Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter Special 2020 i Land Rover Monthly

THE LRM Land Rover buying guide issue always sells well. One of the reasons for this is that it hits the supermarket shelves in the middle of winter, when buying a Land Rover is more important than buying a Christmas tree or fat turkey. As it’s permanent 4WD (well most of them are), a Land Rover could save your life when you need to negotiate snow-covered passes or flooded lanes. For this buying guide we have not only identified the 15 Land Rovers which we know will sell well in 2020, but we have also written about relevant considerations when deciding to splash your hard-earned cash on a Land Rover. These include HP versus PCP, how to save on insurance and road tax and whether to rebuild or scrap your…

World of Land Rovers THERE seems to be a bit of confusion as to whether the new Defender will be built in Slovenia or Slovakia, as in the letter from David Thomas of Swansea in the January 2020 LRM. I don’t know if people think they are the same place. Slovakia, where the Defender and the Discovery are to be built, if they’re not already, is the eastern half of what used to be Czechoslovakia, just across the Tatra mountains from eastern Poland. Slovenia, which used to be part of Yugoslavia, is on the Adriatic coast just across from Venice, more or less. Slovakia builds lots of cars for various people, including Kia and Hyundai, because they have a long history of engineering things like tanks for the Russians, which…

LAND Rover’s massive product overhaul continues, and includes launching a fully-electric Range Rover and an all-new crossover model that will take the marque even further upmarket and challenge the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce. The fifth-generation Range Rover, due in 2021, will be the most radical and technically advanced there has been in the model’s 50-year history. It will be based on Land Rover’s new Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA) that can accommodate mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric powertrains. JLR has not yet revealed the pricing, but with a V8 Defender expected to cost over £100,000 it’s clear that new Range Rover will be eye-wateringly expensive. Land Rover bosses are moving the Range Rover even further upmarket, due to increased competition from the likes of the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce…

THIS Land Rover expedition had been in the planning for a couple of years, and in October 2018 I took the plunge and booked a return ferry from Harwich to Holland with the goal of travelling up through Norway, and back down through Sweden over the course of a month in my 1996 300Tdi 90. Joining me on the trip were Kate (my partner), and Sam and Emily, in his Td5 110. Once I had posted our planned trip on Instagram, Lachlan, a fellow Instagrammer, messaged to ask if he and Hannah could tag along in her Td5 90. Now, I’d been chatting to Lachlan for a few months about all things Land Rover, and although none of us had ever met, I couldn’t say no! This decision turned out…

ON August 31, 1957, the country of Malaysia was formally granted its independence. Prior to this it was of course the British who ruled this Asian gem. While the British might have left, a love for all things Land Rover remained behind. So after independence the government departments such as the military, police and forestry were encouraged to procure Land Rovers as their workhorses. A situation that continued up until 2007. I only know this is because as we follow the Last Overland expedition into Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands I am in local lad Vigneswaran Kartyhigesu’s Defender 110. Like everyone else I just call him Vicky. He is one of the founding members of a group called the Rovernuts which we featured in last month’s LRM and no one knows more…

I love my Defender. In fact I would go one better and say that I am head over heels in love with it. The problem with that is so is water, rust, sleet, snow, salt, mud, muck, ice and everything else found on British roads. While I like to think I’m good for my Defender the other things I mentioned are not. In fact they can shorten its life. Rather dramatically. I don’t want that and so I drive my 110 down to South West Rustproofing (SWRP) in Wiltshire, a business owned by Broad Lane Land Rovers. Remember them? The cool guys who put a Td5 engine into a Range Rover Classic. SWRP is Wiltshire’s only official Dinitrol UK Treatment Centre and last year they applied this treatment to 170…

I had a great African childhood, growing up in a conservative fishing village. My parents lovingly provided for me and my five brothers and sisters. Lots of play (and serious) fighting with my siblings but more importantly we created many memories that will last a lifetime or at least until dementia sets in. We were anything but spoilt. Dad was a credit controller and ran a tight ship. I remember using mum’s old wooden tennis racquet when playing matches for the school. It had a warped head, probably because we left it in the rain at some stage. Still it did the trick. There was no money for Lego or computer games and we only had four channels on our little TV. Why am I telling you this in a…

THIS is the most fascinating engine build I’ve been involved in. Maybe that’s because I’ve never built a Series I engine, but then, nor has Britpart’s Steve Grant who is about to assemble this one. Of course, we had the workshop manual, a lot of advice from Series I specialists, Steve’s ingenuity, and the fact that both of us have built plenty of engines in the past. So, based on previous experiences, I was expecting the job to be finished some time after lunch. Later that day, we were quite pleased to have successfully fitted just the crankshaft and pistons. It was the fitting of the pistons that had us thinking. On most engines it’s simple – you attach the piston to the conrod and feed the conrod into the…

IN a world-first, Jaguar Land Rover is developing Lightweight Electronics in Simplified Architecture (LESA) research technology – currently used in flexible wearables and curved OLED TVs – for its car interiors. This has the potential to radically change cabins of the future and would offer customers greater ability to tailor their cars to suit their needs. So how does it work then? The system uses computer animated drawings (CAD) to virtually ‘unfold’ a part into its 2D structure. The required electronic circuit, ordinarily wired into a traditional ECU, is then printed onto the flat surface, and components are mounted, before the CAD is folded back into its original 3D. The part is then manufactured with the electronics printed into the structure. JLR has successfully trialled LESA technology on an overhead…

OVER the course of 2016 and 2017 JLR applied for the registration of six three-dimensional shapes of its Series I, Series II, Defender 90 and 110 models (the latter two shapes with and without a rear mounted spare wheel). INEOS contested this application in defence of its own commercial interests and in early October of this year, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) found in favour of INEOS on the basis that the shapes were insufficiently distinctive in character. By November 2015, INEOS knew that JLR intended to cease mass production of the Defender vehicles. It contacted JLR to discuss whether it was willing to sell tooling and other production equipment so that it could continue to manufacture the Defenders. However, JLR later wrote to INEOS making it clear that…

WITH reference to Dave Phillips’ article ‘Only Fools and Horsepower’ in the January 2020 edition, he asks if the shot of the Series I in 633 Squadron is the earliest example of historically-inappropriate use of a Land Rover. I am sure this will not be the only reader to point out that in one of the final scenes of Ice Cold in Alex there is a Series I parked in the background as Luz (Anthony Quale) is driven away under guard. Ice Cold in Alex is, I believe, set in 1941 around the battle for Tobruk and filmed in black and white while, 633 Squadron is in colour and set later in the war. My votethereforegoesto Ice cold in Alex. Paul Douglass FOR the attention of Dave Phillips: Regularly shown…

I’LL start this month with a confession. In last month’s column I described in some detail the problems I encountered with a Series III gearbox which was refusing to select first and second gear after having fitted various new components. I thought I had tracked the problem down to badly-machined baulk rings and a short road test seemed to confirm this: first and second still seemed rather stiff and notchy, but I put this down to all the relevant parts being brand-new and needing to bed in. So I rang the owner, arranged for him to collect the vehicle a few days hence, and got on with finishing my column. What is the worst noise in the world? It’s the sound of a vehicle being driven back into the workshop,…

THE British love tradition, especially in winter. December is spent shopping for Christmas, then once the festivities are over we go shopping for Land Rovers. Anyone in the motor trade will tell you that January is the slowest time of the year for buying most cars – but not 4x4s. The threat of floods, blizzards and tree-toppling gales is enough to get folk scurrying to buy four-wheel drives. And in the UK the best-selling 4x4s are Land Rovers. But high demand can mean higher prices, so it is important to know which are the best bargains. And which are the ones to buy? We’ve picked the brains of some of LRM’s in-house experts for advice on what to look for, as well as which overpriced models to avoid. Uncertainty in…

• Total Trip Cost: £3000 per vehicle (£1500pp) • Miles driven: 5631 • Total fuel cost: £1275 (average £1.50/litre) • Total coast for ferries: £610 • Food: Quite expensive, use Rema1000 to keep costs down • Alcohol: Go teetotal for the duration of your trip! • Average campsite costs: £28 (2 persons, tent, vehicle) • Wild camping: Accepted and very easy – Park4Night is a brilliant app • Best wild camp spot: Sognefjellsvegen mountain road pass • Best campsite: Lofoton Beach Camp, Flakstad • Best road to travel: Mountain road starting in Ovre, Eidfjord • Handiest piece of kit: Lifesaver jerrycan • Roof tents taken: Gordigear, Front Runner and Armadillo…

I may live in England but African blood runs through my veins. In my nearly 20 years as a 4x4 journalist I have attended over 10 Defender Trophy events: they are always held in Southern Africa and as the name suggests they are for Defenders only. Though last year Englishman Phillip Young did do it in a Toyota Land Cruiser. This was because he could not get his Defender through customs in time after shipping it over from the UK for the event! As I exit the O.R. Tambo arrivals hall in Johannesburg I walk straight into the welcoming hot Highveld air. After a few minutes of waiting, the mother of all Defender 130s appears – it’s the Front Runner demo model. It has more accessories than the most accessorised…

SINCE 2009, members of the Discovery Owners Club, Project Jay Preservation Group along with other Discovery owners, have been meeting on Plymouth Hoe each October to celebrate the original launch of the Discovery and to take part in a weekend-long birthday party for the iconic model. For the 4x4’s 21st birthday (October 2010) it was decided to recreate the press launch and follow the same two-day itinerary, and this year as it turned 30, the aim was to continue to run as previous events. Organised by the Devon and Cornwall Section of the Discovery Owners Club, the annual Discovery Birthday Party kicked off to a great start on Friday October 18 with two excursions: one group took in some greenlanes, while a second group had a scenic drive along Cornwall’s…

EX-MILITARY Land Rovers – or at least my ex-military 110 V8 soft top – do not have a conventional ignition switch and steering lock assembly. Instead, mine had an electrical ignition switch with no steering lock, in the usual location. Before I rebuilt the 110 a couple of years ago, the ignition switch failed and I replaced it with a Massey Ferguson switch I had to hand – the one with the all-familiar Lucas key, that any classic tractor driver will be familiar with. This worked, but was not ideal; started by a common key that is easy to get hold of, no steering lock and a soft top is not a secure mix. Luckily, in Co Donegal where the Land Rover is kept, there isn’t much petty or vehicle…

THE world of diesel engines came crashing down on Friday September 18, 2015, when US authorities announced that Volkswagen would be prosecuted for fitting so-called “defeat devices” to its cars to beat EU emissions rules. It has never been the same since. The VW 'Dieselgate' scandal resulted in motor manufacturers throughout the world jumping through hoops to keep on the right side of the law, fitting all sorts of complicated devices to reduce the soot particles emitted from their diesel engines. The Ford engines fitted in early Discovery Sports and Range Rover Evoques were incapable of meeting the ever-tighter EU6 emissions rules. Luckily JLR’s new Ingenium family of engines would be able to solve that problem, they reckoned. The 2.0 Ingenium diesel had already been successfully fitted under the bonnet…

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PICTURE the scene: the world’s most famous secret agent is on his latest mission. Disguised as Colonel Luis Toro using little more than a dodgy moustache, a reversible suit and those famous eyebrows, Roger Moore has infiltrated what appears to be a Latin American airbase in order to plant a bomb. Unfortunately, having just planted said bomb, his cover is blown and he comes face to face with the real Colonel Toro. He is bundled into a military truck to face his fate. Enter our sultry hero Bianca (played by Tina Hudson), at the wheel of a rather special Range Rover: a fully open-top convertible with side-facing rear bench seats and large front bull bar, that connoisseurs will identify as a Rapport Huntsman. As Bianca pulls alongside the truck, Bond’s…

THE new Defender was only revealed a few weeks ago, but LRM can exclusively reveal that Land Rover is planning a range-topping model with V8 power under its bonnet. It should be landing in showrooms within the next 18 months – with a price tag of £100,000. A running prototype of the hot Defender already exists at Land Rover’s engineering base in Gaydon, Warwickshire, but its appeal to the average enthusiast is going to be limited. JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division is likely to be heavily involved in the vehicle that is set to rival Mercedes-AMG’s iconic 577bhp G63. It’s expected to be called Defender SVR, following the lead of the Range Rover Sport SVR and Range Rover SVAutobiography cars. Sitting under the bonnet will be a V8 coming…

MOUNTAIN Rescue Teams or MRTs comprise groups of dedicated volunteers up and down the land who give up their time to help those in distress. From the very start, the vehicle of choice for these stalwart folk has been the Land Rover; beginning with the Series I right up to the last of the line original Defenders. The familiar boxy shape of a Land Rover arriving on the scene meant the promise of rescue. With the end of production, however, these teams are now faced with a dilemma: do they keep their ageing Defenders going a few more years or look for an alternative? Many already use Japanese pick-ups as support vehicles but these lack the adaptability and ruggedness of a Land Rover. The 110, after all, will happily carry…

February 23 4x4 Expo: The biggest indoor 4x4 Show in the UK takes place on Sunday February 23 at the Stafford County Showground, featuring 4x4 motorsport, overlanding, greenlaning and more. donington4x4show.co.uk April 25 – 26 Adventure Overland Show: The Spring Show takes place over the weekend of April 25 – 26 at Stratford Racecourse, and features everything to do with overland adventure. adventure-overland-show.com May 9 – 10 Gaydon Land Rover Show: Takes place at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, over the weekend of May 9 – 10 and will feature everything Land Rover. britishmotormuseum.co.uk June 26 – 28 Billing Land Rover Show: The original Land Rover Show is back at Billing Aquadrome from June 26 – 28 with all the usual attractions and features for the Land Rover enthusiast and…

ALMOST exactly 20 years ago I was in Africa. I had just spent a few days exploring Botswana’s amazing Okavango Delta with photographer Bob Atkins and, with a day to kill, I suggested making a detour to the Victoria Falls. As we headed across the Zimbabwe plain towards it in our newfangled Td5 Defender 110, we could see what appeared to be a cloud of smoke a few miles ahead. It was in fact the permanent cloud of spray above what is the largest waterfall in the world. Once there, we stood in awe for a few minutes. Then snapped away taking photographs for a few minutes more. Then we stood in awe for a bit longer. Then Bob yawned, I laughed and we headed back to the Land Rover.…

“I CAN’T see what you’re filling” barked the petrol station cashier, testily. “Pardon?” I asked, stood at the open driver’s door, non-functioning unleaded pump in hand. “I said I can’t see what you’re filling. I need to see what you’re filling,” she barked, obviously pleased to meet someone of apparently lower IQ. “The tank,” says I. Visibly confused, she’d walked near enough to now see the seat base removed, petrol tank exposed with cap off, pump nozzle impotently sitting inside. “Oh. What? That’s your tank?” she asked, face now contorted. “Yes” I said, as patiently as I could (in my head, my reply was a little less kind), then sighed. Just another day running a Series I in 2019. But her frosty overzealousness was quickly forgotten, for I’m having a…

THE front wheel bearings on the Discovery 2 will give many miles of trouble-free motoring – my own particular model needed no attention in this area until now, some 17 years and 120k miles into its life. However, unlike earlier Land Rovers, the wheel bearings are part of a sealed hub unit and the assembly is not intended to be serviced, nor would it be easy to do so. Instead, the complete hub is replaced, and this includes a new ABS sensor and cable, new wheel hub and new wheel studs. This means that replacing the wheel bearing is a more expensive exercise than with earlier Land Rovers, although it is arguably an easier task, with no particular skill needed to set the bearing to the correct tightness and no…

THE main problem we in the UK have with the Series transfer box is perpetual oil leaks from the pressed steel cover on the bottom of the unit. Impact damage and thermal expansion combined with low rigidity of the cover plate means leakage past the gasket between the plate and the transfer box casing is common. Fitting a new cover, re-jointing and tightening the securing nuts in careful sequence may cure the problem, but I’ve just fitted a new product to my own Series III which I hope will solve the problem for good. Wootz, in Tucson, Arizona, sent a sample of their transfer box sump which replaces the pressed steel plate. The Wootz sump is cast aluminium, so should have a similar expansion rate to the transfer case it’s…

WORKING on your Land Rover often requires extra light, whether it’s underneath, in the engine bay or behind the dashboard. While an inspection lamp or flashlight can often do the trick, sometimes a better option is to use a head torch. It will always be shining exactly where you’re looking and, more importantly, it leaves both hands free. In addition, head torches are light and easy to store in a glovebox for night-time emergencies and, of course, they can be used for non-automotive activities such as camping, cycling or hiking. We tried eight models, a mix of alkaline and rechargeable, to find the shining stars. COAST FL13R Rechargeable Head Torch with COB LED Light PRICE: £23.94 RATING: ★★★★★ CONTACT: 01858 410551, coastportland.com POWER: Li-po rechargeable THE brand-new FL13R performed extremely…