in-law has a Jaguar XF wagon. It's a great looking car and drives well. I know I'm old but when I think Jag I think a classy looking sedan/estate which the XF and the other sedans fits. But why is Jag making SUV's? A family member had one and it seemed like every other generic bubble shape SUV. They got rid of it within a couple of years. I'm not sure if it is McGovern's call but the dilution on both side of JLR is hurting it.
 
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