bbq4133
Well-Known Member
Great point about the front bumper and the approach angle, although I can’t imagine most folks owning this would know about the whole “put the wheel on the obstacle” aspect. Especially when those wheels are big and the tires are slim.It's the same BS about the approach angle... the New Defender's got less than half the height of the wheel exposed in the front and the bumper would hit anything taller well before approach angles mattered. In the JL the stock bumper starts well above the lug nut at the highest position.
Also in the JL you have the possibility to get one wheel over a rock or something with even greater clearance but in the Defender that low hanging plastic is always in front of the wheel to say "you have to be this tall... for me to get over".
Overall the new Defender is a shockingly poor design and is worse than a light offroader like the Toyota in that video.
I feel sorry for the folks in the UK... they get the worst... gasoline particulate filters and with Jeeps they get reduced engine choices, no steel bumper from factory, etc. Not sure even if they get the Gladiator..
I also find it interesting how much LR leaned into overlanding (the obvious trend of the day/week/month/year) while completely screwing up basic facets of what made proper Defenders successful. I can't imagine I’ll see any of these on the trails near me here in VA, but I bet we’ll start seeing them all over IG replacing Tacos and the like as the hot overlanding platform for the near future.
Maybe it all works out for LR? However, for $75K, you can’t just be “capable enough” IMO.
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