We all admire the videos of the Camel Trophy era, hell some of you on here could well have participated, and I'm sure we all yearn for an expedition in a foreign continent. But, the question stands- are reliably unreliable Land Rover Defenders/Discoverys still fit for the task against the more modern plasticy Japanese things? We all know Landys are more than capable of smashing up the great outdoors of Great Britain, and without the humble Defender the Empire would not have been as successful as it was, but after questioning those who have driven throughout Africa and South America on their vehicular recommendations, it is unanimously agreed "you think with either your head or your heart: Toyota or Land Rover".
A few friends and I (all naive 20-somethings, having had or currently have Landys) are looking to go in two cars from England to Cape Town. I'm batting for the Brits, my friends are more inclined towards a Japanese thing (despite them having had/currently drive Landys).
My Question is: from your own experiences or having heard of others- would you recommend a Defender/Disco for such a voyage? Would you advise a Defender or a Disco? Do you know how easily available parts are in Africa? Or please just share your stories with us about any long-distance drives you did successfully/unsuccessfully!
I have a theory, which are my views. Not sure how accurate it is but based from a trip across Morocco two years ago.
The group consisted of one Disco, one P38, one 90 and two 110 Defenders. We had one breakdown which was the 90 which was being driven by a young chap who was enjoying the moment. On the first day I said to my passenger "if he carries on like that we are going to have a breakdown" Taking it at a steady pace and still testing and developing our skills with our vehicles and enjoying ourselves we all got through more or less trouble free.
The P38 electronics played up as soon as it went on the sand.. Once the electronic system was disconnected that was causing the problem it was trouble free.
My theory is if driven sensibly the Defenders/Disco are reliable and will handle the situations but for some reason we don't drive our Landy's like that. I don't see many people asking there Land Cruisers to do what we expect our Landy's to do.
I know myself if I had a Land Cruiser I would not treat it the same as my Defender. Its almost a case of how hard can I push my Defender before I have a problem.
Parts for Landy's seem readily available and as mentioned above are easier to repair on the road side. Plus the fact that Toyota parts seem very expensive. Not sure how many jobs you would be able to do on the road side on a Toyota.
Don't know how you intend on getting down to Africa, if your driving down then the Toyota route will be more comfortable than in a Defender. I drove mine from the center of France down to the south of Spain which was a 22 hour drive and cruising at 110 KPH wasn't too bad. The other thing to bear in mind is how well your vehicle is prepared for the trip. We took loads of spares which we didn't need. We all said if we were doing it again we wouldn't take so much. The 90 broke a Diff, no one had a spare one of those. I had things like spare bearings and ball joints. Never needed any of them. In fact I don't think I lifted the bonnet up more than two or three times and that was just to check the engine was still there. I did have to add a pint of oil towards the end of the trip and when I got back the front wheel bearings needed tightening up.
OLDUN on here has done many trips across Morocco in his 110 and recently did a trip into Africa. If he is not travelling I'm sure he might add a few comments. He has done more trips with none Landy groups.
Chris from our group did a blog which might be of interest:
http://land-rover-discovery-1.blogspot.fr/2014/04/day-2-morocco-trip.html
If I was going to do it again I would have no hesitation to take the Defender. If I could afford the luxury of something like a Land Cruiser, I think I would still prefer to take the Defender. Much less expensive to get it ready for the trip and I would sooner take a well prepared vehicle.
My vehicle was and still is a 1990, 200tdi, 110.
