How "fast" is your defender?

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Rook1

Rook1

Member
Posts
18
Location
London
I was watching a youtube video and the used the words "flies" and "defender" in the same sentence, which i found amusing. He did quickly follow it up with " i got it up to 70mph" so the car flying is very much relative!

Just out of curiosity, how fast does your defender get to 30-40mph? Do you need an exceptional safe distance before pulling out at junctions and slip roads or are you confident that you wont cause an accident when you pull out! :p

This is my first defender and i've always known they are on the sluggish side on a good day and that performance can drop due to inevitable mechanical issues. When i bought the car the guy had another defender that was a couple years newer but still a 2.4 tdci, i took that for a comparison drive and his one was more sluggish than the one he was selling! The car is currently in the shop for a full once over and later in the year im going to take it to stage 2 so that has enough horsepower to move around the brick s**thouse!
 
bankz5152 said:
Mine shifts rather well but I wouldnt consider it fast as a general term. It is however fast for a Land Rover and pretty quick for a Defender!
Click to expand...

So can you elaborate with some numbers or an anecdote? because thats what people say about their defenders. Can you cruise at 80mph, can you over take cars going 20mph?
 
Yesterday a new looking defender pulling a triple axle animal trailer, the sort a farmer might use to transport a bull came past me on the M40 I was doing 80 in my freelander and I estimate he was doing about 85. I don't know if there was an animal in the trailer but his speed surprised me.

Col
 
@Colthebrummie see now im getting hopeful about my defender :D even though it's a 110 i can get it up to 85 and "cruise" relatively comfortably but i did have a D90 (full cheslea truck though) pull up next to me on the M1 while i was doing 85 and it pulled away! :eek:
Here we are elephant racing
0TnTJIw.jpg


But Im a city boy, London at that, so i need that low end get up and go, which i feel is unsurprisingly lacking.

@flat Wow! im impressed! mines definitely doesnt do that :(
 
Mines a good un, rebuilt engine and everything set up properly :)

Standard gearbox and diffs etc, and I haven’t tweaked the pump.

Defenders are good, if they steer sh1t and are slow, with cr@p brakes and wayward handling it’s because they are wrongly setup or broken.
 
Rook1 said:
So can you elaborate with some numbers or an anecdote? because thats what people say about their defenders. Can you cruise at 80mph, can you over take cars going 20mph?
Click to expand...

Itll do 100mph with ease and still pulls further but gets a bit brown pants. Will happily cruise at 80 without screaming and with ease.

I can over take safely and happily and most speeds.
 
flat said:
Mines a good un, rebuilt engine and everything set up properly :)

Standard gearbox and diffs etc, and I haven’t tweaked the pump.

Defenders are good, if they steer sh1t and are slow, with cr@p brakes and wayward handling it’s because they are wrongly setup or broken.
Click to expand...

bankz5152 said:
Itll do 100mph with ease and still pulls further but gets a bit brown pants. Will happily cruise at 80 without screaming and with ease.

I can over take safely and happily and most speeds.
Click to expand...

So it looks like i need a bit of work on mine. you both have 90's so i expect them to be a little more spry but i think i have to go through it all and get it mechanically in order
 
Rook1 said:
So it looks like i need a bit of work on mine. you both have 90's so i expect them to be a little more spry but i think i have to go through it all and get it mechanically in order
Click to expand...

Marginally quicker due to marginally light but there isn’t that much in it tbh.

Mine absolutely tops out at 86mph - BUT over about 75 it gets a bit noisy and mechanically unsymphathetic and any sudden movement would put you on your roof.

They aren’t designed to so that sort of driving though. Mine will sit at 65-70 all day long and isn’t stressed or over-stretched and feels firm and stable. So that’s the speed I do on motorways otherwise I just pootle about on country roads.

Fuel use becomes prodigious over about 75 though

Also mine is on tall tyres (7.50) which probably slow it off the mark fractionally
 
Rook1 said:
So it looks like i need a bit of work on mine. you both have 90's so i expect them to be a little more spry but i think i have to go through it all and get it mechanically in order
Click to expand...

Mines a 110 double cab with a full cage. It is not light! lol

Yeah. Mines got a Hybrid turbo, 4" air intake, uprated MAP sensor, heavy tuning from TD5Inside and a few other bits n bobs
 
Mine ( 300tdi ) was a lot perkier when I had the timing advanced a bit. Could not live with the racket however....
 
My 200tdi can do around 70-75 mph flat out, down hill. Ok the flat, 65 is about it. I’m not sure what the ratios are, probably should have checked when the engine and boxes were out. I tow quite a bit, so not too bothered about the over 70 speeds.
 
Once I get to 75 (half hour build up), I dread anything pulling out in front or getting in the way, as once slowed down, we have to start all over again. Happily overtakes bicycles, skodas, and once even overtook 8 Rangies; but they were on the back of a car transporter
:)
 
Rook1 said:
I was watching a youtube video and the used the words "flies" and "defender" in the same sentence, which i found amusing. He did quickly follow it up with " i got it up to 70mph" so the car flying is very much relative!

Just out of curiosity, how fast does your defender get to 30-40mph? Do you need an exceptional safe distance before pulling out at junctions and slip roads or are you confident that you wont cause an accident when you pull out! :p

This is my first defender and i've always known they are on the sluggish side on a good day and that performance can drop due to inevitable mechanical issues. When i bought the car the guy had another defender that was a couple years newer but still a 2.4 tdci, i took that for a comparison drive and his one was more sluggish than the one he was selling! The car is currently in the shop for a full once over and later in the year im going to take it to stage 2 so that has enough horsepower to move around the brick s**thouse!
Click to expand...

It's pretty good for what it is, 300tdi, it will outrun most small cars so I feel in terms of pulling out at junctions I have a better chance than someone in a 1.0l Aygo or something. I can often get down a slip road and find I clearly have more power than many small family cars and need to back off or hope for an opening to get into the inside lane and out to the middle lane quickly to over-take them. I drove a C2 once and nearly turned back because I was sure it was knackered, I came to a short gradual hill and was in about 2nd with my foot to the floor trying to get up, my 90 would go up no bother in 4th and accelerating.

If you consider there are more small cars on the road than large cars I would say my 90 is average in terms of speed. It can certainly hold it's own in general traffic.
 
Mine will go a little faster than most due to a disco transfer box, it just takes a long time to get there .It will cruise at 70mph, but I won't drive faster because the tanker for in flight refuelling that I'd need running alongside, wouldnt be able to keep up. .
 
With a 1.66 transfer box mine is revving it's nuts off at 60, relativly quick off the line though.
 
Rook1 said:
I was watching a youtube video and the used the words "flies" and "defender" in the same sentence, which i found amusing. He did quickly follow it up with " i got it up to 70mph" so the car flying is very much relative!

Just out of curiosity, how fast does your defender get to 30-40mph? Do you need an exceptional safe distance before pulling out at junctions and slip roads or are you confident that you wont cause an accident when you pull out! :p

This is my first defender and i've always known they are on the sluggish side on a good day and that performance can drop due to inevitable mechanical issues. When i bought the car the guy had another defender that was a couple years newer but still a 2.4 tdci, i took that for a comparison drive and his one was more sluggish than the one he was selling! The car is currently in the shop for a full once over and later in the year im going to take it to stage 2 so that has enough horsepower to move around the brick s**thouse!
Click to expand...
You have a 2.4 and you think it’s a slow? You do realise the same engine is used in Transit vans and Ford Rangers.

I’m not trying to claim the Defender isn’t a quick vehicle. But in the grand scheme of cars, vans and trucks. It is perfectly adequate at getting up to speed. Most small engine city cars or hatchbacks will be no quicker such as a 1.2 Fiat 500.
 
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