Which Year Defender

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longhaul

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Given that improvements have been continually made and obviously some will be deemed better than others what year and spec of defender would you buy if you had your choice and why?
 
My best mate has a 2.4 110 and another mate has a 2.2 110 . they are identical apart from colour to look at but the 2.2 has a lot more pull but they both feel **** to drive . no leg room and clunky gearbox
 
everything that I have read seems to say steer away from the new engine, I guess that there will be more emission rubbish fitted.

Which of the older td5 were the better models
 
I'm not sure. It depends what you want it for. My parents 2.2 is great on the road compared to mine.

But offroad it doesn't seem as smooth and the power delivery isn't quite right in my opinion.

I would quite like a later TD5 I reckon.
 
Wouldn't stray from my 94 200tdi, might be noisy and less powerful but I just don't care, no electrics, ecu's, no emission crap and pretty easy to work on.
It's my daily drive but only travel 10-15 mins to work and it's great for when I'm off sea fishing around the coast
 
Interesting thought more would have been saying td5 - been reluctant to look at none td5 and had sort of settled on the 2003 - 2007 period of td5 with aircon. Perhaps I should consider the older ones.
 
I went from a 300 to td5 and would never go back, it may not be as easy to work on , but it's still a reliable engine .

The main reason is it's a vastly superior engine. it's smoother, more powerful, sounds better and is more tuneable.

It's better for towing, and better off road, as you can chug up steep hills in low range 2nd rather than spinning away in 1st.

I still love the 200/300 but won't go back.

I like the puma engines, it's the dash that puts me off, as it feels very claustrophobic in there to me.
 
I've got a late 300, if I upgrade it will be to td5 via a rotten disco, but I will build the engine to my own spec

edit or a tdv6/8 if there is a diyable way to do it by then
 
longhaul said:
Interesting thought more would have been saying td5 - been reluctant to look at none td5 and had sort of settled on the 2003 - 2007 period of td5 with aircon. Perhaps I should consider the older ones.
Click to expand...

My td5 was a nitemare, electrical problems every other day, head gasket went and also oil cooler think it was went, it was basically a pig and I now wouldn't be given one.
No they are probably not all like this however I went to the 200tdi and a year on and one oil change it's perfect
 
My 98 300TDi 110 County was just what i was looking for and has been fairly trouble free (touch wood), engine is simple to maintain and goes on forever. The downside of buying an older one is that you have more rusted out door bottoms, rear crossmembers, worn door hinges, steering and suspension etc. So in my opinion, if you're looking for one that you can work on yourself, mod and upgrade and don't mind driving a noisy old truck, go for a late 300TDi. But if you want more refinement, a smoother quieter engine and the suspension, steering etc to be a bit tighter go for the latest TDi you can afford. Good luck.
 
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