So... what car do you guys drive when not flying?

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Well I am wondering whether I should take the plunge on a new Defender. It would be quite the step up from the Triton.

The six month delivery is a bit of a downer.
Oh what a worry! I read that Gina had to have her new BMW delivered to her Italian estate rather than to Australia. Maybe you could have it delivered to @Flashback in the interim? :)

ps: our current Merc (cheap one) was ordered in May 19 and not delivered until November 19. SIL with OS builds, unless you buy Asian.
 
Oh what a worry! I read that Gina had to have her new BMW delivered to her Italian estate rather than to Australia. Maybe you could have it delivered to @Flashback in the interim? :)

ps: our current Merc (cheap one) was ordered in May 19 and not delivered until November 19. SIL with OS builds, unless you buy Asian.
The Defenders are now built in Slovakia, so a nice road trip for @Flashback. 🤣

I bought a Subaru years ago that took about 4 months to deliver, so I guess I am used to it. I do have the work car to fall back on.
 
Oh what a worry! I read that Gina had to have her new BMW delivered to her Italian estate rather than to Australia. Maybe you could have it delivered to @Flashback in the interim? :)

ps: our current Merc (cheap one) was ordered in May 19 and not delivered until November 19. SIL with OS builds, unless you buy Asian.
Happy to help and give it a good old test drive/burn in(out?) while you wait to collect ;)
The Defenders are now built in Slovakia, so a nice road trip for @Flashback. 🤣

I bought a Subaru years ago that took about 4 months to deliver, so I guess I am used to it. I do have the work car to fall back on.
Is that essential business travel? Sounds like the only way I can go more than a few miles from home at the moment!

I do have some essential business travel I need to do, only problem is I can't get a visa in that country right now thanks to the UK strain. Not sure I can get into Slovakia either, given UK isn't an EU member state and we're not on the EU's small list of acceptable countries ;)
 
I saw a Skoda won some small suv of the year award recently.
I almost completely discount any “car of the year” awards. Reviewers depend on car manufacturers too much. Just like airline reviews where “journalists” are typically invited.

A review by someone who paid for the product is much more valuable.
 
Well I am wondering whether I should take the plunge on a new Defender. It would be quite the step up from the Triton.

The six month delivery is a bit of a downer.
Only six months. As JLR dealers, nationwide, are having major issues getting hold of any stock, I’d be surprised if it’s that short a time.

I drove a Defender 110 D240 a couple of months ago. There was a lot to like about it, other than the price. I think I’d have to go with a 3 litre diesel though. In many ways, it’s more like the Discovery 4 than anything else, and that’s a good thing.
ps: our current Merc (cheap one) was ordered in May 19 and not delivered until November 19. SIL with OS builds, unless you buy Asian.
My neighbour’s order, for a fairly expensive Merc, has just had a birthday. Still nowhere in sight.

I almost completely discount any “car of the year” awards. Reviewers depend on car manufacturers too much. Just like airline reviews where “journalists” are typically invited.

A review by someone who paid for the product is much more valuable.
My wife had a look at magazine car reviews when she was doing a uni course. She decided that many reviewers hadn’t even driven the cars at all, but simply rewrote the makers blurbs.
 
Only six months. As JLR dealers, nationwide, are having major issues getting hold of any stock, I’d be surprised if it’s that short a time.

I drove a Defender 110 D240 a couple of months ago. There was a lot to like about it, other than the price. I think I’d have to go with a 3 litre diesel though. In many ways, it’s more like the Discovery 4 than anything else, and that’s a good thing.
I drove the D240 110 in September when they first hit AU. Compared to the Triton I was very happy with the power/torque so the D250 should suit me nicely. I did initially rule out the D200, but now that isn't offered in the 110 so a moot point. I am tipping you are more used to the performance style vehicles hence your preference for the D300? Whereas in my case I don't miss what I haven't had.

The new Defender seems more of a natural successor to the D4 than what they have done with the current Disco.
 
I drove the D240 110 in September when they first hit AU. Compared to the Triton I was very happy with the power/torque so the D250 should suit me nicely. I did initially rule out the D200, but now that isn't offered in the 110 so a moot point. I am tipping you are more used to the performance style vehicles hence your preference for the D300? Whereas in my case I don't miss what I haven't had.

The new Defender seems more of a natural successor to the D4 than what they have done with the current Disco.
Actually it looks like I'm a bit out of date. The D240 is a four cylinder engine, and it worked well in the likes of the Evoque or E-Pace, but I thought it was out of its depth in the Defender. Looks like LR agreed, as it has been dropped from the 2021 model range, replaced by the D250...which is a 3 litre six cylinder engine. That's a much better choice for the vehicle.

You're sure right in your comparison with the D4 vs the new D5. I owned a D4 for 6-7 years, and loved it. We'd hoped the D5 would build on that, but we hated the new variant, and bought an RRS instead. If the Defender had been around in this new form, it would have been a much more interesting choice.
 
D250...which is a 3 litre six cylinder engine. That's a much better choice for the vehicle.

I believe not only is it a 6cyl, it is an inline 6 which is arguably the best engine in terms of balance and smoothness. (superb 1st and 2nd order crankshaft harmonics). 4 cyls are good except that there is an upper limit of 2litres of so. Any larger capacity and the highest rpm needs to be derated.
IIRC The older BMWs all had inline 6.

The 6cyl can be huge except the limitation of the engine is the length in order to fit into an engine bay. This is achieved by limiting the Bore.
 
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I believe not only is it a 6cyl, it is an inline 6 which is arguably the best engine in terms of balance and smoothness.
You're quite right. It is an inline 6. As best I can tell, their Ingenium engine design is modular, and can be built as 4 or 6, diesel or petrol. I've got their P300 in my Jag, and so far it's a nice engine, and certainly gives nothing away to the Audi it replaced.
 
3 Cars and 1 Motor Scooter.
BM 1 series Coupe, Lexus RX, Toyota Echo and a Honda 125 Scooter.
Mrs TOF drives the BM and loves it. I drive the Lexus and love it. The Toyota is for our business and the girls love it. The scooter is for heavy traffic days.
All over 10 years old (Scooter 20 !).
All travelled les than 100,000 kays.
And all worth very little on the second hand market.
Been thinking of replacing the Lexus but can't justify
selling it and throwing in another 60 or 70 thousand for new car that doesn't drive any better and has more electronics to play up. Wouldn't dare sugesting to Mrs TOF that she replace the BM !
 
There is a global semiconductor shortage.
I’m building a custom PC for rendering work and the CPU amd GPU I’m after is in very short supply. And prices are very expensive.
It appears that this is also affecting the car manufacturing industry.
Toyota is also affected. Not sure if this will affect the LC300 arrival
 
There is a global semiconductor shortage.
I’m building a custom PC for rendering work and the CPU amd GPU I’m after is in very short supply. And prices are very expensive.
It appears that this is also affecting the car manufacturing industry.
Toyota is also affected. Not sure if this will affect the LC300 arrival

I've had similar with some gear I've been trying to source too. Due to arrive here in a day or two..... been a long wait.
 
Well I am wondering whether I should take the plunge on a new Defender. It would be quite the step up from the Triton.

The six month delivery is a bit of a downer.

Pretty soon they will be dumping all diesel variants of all cars here as the UK bans them shortly.... or just ceasing production all together as car manufacturers move towards hybrids and electric. Will be interesting to see how far behind Australia is with that!
 
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leads to..Iconic collectability of classic modern diesels.
I opine that here is nowhere near enough energy density/Kg available for modern electric conveyances in most applications.
 

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