vehicle choice

[jasper110]

this has possibly been brought up many times before, but i'm having difficulty in choosing a vehicle to replace my landrover 110 CSW.
what i'm looking for is somethinig that can/does;

carry 4 adults comfortably
camping gear and food for 2 weeks (for the 4 above)
able to do an easy 70 on the motorways
comfortable to drive at these speeds
over 20mpg
range over 300 miles
cope with mild off road work ie; iceland
relaible


all of the above plus manage the dog when taking hoildays at home

as you can see, my landrover ticks some of the boxes, but not all of them, namely comfort and speed. overland, yes it's great, having to do thousands of miles on the motorways to get to such places NOT SO!

i've been looking at landcruisers and patrol's but think the boots are too small. though i stand to be corrected not actually knowing the dimensions.
oh, and i don't have a kings ransom to pay either! it's my second vehicle so about £8000 please.

any thoughts?

thanks.

[silver G]

might be a controvercial suggestion but have you considered a Merc G Wagen
cheers
chris

[jasper110]

nothing is controversal. yes i'd thought of a G-Wagon, and like them but they're like rocking horse poo in the uk.

[silver G]

I've had one for about 5 years now and have no complaints. have a look at this link
GWOA

[mattsavage]

What about a Toyota 80 series Landcruiser? I got 28mpg from mine once on the way back from Val d'Isere loaded with people and stuff. I was doing 50mph though.
On another occasion I was towing a heavy trailer with a broken down fully kitted out 110 on, and I was late for the ferry. Doing 80mph with heavy trailer it uses about 1 gallon every 12 mins!!! But that's another story... (I got to the ferry!)
They still did the 80 series up to about R reg.

Or a Discovery TD5. Don't be put off by all that electronic talk. They're good.
Fitted with a bigger intercooler and chip they'll be as powerful as a Landcruiser and use less fuel. Very nice driving position as well. And more leg room for the passengers in the back. The Landcruisers and not too good for that.

Oh, what about the Landcruiser 3.0 Colorado? I don't know much about them really, but there are plenty about.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Matt

[onlyMark]

i've been looking at landcruisers and patrol's but think the boots are too small.

You might be struggling to find something that is bigger - unless you go up to small trucks.

[hone41]

Originally Posted by jasper110

this has possibly been brought up many times before, but i'm having difficulty in choosing a vehicle to replace my landrover 110 CSW.
what i'm looking for is somethinig that can/does;

carry 4 adults comfortably
camping gear and food for 2 weeks (for the 4 above)
able to do an easy 70 on the motorways
comfortable to drive at these speeds
over 20mpg
range over 300 miles
cope with mild off road work ie; iceland
relaible


all of the above plus manage the dog when taking hoildays at home

as you can see, my landrover ticks some of the boxes, but not all of them, namely comfort and speed. overland, yes it's great, having to do thousands of miles on the motorways to get to such places NOT SO!

i've been looking at landcruisers and patrol's but think the boots are too small. though i stand to be corrected not actually knowing the dimensions.
oh, and i don't have a kings ransom to pay either! it's my second vehicle so about £8000 please.

any thoughts?

thanks.

Hello,
I have a 1994 landcruiser 164,000 kms (usual one careful lady owner) which can be viewed in Edinbugh this weekend. It has been modified for overland travel, but handles highway driving well. If you would like to see then email me on johnfalk41@gmail or telephone me on 07736985229
cheers
john

[jasper110]

thanks but i'm away in the cairngorms all weekend.

[eightpot]

As mentiond before, changing the gearing in the transfer box makes a huge difference to cruising ability - me and my mate have both changed the gearing in our T/boxes to 1.22:1 (just a matter of changing some cogs rather than having to get a whole new box) - we can now sit happily on the motorway cruising at 75mph (thats actual as per GPS, speedo was reading 82!)
My 90 was ok straight out the box like this, though we did tweek the fueling slightly on my mates 110 to give a little extra oomph up long straight uphill runs, and we have just done a 4500 mile trip round and over the alps with no probs, including off roading.

[Andrew Baker]

Hi everyone,

Does anybody have experience of driving a Defender with the 1.22 transfer ratio with a heavy load in the back ?? How does it cope in sand with the higher ratios whildt heavily laden ??

Andrew.

[mattsavage]

Hi. You will be ok, but you really have to have more power, like a bigger intercooler (assuming you have a Tdi/TD5).
I have fitted the Discovery transfer box to two vehicles that are on this HUBB! And they both do a lot of travelling in north Africa. From the reports I get the ratio is fine in the dunes. But both these vehicles (both 200 Tdi's) have bigger intercoolers.
If you keep you engine standard you will not have the power to pull in 5th on long hills.

Don't forget, the Discovery (which is a tiny bit more powerful) has this ratio as standard, and that does fine!!

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Matt Savage