Long distance in a defender

jak1471 · Oct 29, 2010

Hi all,

I have just aquired a large apple orchard wig some very rough tracks. And I do alot of travelling. About 50 miles a day, mostly on motorways. I can only afford one vehicle so I need to know if a defender will be capable of the 50 miles a day at 60 mph. I have time for maintenance but I don't want it take the ****.

Any advice?

Cheers,
Jake

Tight Fart · Oct 29, 2010

I regulary do 600 miles in a weekend in mine, a TD5 is quite happy cruising about 70.

ed.poore · Oct 29, 2010

Commute to work over the summer was 33 miles each way and had no issues at all - morning was at 65mph and return journey was, shall we say, a little higher...

Done 12k in the 110 since I bought it in May and it's had no trouble at all - apart from a small leak from the water pump which was solved with some rad-weld.

jak1471 · Oct 29, 2010

Great! Looks like it'll be a defender! My last one was a pain in the arse! It kept breaking down, even after replacing everything! But it is a 1986 model...

Cheers guys

philvy · Oct 29, 2010

My commute is 50 miles daily, 25 there and back.
In a Series 3, doing between 50 and 60 on the motorway, depending on traffic. Never let me down (more than six months now!)

crowmann · Oct 29, 2010

It all depends on the vehicle - how much are you prepared to pay.

Most sub 5k Defenders I have seen recently would be risky for such regular high speed work.

Maintenance is all well and good but old defenders often need major work where they are off the road.

Get a small car for the commute and the Defender for what its good for which is not motorways - have you considered a Disco?

steve-o · Oct 29, 2010

My 90 truck cab would be sub 5k and I would have no problems using it for a daily hack. In fact it is used everyday but just locally with my wife and son.

Thinking I might need a 110 soon if you want to buy mine!

discobill · Oct 30, 2010

I use my Defender 110 for work...50 mile round trip, I got it in April and I've had no problems at all. ****! I've said it now

Boris113 · Oct 30, 2010

Mine's an F reg 1989 with a retrofit 300TDi in which I do a 200 mile round trip from uni to home most weekends, sits at 65 without a problem. I take it yours still has the original engine in it then? An upgrade well worth looking into would be retrofitting a TDi into it if your using it a lot on the motorway
Harry

BenG · Oct 30, 2010

TD5 here with big wheels and tyres (off-road, rated to 93M.P.H max) and sits fine on the motorway. The larger wheels do actually increase top speed slightly - the car does feel more comfortable at 70. 60 Miles per hour is comfortable increasing 10mph sees an appreciable hike in noise and the engine works a lot harder. I don't do a lot of motorway travel, but when I do the 90 copes very well.

ScottinAZ · Oct 30, 2010

Drove from Massachusetts to Arizona in two days in a 95 D90 NAS SW. No problems except I lost the dash lights for the last two hours. When I got home I smacked the dash and lights came back on!

jak1471 · Oct 30, 2010

My D reg 90 had a recon 200tdi and ran beautifully. It was the gearbox, clutch, steering box, power steering pump that went. Oh and it caught on fire once. This is why I'm curious wether it was my bad luck or defenders are simply not meant for motorway driving

storm99 · Oct 30, 2010

I do a lot of motorway driving and tbh i'd rather sit at a constant 65mph than bugger round town, stop, start, stop, start, kill a pensioner, stop, start.

LeadFarmer · Oct 30, 2010

My commute is 34 miles each day. Its a 33 mile drive to get to work in the morning, but just a 1 mile drive to get home in the afternoon, thanks to the black hole I found at the end of the A633.

Annoying really, id rather use the black hole on the way to work in the morning so that I could have an extra half hour in bed. Sadly though, the black hole is one way

landy90will · Nov 7, 2010

td5 will love it! i travel 2 hr motorway journeys most weekends, and it just cruises, and beats anything up hill, get some all terrains for your orchard, good on road and off too

Long distance in a defender

jak1471

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Tight Fart

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ed.poore

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jak1471

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philvy

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crowmann

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steve-o

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discobill

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Boris113

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BenG

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ScottinAZ

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jak1471

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storm99

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LeadFarmer

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landy90will

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