[sureshkumar]

Wow, the Unstoppable is simply awesome. Congratulations on acquiring your third Rover and what an amazing set of wheels. I am thoroughly impressed by your passion. Great photos, too. Keep driving and share your experiences. Thank you, @BlackPearl.

[johy]

Congratulations on acquiring the mother of all 4x4s; it looks the size and part!

One quick question with regards to the bumpers. Are these off-road specific and are they street legal there? Thanks in advance.

Wishing you many miles of happy off-roading.

[FloatingCanvas]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

A couple of weeks back we did the Strata Florida trail in Wales. It is one of the most famous greenlanes in the UK. In one of the obstacles on the trail the other cars struggled while our Defender just breezed through, so much so that the lead car's driver told me that "you could have at least tried to make it look difficult"

Here is a clip of that part -

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=N40lwF4pqBI

BlackPearl, are you sure you were doing the same trails as the others?

The Unstoppable Machine puts all the other marquees to shame with how effortlessly it gets over all the obstacles thrown at it. I had to re-watch the videos to confirm your green beauty was covering the same terrain as the others. It's not only absolutely gorgeous to look at but evidently is one with the nature and all trails are a walk in the park for it.

Congratulations on acquiring such a wonderful companion. Look forward to more greenlaning content from you. Thanks for sharing your adventures with your dream machine with us.

[Dry Ice]

Congratulations once again!

Rightly said about the GC. Nothing can prepare you for it until you actually need to climb up!

[shiven2207]

Congratulations !!

You're truly living a dream, there's one thing of acquiring these beauties, but putting them to the right use, doing what they're built for. Kudos Man.

[BlackPearl]

First of all, thanks a ton to everyone for the overwhelming response to this thread. I did not expect this from a thread on a 30 year old tattered Defender and the review is quite mediocre to be honest with respect to Team Bhp standards! I am truly elated!

Originally Posted by s4ch

You, sir, are living the dream! When I retire back in the UK I can I'll be playing catchup with you for years to come. A beautiful trio and congrats for all the passion you put into them.

Thank you s4ch!

Originally Posted by s4ch

I mean c'mon, so many have issues with just sorting out a Fastag, and here you've convinced TFL about being LEZ compliant, IN LESS THAN A DAY!

This is so true and one thing I love about this country. If you are right and put down your points in a clear manner, they listen and take actions. Before the car was LEZ compliant, I had driven it in the LEZ zone without knowing and there was a penalty charged against it. Once it became LEZ complaint I requested them to waive off the penalty as it was a genuine mistake from my part as I did not know about LEZ rules and it was not something deliberately done. So they were kind enough to waive off £250! This was also quite unexpected but a pleasant surprise.

Originally Posted by karthikd21

Wow! Man, I got to admire your passion. Just too good. Hearty congratulations . Wish I were in a place the old Defender 90 was available for buying used. I simply cant digest the new designs, these old ones are charmers for sure

Thank you karthikd21. You might change your view about the new Defender once you see it off-roading in flesh. It is an amazing vehicle. Look wise, yes I agree with you, it does not look as good as the old one.

Originally Posted by Sandman689

Brilliant Report Sumitro da!
....
I wish you many happy miles of offroading!

Thank you Sandman689!

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Wow, you are taking things up to the next level, with this new acquisition, literally

Thank you JoshMachine!

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Since I am not much into off-roading generally, had this curiosity - and this again came up when watching your video of the Strata Florida trails (in which the other guy had great difficulty with his Toyota) - at what point does one decide to give up conquering the obstacle in front? How do you establish the limits of your car when off-roading and/or put your hands up when you know its not possible to go ahead?

It is a difficult to question to answer but I will try. Greenlaning is different from off-roading in the sense that the greenlaning trails are open to all and are usually not very difficult except some sections of trails like the bomb hole in Strata Florida and the ******* lane in North Wales. I will post a video of the bomb hole in Strata Florida. What I have seen is that these specific difficult sections in the trails usually have a bypass road so that most of the vehicles can go without damage. Those who want to do these sections can do at their own risk. However as we saw this time, some sections of the trails get difficult over time and there is no bypass road for them. It also depends which way one is doing the trail, for example it gets easier if one is going downhill on the trail. So if you are on a trail that is 10 miles long and one section gets tricky then you have to go over it by hook or crook. Maybe put some stones in place to make it easier, winch a vehicle out if possible or work some other plan out. Reversing is usually not needed.
When it comes to off-roading, they are usually done in private grounds that are not very big and one can choose to participate or not in a particular obstacle. If one gets stuck there are plenty of cars with winches to help one out. End of the day it depends if the person wants to do it or not, but that is not always possible on a trail where there is a line of vehicle behind.
I hope I have been able to answer your query. If not please let me know.

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Is the answer different when you are doing stuff in a group (peer pressure) and/or alone?

Yes, the answer is different when you are alone. First of all one should not venture out greenlaning or offroading alone as it is dangerous. There is usually no phone connection in these places and it will be difficult to get help one gets stuck. So if one sees a tricky section while alone on a trail it is best to be prudent. With a group there might be peer pressure depending on the type of the person and also the people in the group, that is why it is good to do some screening and go with people who are knowledgeable and have good feedback on the internet. They will not put unnecessary pressure and force you to do an obstacle and damage your vehicle. As I said it also depends on the person, an egoistic person will try to go over an obstacle even after knowing the risks.

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

BTW, I thought the approach line at a particular point that the Toyota owner took in the trails, was a bit different than the one that you took. And the result was you smiling vs. he trying to make up for it!

It is always more difficult for the first vehicle. Those following can have a better understanding seeing the line that the first vehicle is taking. So, though I am saying that this Defender is unstoppable, it has to be taken with a pinch of salt. If I had been the first vehicle the result might have been very different.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Congratulations on the 110.. The kind soul who fitted the 300Tdi along with the R380 gearbox, will be very happy to read that you didn't give up and got it LEZ complaint and gave it a new lease of life which this vehicle truly deserves.

Thank you SnS_12!

Originally Posted by Samba

Congrats!

Land Rover owners- Hey BlackPearl, we have a Land Rover meet this weekend.

BlackPearl- Thanks, but I have already got an in-house arrangement for that!

Thank you Samba!

Originally Posted by Arshad YR

BlackPearl I thought before opening the thread that you might have replaced the beautiful 90 that you have with the 110 but the meme at the beginning of the thread proved my assumptions wrong. Your lineup of Land Rovers is beautiful....... Your experience with land rover shows that there are a few reliable ones out there XD

Thank you Arshad for the kind words!

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

Thanks for writing a first hand account of my favourite - the good ol' Defender. Very nice pictures and setting. Keep them coming!

Thank you vigneshkumar31!

Originally Posted by gururajrv

J
Great review and you’re just making it seem like a kid collecting cars - hot wheels to be apt! great taste in having the right cars picked.

Ha ha, thank you gururajrv! I have to do something about this obsession or I will be bankrupt very soon.

Originally Posted by sureshkumar

Wow, the Unstoppable is simply awesome. Congratulations on acquiring your third Rover and what an amazing set of wheels. I am thoroughly impressed by your passion. Great photos, too. Keep driving and share your experiences. Thank you, @BlackPearl.

Thank you sureshkumar! I cannot take credit for the photos as most of them have been taken either by Rajsri or someone else.

Originally Posted by johy

Congratulations on acquiring the mother of all 4x4s; it looks the size and part!

One quick question with regards to the bumpers. Are these off-road specific and are they street legal there? Thanks in advance.

Wishing you many miles of happy off-roading.

Thank you Johy. I am not sure if these are offroad specific bumpers or not, but these are heavy duty ones in order to fit the big winch. These are not illegal yet in this country but I have been hearing that talks are going on regarding them.

Originally Posted by FloatingCanvas

BlackPearl, are you sure you were doing the same trails as the others?
......
I had to re-watch the videos to confirm your green beauty was covering the same terrain as the others. It's not only absolutely gorgeous to look at but evidently is one with the nature and all trails are a walk in the park for it.

Thank you, but as I have said above it helps to be the second vehicle as I could see what line the first vehicle is taking. Also one has to know the strengths and weaknesses of his own vehicle and the line taken depends a lot on that. For example the Land Cruiser has independent suspension at the front, so the differential is tucked inside away from danger, however the lower arms are quite low and prone to damage. At the same time the rear differential is bang in the middle, so in order to save all of these the driver has to take a line accordingly which can turn out to be difficult. On the Defender on the other hand the only low handing things are the two differentials and their line is just below the driver seat, so it gets very easy to place the tyres in a way that the differentials are not in harm's way. So it is easier in a Defender to choose a line and stick to it. There are sometimes obstacles where the vehicles with independent suspensions will have advantage and the Defender might struggle in those places.

Originally Posted by FloatingCanvas

Congratulations on acquiring such a wonderful companion. Look forward to more greenlaning content from you. Thanks for sharing your adventures with your dream machine with us.

Thank you FloatingCanvas!

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Congratulations once again!

Rightly said about the GC. Nothing can prepare you for it until you actually need to climb up!

Ha ha, thank you for taking some beautiful videos on the greenlaning day.

Originally Posted by shiven2207

Congratulations !!

You're truly living a dream, there's one thing of acquiring these beauties, but putting them to the right use, doing what they're built for. Kudos Man.

Thank you shiven2207!

[aveoman19]

Know the feeling of being unstoppable very well. It loves the slush and mud. The road... not so much. The only gripe is the small entry to the front seats akin to a letter box opening. Tore many a shirts and trousers. The Defender we use for work here in Kenya is the 110 Puma Pickup with slightly lowered suspension settings and rally wheels with Goodyear Wrangler ATs. This one is used for long distance (for an old defender with no ABS) of 200 kms at a steady 100 Kph commute lugging 300 to 400 Kgs of load any day so outright ground clearance was sacrificed for better high speed manners. The Defenders do come with their fair share of electrical gremlins like the instrument cluster light goes on and off whenever it likes, same with the factory fitted albeit aftermarket looking single din Clarion Headunit, wipers and horns Otherwise a very likeable beast