"ronniesil" (ronniesil)
11/15/2013 at 11:27 • Filed to: Defendrer
2
17|
"ronniesil" (ronniesil)
11/15/2013 at 11:27 • Filed to: Defendrer | 2
| 17 |
I wish I could afford a Defender for my winter car. Ill just have to settle for an old Cherokee for now but One Day One Day!!!
dinobot666
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 11:33 |
|
A Jeep Wrangler would be a much better value proposition in terms of upfront cost, and maintenance costs overall. I'd still like to own a Defender though :)
witchdoctor11
> dinobot666
11/15/2013 at 11:38 |
|
gotta agree with you there, I have a Defender and while its cool its in the shop all the damn time! People still stop and look at you all the time though which is pretty cool.
HammerheadFistpunch
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 11:38 |
|
There is one just like in my parking garage. HUGE suckers with wimpy problem prone engines, but pretty in their own special way. There are worse winter 4x4's but I can't name any off the top of my head.
|
ronniesil
> witchdoctor11
11/15/2013 at 11:46 |
|
A wrangler would definitely be easier to buy and maintain but the Defender just looks so cool, if i had the means i don't think i could pass it up.
CarFanatic
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 11:49 |
|
Both this and the Toyota FJ40 are on my bucket list.
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> HammerheadFistpunch
11/15/2013 at 11:54 |
|
Well, an old Suzuki Samurai/Sidekick might be a worse idea. Shorter wheelbase, a comparable to much worse CG, and some other reasons winter loss of traction could turn hilarious.
|
HammerheadFistpunch
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/15/2013 at 11:58 |
|
true, but a sidekick had ABS as an option, not sure these ever did. besides, tiny tires cut through snow, big ones make you slide, ask me how I know.
|
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> HammerheadFistpunch
11/15/2013 at 12:08 |
|
ABS optional on 2002+ models - I'm a little skeptical as to how helpful it would be by that point, as it'd already put on a lot of weight. The rangeys had ABS available for over a decade prior, so I'm not sure why they waited that long.
Also, anyone putting big tires per se on either a Defender 90 or one of their predecessors is an idiot. I've been in a CJ-7 Scrambler in the snow (similar wheelbase) also on big tires, and it was... iffy.
I defend Defenders to a point, but compared to the Rover I like, they're overweight, far more mechanically finicky, designed with a much shorter failure margin on a lot of parts due to power increase, and have gone Full Retard where flakey interiors and electrics are concerned. I keep getting this sense that mid-90s through early 2000s models are the worst, and the Ford and Tata ownership have seen some improvement (in such things as drivetrain durability), but even so, there are a lot of flakes out there. Flakeyness in winter is not a good thing.
|
HammerheadFistpunch
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/15/2013 at 12:11 |
|
When did they stop selling the D90 in the US? Also, care to defend the big tires on a defender statement? Not being defensive, I just want to hear your take.
|
witchdoctor11
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 12:19 |
|
No arguments here, plus wranglers are a dime a dozen, at least in southern california.
|
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> HammerheadFistpunch
11/15/2013 at 12:23 |
|
The steering setup is all wrong for it. It's a relay-based recirc ball design, for one, with fairly off-center kingpin centers that is more or less geared (even with PS) for not getting that much resistance. If the PS pump goes, the geometry of the car will fight you enormously with fat tires, and even without, there's a good bit of tire roll and twist needed for optimum behavior. The basic design of the car, even with the minor increase in track width Series III- Defender, is also based on a frame that is really too wide rail-rail to allow for much turn-in, and wide offset wheels to allow a greater turning angle screw up the resistive characteristics even more. It's slightly better on a coil-sprung Defender than a leaf-sprung Series, but not good.
Hell, in a Series (with no PS), it's a big enough increase in driving difficulty going from bias-ply tires to radials, let alone giant sand tires. That, and the vehicle really doesn't have that much weight it needs to spread in most scenarios - it's a way to throw away the excellent weight balance (to cut in with, evenly) in favor of characteristics promoting slip - which means conditions needing lockers and other fooferaw. Just Say No To Sand-Tired Rovers.
The Series III was discontinued in the US as of 1974 because of emission and rear bumper rules. The Defender wasn't offered officially until the mid 90s, and then only for a spate of years - again being chased off for emissions and safety limitations. Thus, the ones the US got weren't really that bad quality-wise, but I keep hearing horror stories of slightly later ones from the EU which make me ponder.
|
ronniesil
> witchdoctor11
11/15/2013 at 13:27 |
|
Same here in jersey. I want I be a little different.
6shelBfan6
> HammerheadFistpunch
11/15/2013 at 14:02 |
|
Pizza cutters for the win!
GRawesome
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 14:04 |
|
I am hoping they will re-introduce the Defender to the US and the price of this era one will plummet. The only thing keeping them so high is that you can't buy a new one. I had heard 2014 was a possibility but don't think it will be any time soon now.
For now be happy with the Cherokee, at least you know you will be able to get where you are going, and not be spending a fortune on repairs. As well as finding one of these, I would also like to find and purchase an early unmolested cherokee with a manual transmission. Future classic I tell ya.
|
ronniesil
> GRawesome
11/15/2013 at 14:53 |
|
I saw a manual cherokee in cars.com went out to the deal the next day and they had sold it the night before, i cant find another one. autos are everywhere but i too really want a manual.
JEM
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 15:05 |
|
Yeah, I had to do a bit of searching to find my manual Cherokee. Luckily there's a lot of them in the New England area so it wasn't too hard to find one.
And, no, I don't want to sell it. Not ever!! :-)
|
GRawesome
> ronniesil
11/15/2013 at 16:26 |
|
I have a feeling that the manual version of every car will become a collector, and you will see people hoarding them. Guess I will make a saved e-bay search for "Jeep Cherokee - manual transmission" and see what comes up. My other 2 manual transmission e-bay searches haven't been very fruitful though - International Scout and Alfa GTV, but those are much rarer these days then a cherokee.