SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday March 23, 2011
Let's face it; the Defender is an anachronism. It looks almost the same as it did over sixty years ago, although some modern touches have been added. For example, the seats will actually accommodate 21st-century butts without numbing them, it has a radio and CD player, air conditioning, electrically operated windows in front, central locking on the main doors, a substantial grab-handle for the front passenger and all-terrain ABS with electronic traction control (ETC).
Disc brakes all round, coil springs front and rear and a modern 2,4 litre diesel engine matched with an MT82 Getrag-Ford six-speed gearbox, are further signs that progress has not been ignored. Body metal is still primarily aluminium in order to minimise weight and keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, while bearing corrosion resistance in mind as well. This does not rule out the use of steel where it does a better job; double-sided zinc coated steels are used in critical areas where formability and resistance to dents renders aluminium unsuitable. This includes the bonnet that is engineered to be more durable than even the old heavy-duty assembly.
Old-fashioned it may be, but that isn't necessarily bad. Body panels, many still made up of rivetted sections, are mostly bolted together while outside mirrors, lights and the swivelling latch for the back door, all dirt cheap by today's standards, will still fit on your Dad's ancient Series 3. He could even pinch your comfy driver's seat and bolt it straight into his Landy. But this by no means suggests that the Defender is unsuited to the needs of, or is unwanted by hardcore outdoor users.
While progress is wonderful, there are those who don't want or need magnificently comfortable, insanely complicated or dare we say it, exotically priced, super-utes for taming the boonies. They are farmers with trailers to pull, fences to mend and sick cattle to attend. They are adventurers who cross borders, deserts and rivers in search of the ultimate fishing spot or, far from television and cellphone signal, relax in oneness with their Creator in blissful silence. They are also Joe and Joanne Average who like to get down and dirty with local wilderness between knockoff time on Friday and returning to the rat race on Monday.
Chosen vehicles need to be able to get by on fuel that is sometimes dodgy, or keep going when a fancier alternative would be just plain broken. When the chips are down, it should be repairable by its owner or an informal mechanic in some outer reach of human settlement where time is plentiful and spares are scarce. There are very few choices available for people like these. Land Cruisers (the real ones), genuine Jeeps and Nissan Patrols are about all that's left. Then there's Defender; the one that's been around second longest and probably best typifies the "out of Africa" experience.
Driving one is reminiscent of the "slow food" principle. You do not hurry a Defender. The engine puts out only 90 kW, so there is no zero to 100-km/h "dash." It is more a leisurely amble, although 360 Nm of low-down grunt, combined with low range gearing when needed, means it will keep on ambling over, through and across almost anything, long after Oak Park shopping carts have given up. Changing gear is equally deliberate - into neutral, into the next gear; two clicks. Thank you. Trying to hurry the process leads to a scolding, so don't do it. Equally unhurried is its top speed, governed to 131 km/h because Land Rover has no control over how you load it or the tyres you will use.
Speaking of tyres, our test vehicle was fitted with 235/85 R16 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R light truck radials. The MT/R designation is for "multi terrain, off road," very practical for negotiating mud, rocks and gravel, but not first choice for cruising up to Jo'burg on smooth macadam. They are noisy at freeway speeds, but as we know, Defenders are not about freeways. Their forte is calm and measured progress in places where others fear to lay their treads.
While its tall, boxy styling might be old fashioned, there are advantages. Tall, square windows mean you can see where you're going and what's happening around you, while the spare wheel bolted to the back door shows you exactly where the vehicle ends. Big, square front fenders, easily visible from the driver's seat, mean you can place the front wheels just where you want them - makes parking and track selection a breeze.
The writing is on the wall, though. Strong and old-fashioned may be good but it doesn't guarantee increasing sales. Progress demands constant improvement, so although there are more luxurious alternatives in the company's lineup, the basic Defender must progress too. Its successor is coming in about two years, so you have a choice. Wait for it or snatch up one of the last real Defenders now.
The numbers
Price: R398 995
Engine: 2 402 cc four cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 90 kW at 3 500 rpm
Torque: 360 Nm at 2 000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 19,6 seconds
Maximum speed: 131 km/h
Fuel index: 13,2 l/100 km
Tank: 75 litres
Airbags: What airbags?
Seats: 7
Luggage: 160 to 1 458 dm3
Approach/Departure/Rampover angles: 48,7/34,6/30,3 degrees
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
For an update and commentary, click here
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8