Grenadier vs New Defender

[landmannnn]

And the Defender won the 2026 Dakar!

Although only 7 entries; 3 Defenders, 2 Nissan's and 2 Toyota's of which the Defenders were the only ones factory backed.

 

[CRH]

And the Defender won the 2026 Dakar!

Although only 7 entries; 3 Defenders, 2 Nissan's and 2 Toyota's of which the Defenders were the only ones factory backed.

Shallow victory, but it will be publicised like it was up against stiff competition & that it was their first attempt compared to seasoned competition, so must be even more amazing. Probably miss out the lack of competition in their category and show images of various others to confuse.

You would think it was an advertising stunt to get people buying the high profit Octa version

 

[OkGo]

That's basically it. And the OCTA is a BMW build isn't it ?

What was more interesting to me is that this was the first time Land Rover have ever participated in the Dakar. Ever.

 

[LRNAD90]

Unlike my ‘95 D90, which I will never sell.

I Concur!

 

[Docmenace]

Had a '22 110 with a P400. I really liked it until it needed a new engine at a bit over 57K miles. Was lucky enough to have purchased the only service plan I ever bought and they covered it. Sold it.

 

[Commodore]

And the Defender won the 2026 Dakar!

Although only 7 entries; 3 Defenders, 2 Nissan's and 2 Toyota's of which the Defenders were the only ones factory backed.

Look at the video walk around of the race car. Contrary to what they want you to believe…. There isn’t much of anything left from the production car. The engine and transmission are about it and those have had there electronics replaced for race stuff.

 

[Tazzieman]

Look at the video walk around of the race car. Contrary to what they want you to believe…. There isn’t much of anything left from the production car. The engine and transmission are about it and those have had there electronics replaced for race stuff.

No surprises there.
But without a doubt the old "win on Sunday - sell on Monday" chestnut will be heavily promoted.
Whatever!

 

[Krabby]

No surprises there.
But without a doubt the old "win on Sunday - sell on Monday" chestnut will be heavily promoted.
Whatever!

It’s funny how that works and mfgs hold onto that. We have a Subaru and we love it. I’ve been a WRC fan since the 90s. Subi STILL markets their championship winning rally DNA. Unfortunately their last title was in the last millennium.

 

[DoubleDoom]

I’ve had 2 new defenders, combine about 80k miles. My grenadier has 9k and has needed to go back to the dealer (200 miles away) more often than the defenders combined. Leaks, hvac, software updates, and a snapped transfer case cable (there is no way on gods green earth this should ever happen, but im not the only one even on this forum. Dealer said they’ve replaced a bunch).

Idk, i think grenadier owners shouldnt be throwing ‘reliability’ stones at the new Defender. It’s a great car, and especially the P300 on 18 inch steelies (rip) with the offroad pack its at least as capable offroad stock as the Grenadier while being much better in every objective driving dynamic on road. My guess is most people who are talking shit, as usual, havent actually really driven them especially offroad. The grenadier is cool but its very far from perfect and its immature and unnecessary to trash the Defender to make it look better. Us consumers benefit from having both available on the market. Who knows how long that will last

We had six LR/RR models. The four post 2015 builds (to keep them current) all suffered EGR valve faults. The software would reset to default settings on over the air updates. One had a major fault in the second year but I had to fight for warranty repair as the 2020 service was late - due to coronavirus.

The LR EGR valve issues is very well documented but it also happens with other low mileage models from other brands.

When any new car comes out from most brands, the early year models will have issues. I had one of the first Audi S5 in the country. That went back to the dealer 15 times in the first year with door handle, alarms, LED light faults etc. My wife's S3 was very similar. Both were year one models and after that I pledged to myself to not buy a year one car again. I waited until the third model with with the Grenadier but broke the rule to get the new MINI last year. That has had more faults than the Grenadier and the software is glitchy as hell.

I would expect the new Defender to be at a point where it is pretty reliable now with most issues ironed out. I think the MY26 Grenadier is going to the point most of the remaining issues are ironed out.