Why was there never an auto Defender / 90 / 110?

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I'd prefer my 110 to be auto, off roading in a RRC auto is just simply more civilised, ok, you loose engine braking going down slopes a little even in Lo range, but it's not that bad.
 
I prefer manual offroad, but can see the point made by a lot of racing peeps who reckon that being able to have continuous power on tap can help in some situations, rather than having to, say, drop the clutch in to also drop a gear or two quickly and losing some momentum ....

I disagree, but that might be simply different styles of driving ..

Right now, with a bust knee, an auto would ease the burden somewhat .. :)
 
I can see the advantages of an auto for serious off-roading - I was invited by Ford to drive an Explorer in the Brecon Beacons a few years back (why I have no idea), and the six-speed box made it a doddle once you got the feel.

An auto is also brilliant in heavy town traffic.

But if their market is farmers, they don't mostly do serious off-roading, or drive in big towns.

The other market is the military, and I think they just like to keep things as simple as possible for fixing in the middle of nowhere.
 
My whole farm is serious off roading in the winter, ground just turns to a liquid slop, some areas get so bad a 2wd tractor will not go. And I do have to drive in town too, although I usually try and take the Clio if I go to big cities.

But I do agree about the auto being nice off road, and probably a lot better for transmission life as well, due to smoother changes.

With relevance to farm use, autos are also excellent for towing.
 
But I do agree about the auto being nice off road, and probably a lot better for transmission life as well, due to smoother changes.
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Plus, in heavy ground conditions, but where an up/down change is beneficial, a slush 'box will accomplish it in an instant whereas a stick/clutch change would result in lost momentum.
 
But I do agree about the auto being nice off road, and probably a lot better for transmission life as well, due to smoother changes.
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Plus, in heavy ground conditions, but where an up/down change is beneficial, a slush 'box will accomplish it in an instant whereas a stick/clutch change would result in lost momentum.

As I said earlier, but good driving technique negates this point somewhat.
 
I'd prefer my 110 to be auto, off roading in a RRC auto is just simply more civilised, ok, you loose engine braking going down slopes a little even in Lo range, but it's not that bad.

I don't use the disco much in the fields, but when I have been going down steep slopes I put the selector into 1st or 2nd, with low box, and that gives good engine braking. Probably not as good as manual 1st or second low, though.
 
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