Presidential Cars

[Devinda_Z]

i've seen a 20- military/police defender running on the kandy road many times. thought it was a v8 at first but now i think its either a 2.25 or a 2.5

there are no 2.25L Defenders machan

you'd have most likely seen a run of the mill 2.5 Tdi

[Devinda_Z]

Well I dont want to comment on the vehicles using the SV badges. Yes the Born Free Defender was a SV built specially for that purpose.. but not any other vehicle as claimed by the owners, devinda will agree with me on this.

The armoured Defenders you saw with gun ports were done by mechanical engineering division of the SLA, not factory built. Also there are some softops with armour plating. There are infact 5 armoured Defenders in existance (proper ones).

On the V8 issues dont think I can agree with you. I know of only two vehicles bought B/New with the V8 engine and there are some 19- or 18- Defenders running but some have been converted. There can be many transplanted ones around which no one will be able to trace with the registration numbers. Its the 3.9l V8 that were on them if I'm not mistaken (which came on the RR Classic).

yup i'm with you on that Gummy

Most of the Defenders on the front lines have steel sheets inserted instead of the shutters etc - all bits improvised by the Forces

Gummy your right about the B/new V8's as well - a fair number of V8 Defenders were brought down in the mid 90's as recon imports though , but most are running about on 325- plates with Diesel motors now

In addition to this, the other V8's that i've come across belong to NGO's & Consulates - one such V8 Defender was shipped back overseas just 3 months ago. I've had the pleasure of getting up close and personal with a couple of the last remaining original V8 Defenders and can concur with you that there aren't very many left

The 3.5L carb V8 is the one i recall seeing on the older of the two vehicles

[Devinda_Z]

i've seen a 20- military/police defender running on the kandy road many times. thought it was a v8 at first but now i think its either a 2.25 or a 2.5

20- was a confusing series - there have been both Petrol Cars & Diesel vans on that series of number so its hard to say

But i can't say i've ever seen a 20- Landy

Most older Police issue vehicles were on 32- plates , a few on 47- , 57- & 60 series numbers..

[Devinda_Z]

RR's?? really? what models are they? Also does anyone know what happens to all these old armoured vehicles when the politico buy new ones? do they just sit in some government yard?

(one of ) JRJ's old RR('s) has long since been decomissioned and is currently up for sale - this sports a 3.5L V8

[Devinda_Z]

i'm quite sure about that for 2 reasons. the vehicle in question carries a whole load of options that a civillian defender doesnt. and the rover v8 can be bored out well over 5.0l. i've seen 5.2s. i'll reconfirm it the next time im in sl.

i've never quite bothered to figure out what sort of mechanical top speed the 300Tdi's got. perhaps devinda could calculate it for us. personally i dont agree with factory claimed top speeds on day to day cars. the actual top speeds are always higher. for instance the 300tdi has a factory top speed of 128. but im right there with gummybr on the top speed he claims. and i'm guessing its mechanical top speed is its actual top speed.

i've seen quite a lot of stickered up special vehicles. but i have actually seen the real deal. the first one i saw owned by osanda. it was a 130 modified to treat wild animals or something here's the link for that http://www.bornfree.org.uk/who-we-work-wit...hip/land-rover/

the second one was a presidential security defender. i was lucky enough to get close to it as it wasnt on duty. i noticed the badge has turned black. possibly cos its been in use for quite a long time. i couldnt hear the engine not at that time but it could possibly be a v8.

most people wouldnt believe it. but sri lanka is a proper meccha for defenders. we have cars that other nations havent even dreamt of. i hope you guys are with me on the fact that we have a quite a few armoured defenders. the most notable one i've seen upto now was a five door with no windows and only gun ports to shoot out of. probably the biggest reason we are unaware of their existance is because they are state secrets. i mean if you want the world to know your car is bullet proof you might as well turn up in a tank. i think someone with links to the military or the secret service should come and shed some more light on these facts. however the v8 are not that rare. if you look hard enough u can find one.

It might be possible to build the Rover V8 to as high a capacity as you claim, but certainly not with a stock block & head - no standard issue or special order Defender made in Soulihull ever came with an engine larger than the 4.0L V8's for the 50th Anniversary 90's afaik

Your right in saying that SL does have its share of interesting Defenders though...

oh & fyi Black Badge on modern LR's signifies that its Supercharged

Just to correct you machan , the Born Free Foundation Defender used to transport baby elephants was merely modified by Osanda for the requirements of the foundation and was mainly used in Udawalawe if i'm not mistaken ,and is not owned by him as you say

[JadeyBlitzen]

Well I dont want to comment on the vehicles using the SV badges. Yes the Born Free Defender was a SV built specially for that purpose.. but not any other vehicle as claimed by the owners, devinda will agree with me on this.

The armoured Defenders you saw with gun ports were done by mechanical engineering division of the SLA, not factory built. Also there are some softops with armour plating. There are infact 5 armoured Defenders in existance (proper ones).

Also mind you all armoured vehicles procured by the Govt recently were specially built by world reknown companies. The Merc S600 is B7 spec.. (capable of withstanding armour piercing rounds). Maybe someone like MINIACE can clarify.

On the V8 issues dont think I can agree with you. I know of only two vehicles bought B/New with the V8 engine and there are some 19- or 18- Defenders running but some have been converted. There can be many transplanted ones around which no one will be able to trace with the registration numbers. Its the 3.9l V8 that were on them if I'm not mistaken (which came on the RR Classic).

BTW our politicos have gone for newer vehicles leaving the older ones, now they travel in BMW 7's, S600's.... Also there are the XC90's, RR's, X5's, Defender's and Ford's I know of

very interesting info mate! i think i'll have to agree with you about the v8s. i've never bothered check the originality of the v8s that i've heard of. and i've heard of those conversions done in sl. so i guess most of these armoured defenders are done in sl then. do you have any info on the original v8 defenders as in wut their YOMs are and whether they came with manual or auto boxes? im guessing the 3.9 came with an auto.

btw i still stand strong on my opinion that the government does own sv badged defenders. im certain the government owned one i saw had the real badge and i think thats not the only one they own. there should be quite a few sv pampered defenders used for their high performance. or other such relative options.

[JadeyBlitzen]

there are no 2.25L Defenders machan

you'd have most likely seen a run of the mill 2.5 Tdi

if you meant the defender wasnt actually called the "defender" when it possessed the 2.25 engine you are right

when this model first came out in the 1983 it was offered with the engines from the series iii though i must say the v8 had a bit more oomph. i think this was the case until it was named the defender and thats when the discovery engines were made available.

[JadeyBlitzen]

20- was a confusing series - there have been both Petrol Cars & Diesel vans on that series of number so its hard to say

But i can't say i've ever seen a 20- Landy

Most older Police issue vehicles were on 32- plates , a few on 47- , 57- & 60 series numbers..

i could swear 20- was the series for petrol dual purpose vehicles. hope a reg expert could qoute on this. perhaps the reason you said that was cos most people have converted their 20- cars to run diesel engines and havent quite registered their cars yet

please correct me if wrong.

[JadeyBlitzen]

It might be possible to build the Rover V8 to as high a capacity as you claim, but certainly not with a stock block & head - no standard issue or special order Defender made in Soulihull ever came with an engine larger than the 4.0L V8's for the 50th Anniversary 90's afaik

Your right in saying that SL does have its share of interesting Defenders though...

oh & fyi Black Badge on modern LR's signifies that its Supercharged

Just to correct you machan , the Born Free Foundation Defender used to transport baby elephants was merely modified by Osanda for the requirements of the foundation and was mainly used in Udawalawe if i'm not mistaken ,and is not owned by him as you say

looks like i've been had

probably something he said to impress the annoying 16 year old school boy i was back then

[Devinda_Z]

if you meant the defender wasnt actually called the "defender" when it possessed the 2.25 engine you are right

when this model first came out in the 1983 it was offered with the engines from the series iii though i must say the v8 had a bit more oomph. i think this was the case until it was named the defender and thats when the discovery engines were made available.

i've already been over this whole Defender Vs. 110 differentiation once before so i'm not going to go over it again as i'm sure your more than capable of putting the google bar on the main page to good use to find out exactly what engines were offered and when

[Devinda_Z]

very interesting info mate! i think i'll have to agree with you about the v8s. i've never bothered check the originality of the v8s that i've heard of. and i've heard of those conversions done in sl. so i guess most of these armoured defenders are done in sl then. do you have any info on the original v8 defenders as in wut their YOMs are and whether they came with manual or auto boxes? im guessing the 3.9 came with an auto.

btw i still stand strong on my opinion that the government does own sv badged defenders. im certain the government owned one i saw had the real badge and i think thats not the only one they own. there should be quite a few sv pampered defenders used for their high performance. or other such relative options.

All the ones i have come across have been manuals

YOM's ranging from 1990 all the way upto 2001

I too have seen a few Land Rover Special Vehicles badges on Defenders but in more than a few cases there has been nothing to justify placement of the badge aside from cosmetic reasons!!

Please don't take this the wrong way JadeyBlitzen , but i don't think your in a position to challenge Gummybr's knowledge on the subject of recent Land Rover imports given his involvment in the local LR scene in a professional capacity

[JadeyBlitzen]

All the ones i have come across have been manuals

YOM's ranging from 1990 all the way upto 2001

I too have seen a few Land Rover Special Vehicles badges on Defenders but in more than a few cases there has been nothing to justify placement of the badge aside from cosmetic reasons!!

Please don't take this the wrong way JadeyBlitzen , but i don't think your in a position to challenge Gummybr's knowledge on the subject of recent Land Rover imports given his involvment in the local LR scene in a professional capacity

yes i understand mate! i can find out the truth behind the 5.0 defender i mentioned when i go to sl in summer cos my mate promised me a ride in it. but im still very intruiged by the white psd defender i saw with the special vehicles badge. i mean it was not a sticker. and they cant just go adding random cosmetic bits to their cars rite?

[JadeyBlitzen]

i've already been over this whole Defender Vs. 110 differentiation once before so i'm not going to go over it again as i'm sure your more than capable of putting the google bar on the main page to good use to find out exactly what engines were offered and when

well yes, in plain english the ninety which was introduced 1983 had the so called 2.25 petrol option for couple of years.

2286cc petrol/diesel, overhead valve, 5 bearing crank: In 1980, Land Rover finally did something about the crank failures which had plagued its four cylinder engines for 22 years. The new crank was so strong that Land Rover could (and did) get away with using the same crank for petrol and diesel engines. These engines lasted beyond the end of Series III production and into the first couple of years of the new Ninety and One Ten ranges. Well worth paying extra for, if you are looking to replace a worn or broken 3 bearing engine in a Series vehicle.

anyways while we are on the subject of defenders has anybody heard of the south africa only 2.8 version?

http://rovering.squarespace.com/journal/20...fender-28i.html

i dont know if i'm right in saying its the most powerful production defender. cos even the 3.9 offered only 182 bhp

[isam]

I hope our politicos don't see this thread... or they will want all these features too

Chooti babalane... dakina dakina de oona...

[maliths]

I hope our politicos don't see this thread... or they will want all these features too

Chooti babalane... dakina dakina de oona...

Very true ...

They'll want everything on Obama's car and more

[Devinda_Z]

well yes, in plain english the ninety which was introduced 1983 had the so called 2.25 petrol option for couple of years.

anyways while we are on the subject of defenders has anybody heard of the south africa only 2.8 version?

http://rovering.squarespace.com/journal/20...fender-28i.html

i dont know if i'm right in saying its the most powerful production defender. cos even the 3.9 offered only 182 bhp

its a very rare model in that it was a regional offering in the same fashion that the Australian market got a 3.9L Diesel in the early days..

Quite interesting though the thought of such an engine of that calibre from BMW in an archaic 4x4...

oddly enough it uses the same ole gearbox that i currently run!

[Devinda_Z]

well yes, in plain english the ninety which was introduced 1983 had the so called 2.25 petrol option for couple of years.

anyways while we are on the subject of defenders has anybody heard of the south africa only 2.8 version?

http://rovering.squarespace.com/journal/20...fender-28i.html

i dont know if i'm right in saying its the most powerful production defender. cos even the 3.9 offered only 182 bhp

when you said 2.8 my mind instinctively went onto the PowerStroke Diesel - http://www.landyonline.co.za/workshop/inte...ional28lhs.html

[JadeyBlitzen]

when you said 2.8 my mind instinctively went onto the PowerStroke Diesel - http://www.landyonline.co.za/workshop/inte...ional28lhs.html

i saw that couple of years ago on an lro mag. any defenders running these engines in sl?

anyways i've been more loyal to JE engineering. they can tune the 300tdi upto 132bhp as well. and they claim this knocks 3 seconds off the 0-60 times. a bit slower than the vgt equipped 2.8 i suppose. but whats really interesting is they offer tuning for the td5 engine for upto 195 bhp. and they claim to knock 7 seconds off the 0-60 times. seeing so much bulk shift so quickly must be epic. i'd love to try one.

[Gummybr]

RR's?? really? what models are they? Also does anyone know what happens to all these old armoured vehicles when the politico buy new ones? do they just sit in some government yard?

Err Not the Rolls machang the Range Rover's 4 new ones infact. Dont know for sure what happens to older ones, maybe still in use maybe for the less threatned MP's. Two years back I saw the Old Range Classic bulet proof being used by the Navy Commander but now they have all changed to cars.

[Gummybr]

i saw that couple of years ago on an lro mag. any defenders running these engines in sl?

anyways i've been more loyal to JE engineering. they can tune the 300tdi upto 132bhp as well. and they claim this knocks 3 seconds off the 0-60 times. a bit slower than the vgt equipped 2.8 i suppose. but whats really interesting is they offer tuning for the td5 engine for upto 195 bhp. and they claim to knock 7 seconds off the 0-60 times. seeing so much bulk shift so quickly must be epic. i'd love to try one.

They now offer more power for the Td5, saw somewhere where they coughed up 200+ bhp.

300Tdi comes in two or three stages as I remember and the third stage involves removing the AC.

I presume LR Ind*k* has one 2.8

[Pericles]

when you said 2.8 my mind instinctively went onto the PowerStroke Diesel - http://www.landyonline.co.za/workshop/inte...ional28lhs.html

Funny, 2.8 instinctively reminds me of the EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM. Yes, completely OT thread jacking. Feel free to ignore if you don't get it

[JadeyBlitzen]

They now offer more power for the Td5, saw somewhere where they coughed up 200+ bhp.

300Tdi comes in two or three stages as I remember and the third stage involves removing the AC.

I presume LR Ind*k* has one 2.8

thats what we need in sl. a 200 bhp td5. would you care for an engine swap devinda?

[MasterDon]

Funny, 2.8 instinctively reminds me of the EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS USM.

whoah....my Camera Geek Detector(CGD) is going haywire.....somebody call the nerd patrol,we have a lose "canon"

[Devinda_Z]

whoah....my Camera Geek Detector(CGD) is going haywire.....somebody call the nerd patrol,we have a lose "canon"

loving the pun!

ROTFLMAO

[Devinda_Z]

thats what we need in sl. a 200 bhp td5. would you care for an engine swap devinda?

hmmm the figures make it seem like a tempting proposition , but having grown fond of my archaic ole motor i recon i'll forever stick with this totally non electronic unit