l've been looking for an old Landy to use as a second vehicle.
l've had TD5's and a 300tdi. Both can be used as daily drivers, which l did.
(l've now got a 2022 Defender Commercial as my daily)
Bloody hell the S3 was a wake up call. lt was terrible.
No wonder all the old farmers are deaf, if they drove these back in the day.
The steering was almost impossible to move when not driving and there was no self centering at all (should there be?)
The one l drove was a diesel and it was incredibly noisy, so much so that l actually opened a window to try and let the racket out.
The gearbox was okay except about eight inches of play at the lever end.
Performance was fine for the type of vehicle. Wouldn't want to go any faster.
The overdrive worked and is definitely necessary for road driving. The first time l tried it, l ended up in neutral and a line of cars behind. But figured it out (you have to press the clutch first)
The suspension didn't really seem to do very much on the road. l've never driven a leaf spring one before. Fortunately there was a headlining to prevent your head from bashing the roof over speed humps.
All seemed very clean underneath. It was a rebuilt one on a galvanised chassis so goodness knows what a rough one is like.
l still want one!! l imagine improving it is possible, to an extent. Or just adjust driving technique to compensate.
l Have a budget of up to £15,000 if anyone is selling. l would prefer a factory SW if such a thing exists. And with overdrive!
Is there any way to reduce the racket a bit? Is the petrol version any better, what about fitting carpets? Did any versions come with carpet from new?
There was nothing in this one except what looked like a pair of door mats in the footwells.
lt did appear to have a heater, in the fact that the controls claimed to offer the option to supply heat.
In the event it got pretty warm inside from the engine and transmission.
The old girl seemed happy to bowl along at 45mph in overdrive, which was fine.
Stationary at idle all the gauges vibrated so much it was impossible to read the engine temperature or fuel quantity.
l turned off the ignition and took the key out but the engine carried on running. So l put it in gear and stalled it, afterwards l was told "you pull the knob under the ignition column"
And l am still in the market for one. Wait until my missus has a go in it. "Go on, take it to work instead of the Jimny" l won't hear her when she calls me at the end of our street unless she stops the engine.
, but seriously you can reduce noise with some wright off-road matting ( mine was about £500) , lack of centres g could be tight steering box or tracking.
They are about 99.8% the same as a Series 3 anyway….
