Almost4x4

Hello Almosters,

Actually this is a matter that round me since couples of days back, since I saw such a beauty while waiting for a Almost trip to be announced..

http://www.classicdriver.com/en/article ... r-big-foot

I was wondering...what are the reasons we do not see more of this beauties in our sands? Definitely is extremely heavy (2,500 kg) comparing with toys most watched in UAE sand, definitely is very slow (Only 122 HP with an 2.2 litters engine) and for the starting selling price (around AED 165,000 if not mistaken) we could create an authentic sand machine to overcome any car around us...

However...is tough, very tough, with an 360Nm of torque who needs a 280hp car for the sand? Are been made to last a lot, to be under high temperatures and with the right lift and wide tires to compensate the hight of the car...why is not any close to be a popular UAE desert car?

At the end, no one can denied, defender is sexy, and if it´s about the big foot edition, it´s become extremely sexy

Good evening Bomolin,

Having driven a V8 defender in the late 90's and had a play in a few modified defenders (JE Engineering engines with +400 bhp) I have always been a fan. I went down to Al Tayer and placed Dhs5000 deposit on a crew cab defender with the current 2.2 Diesel engine. I was told it would be 6 weeks till delivery so went to Ras Al Khor car market and test drove a 90 (2 door) defender. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Torque may be good in a field back in Europe but when climbing sand dunes horse power rules. There was little if any acceleration and without the V8 roar in my opinion the defender had lost its soul. Sure, it still looks great and maybe some day I will have one back in my garage but for now I am happy to have taken my deposit back and bought a 4.8 VTC Patrol. Having owned both a mid 90's Patrol and mid 90's Defender there was little to separate each one off road. Both were great back then. But now, I believe the current VTC Patrol has the upper hand. If land rover bring back a V8 into the defender I will be back down to their showroom, but I believe that's very unlikely. Shame really!

Dave, bomolin ~ the mighty 110s are still on the dunes but very few. They weren't verry popular back in their days because of fuel consumption, so the few you see on the roads are ex-Army or ex-police. The tdi Landies are new here or not veery old as some might say. A Land Rover is a legendary beast, like a Jeep. Have a set of knife and forks and you can fix both :smile: the old ones that is.

Maddie, I know this is an open forum and we all have our own opinion on which 4x4 is best where the best drives are and so on, however, being an off road form I would expect most real off roaders with a little knowledge of past off road history to agree that the Land Lover Defender was anything but ''unpopular'' back in their days! It was first produced in the late 40's and was used almost extensively to explore Australia, North Africa and parts of the Middle East. The reason you still see so many old examples around is that 75% of Defenders produced right back from the mid 50's are still on the road! Can another 4x4 claim the same?

Even today it still is one of the top over landing vehicles due to its load carrying capacity. It has well been documented that its reliability is questionable however the fact that is was so easy to repair far out in the wilderness means in its day it was the only 4x4 of choice. Back in the days it was anything but unpopular really.