which series ... for long overland trip..

[peetatop]

Hi everyone!
I'm would like to ask a real newbie question .. me and my friends are planning an overland trip Europe - Asia and we would like to find out more about the feasibility of using a Land Rover as our mean.
Which model do you think would be suitable for such trip bearing in mind the route, carrying 3 passengers and also repairability/robustness.

Appologise if this is too broad of a question:confused: but we are really just at the planning stage... Rover or other brand... is the question... if rover which one?

Thank you in advance..
peeratop:rolleyes:

[Newsreader]

Hello, welcome to the forum :)

I would say 110 Defender for its size and go-anywhere abilities. Diesel, 200tdi or 300tdi, as you should be able to get one in not too bad condition, and there are virtually no electronics making repairs in the field relatively straightforward.

There are others on the forum who have done this kind of thing (I haven't :D ) and will be able to advise in much more detail I'm sure

[Snagger]

Definately a Tdi Defender 110 Station Wagon.

[peetatop]

Thank guys. for the reply.. I'll look in the achieve for more infor.. any more tip on who to contact?

Thank you

top

[Snagger]

You can get some ideas from Frogs Island and Nene Overland, but then shop around for the work as those two are really expensive.

[toppa]

110 would be the ideal vehicle, land rover and overland trips go togeather like "A HORSE AND CARRAGE" :D

Then prep it yourself, the ideal way to get to know the truck..

Cheers

[peetatop]

Could someone told me what is the uniquness of the 110 seris compare to other? and do you know where I could find information about the difference between Discovery v Freelander v Defender? - thank you in advance! :)

peeratop

[Rich_P]

I have attached photos of the three different vehicles. The Defender (first photo) is the most utilitarian of the three vehicles, and is in a lot of ways easier to adapt with a certain setup or specification. It's also one of the favourites for expeditions. The second photo is of the Freelander 1 (Freelander 2 coming on sale soon and is vastly different), and is mostly a road going car with some off-road capability. While the third photo shows a Discovery 2 (Note that we are now on the third version of it, the Disco 3), and it's a car-like interiour with off-road capabilities similar to that of the Defender.

[andyb43]

If the route is Euro/Asia then you will spend more time on the road so why suffer from the discomfort of a Defender. Get a Disco then strip out all the rear trim and you will be surprised at the amount os space it frees up, and you will have the luxery of the front cab of a disco with vertualy the space of a Defender in the rear.

Heres a couple of pics of the rear of our Disco we start our RTW May 07.

[callum]

um...a series toyota?

probably more around in backwaters now than landies, bigger, better engines, tougher transmissions. only trouble is you end up on cart springs unless you go for an 80 series.


i belive a 75 series is the vehicle of choice, but they're pretty difficult to find in britain. Once your out of britain, there's plenty, even in europe.

you dont see many taliban cruising around in landies.

an 80 would be my choice in terms of comfort and power etc. but i dont know how much parts commonality there is with the utility toyotas. the unfortunate thing is you wont find much toyota based help for setting out in the uk, unlike help with landies, which i''m sure you are now aware, there's lots of.

good luck, i dont think a landie is a bad choice and indeed many use them as they're pretty good. infact many people use merc vans for such trips and do fine.

[peetatop]

Thank you Rich P Andy b43 and Callum for pictures and great information. Will discuss with my friend the route to see what kinda terrain is awaiting for us.. will get back to you for more update... thank you again.. your info. are real useful.

Last point though.. does anyone have experience on using MERC Van - what is its cost effective compare to Landies

Peeratop

[BigJim]

Thank you Rich P Andy b43 and Callum for pictures and great information. Will discuss with my friend the route to see what kinda terrain is awaiting for us.. will get back to you for more update... thank you again.. your info. are real useful.

Last point though.. does anyone have experience on using MERC Van - what is its cost effective compare to Landies

Peeratop

If you're not going landy route, go for the toyota, they are the choice off roader in many countries, and if you need that spare you haven't got, you will be more likely to find it locally, perhaps from anothet toyata owner, local mechanic, or even off a wrecked toyota!.
Having said that, do have a way of getting spares other than those you carry, contact with a home person or firm who will ship them out to you express.

[callum]

google is your friend...

for most peope this kind of tip is a really big film, so there are lots of websites and blogs created by people undertaking similar trips.

searches for things like overland and expedition and also adding a vehicle to the search will help.

mercedes van thing comes from a wbsite i found. some folk were heading east in a landcruiser and said whilst there were lots of foreign landcruisers, by far and away the most popular foreign vehicle was the mercedes 308 van.

keep us updated.