This four door D5 pickup is better than your concept. I don’t like low vehicles. It also improves via elimination of the horrid rear end of the D5.
2020 Defender
- Thread starter Roverlady
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This four door D5 pickup is better than your concept. I don’t like low vehicles. It also improves via elimination of the horrid rear end of the D5.
From the driver seat it does matter, and low will never feel the same as high.
From a suspension perspective, the "Outrider" isn't actually low; that's just really big wheels at an attractive suspension height. It would go up and down like the rest of them.
I do like the idea of that Discovery pickup, but with the ass gone (at least in that shot), there's nothing at all distinctive about the vehicle. At that point, you may as well buy a Silverado. It needs to be bolder than that. The new Discovery is already a bit lackluster in styling, so if it was going to be butched up, it needs something extra.
The idea of a pickup in their line is attractive; I just think the logical move is adding something entirely new to the lineup; something they've never tried before. That's a good edit, but I do wonder how they intend to attach a bed in such a manner.
Cheers,
Kennith
I still haven't driven one of those, but I intend to.
I generally hate the way Jeeps drive, and I don't like the dash, but that has a different personality than their normal products.
It's tough to tell just how strong that new frame is, though. If it's got the juice and the vehicle is heavy enough, one could increase the payload with wheels, brakes, suspension, and things of that nature. If it's not, there's not much you can do about it within reason.
Cheers,
Kennith
I have had a couple of Jeeps and loved them. One was an ubber trail rig. That said why the hell would you consider one of those? It's an overpriced gimmick.
This four door D5 pickup is better than your concept. I don’t like low vehicles. It also improves via elimination of the horrid rear end of the D5.
That falls in line with the Gladiator. What the fuck is it good for? What the fuck are you going to do with it?
I could pretend I've got a 130 quad cab, and also have a warranty.
Cheers,
Kennith
I don’t know what you’d do with it. I wouldn’t buy it or Kennith’s Outrider. It’s good for gardeners. That’s about it. At the price point those types of vehicles come in at there is no reason to buy anything except a F-250 4x4 XL with a Diesel engine if you want a truck.
I don’t think the Gladiator is a gimmick. The Gladiator is the Unlimited with useful cargo space for camping with a family. It’s not supposed to compete with real pickup trucks. It’s supposed to convince those who don’t buy the Unlimited to buy Jeep. Disco owners won’t ever understand because we’ve never had to deal with not enough interior space. Jeep people have always suffered in that area. I’m hoping that they eventually produce something like the Africa concept. That much space and maybe a third row and Jeep would eliminate all competitors in the 4x4 SUV segment.
I don’t think the Gladiator is a gimmick. The Gladiator is the Unlimited with useful cargo space for camping with a family. It’s not supposed to compete with real pickup trucks. It’s supposed to convince those who don’t buy the Unlimited to buy Jeep. Disco owners won’t ever understand because we’ve never had to deal with not enough interior space. Jeep people have always suffered in that area. I’m hoping that they eventually produce something like the Africa concept. That much space and maybe a third row and Jeep would eliminate all competitors in the 4x4 SUV segment.
Vehicles like that do get a lot of work done in the world; though the Outrider wasn't meant to replace a working ute. Even so, more is done in a day out of a 504 pickup than in three out of an F-350, I guarantee you. The trucks we sell here are ridiculous, and the site conditions they endure are luxurious at the worst.
They're not trucks; they're train engines with tires; and they're flimsy. Modern American trucks are McMansions.
I didn't even know that Africa concept existed. Jeep has so far successfully marketed a discount Defender 130, and now I'm seeing an FJ40 wagon... It's narrower than it could be, but they have a genuine design language excuse and the door is more appropriately sized for the vehicle. It kind of looks like a cooler.
I haven't written the Gladiator off, now. I do like it, because having half the interior space of an SUV and three quarters the bed space of a pickup is outstanding. Those rear seats would be gone the second I got it back home.
Cheers,
Kennith
I'm a small-time car nerd, but I had to look that up...
She's a goofy little thing, but kinda cool at the same time
I'm a small-time car nerd, but I had to look that up...
View attachment 57914
She's a goofy little thing, but kinda cool at the same time
How is that any different than any other small old Nissan/Toyota pickup? I wouldn't underestimate the utility of HD trucks. Their cargo and payload capacities are on a whole different level, even if many of them are only used as redneck Range Rovers.
Other than being a Pugeot?
It's got a damn crew cab.
Granted, that's not the novelty in other parts of the world that it is here, but still
That one has a crew cab, which is incredibly popular in the bush when it's available. It also makes it more useful around town. They really didn't make enough of those, but at that time you felt fine packing the locals into the bed and sitting in the front with a driver. Now, the locals still don't care about being in the bed, but... Well, you kind of feel like an asshole.
That, and you don't really want to sit in the front, but I've been told so many times that they were embarrassed when their white man wasn't in the front...
Damn I hate having chickens in my lap.
In general, however...
Buy or borrow an F-150; supposedly the most popular truck in America. Go to Uwharrie and find a solid trail, as it's not an unreasonable location. You'll be poodling around at walking speed for the most part, as it's a park; but imagine you aren't...
Imagine that truck is loaded to the gills. Now connect a full trailer. Drive about 10 mph on that trail, pushing it to 20 mph and even 30 mph every now and again when possible. Get some high speed washboard in there, at least in your mind. The entire time, if you know snotty mud or an annoying obstacle is coming up, just floor it. Now imagine doing that for sixteen hours a day, in all seasons there, for twenty to thirty years; swerving hard around everything that will snap a spine. You're driving like the WRC let you have a spare car at the next service area.
Even if you could manage it, even if that truck would fit or even have the appropriate turning radius...
The F-150 won't hold together. Neither will the bigger options. They are designed for our roads, our trails, our job sites, and our wannabes. You're going to lose a quarter of that truck in two months, if you even make it that far without breaking something. You've got a 450 pound woman, and you're asking her to try "endurance ballet". Bitch gonna break.
They can't take it.
Now, build a smaller, unibody truck that's tight, but not quite brittle; or one of the earlier Japanese trucks that may as well be a VW Beetle on a one ton frame. Don't let it tip the scales past 2,700-3,000 pounds, and hammer that bitch like a five dollar prostitute you're never going to see again.
Cheers,
Kennith
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My family drove a Peugot 504 sedan for three years when we lived in Zimbabwe and a 505 sedan for two in Kenya. It's a car, albeit a pretty sturdy one. We didn't abuse ours (that's what the Series 3 109" and 65 series Land Cruiser were for), but I remember seeing the single-cab 504 variants carrying loads that probably put them over their GVW. Neither of those cars was very fun but on the plus side neither ever broke down, either. And some of the potholes in Nairobi became navigable waterways after the rains.
Man, fuck those potholes. I've made the mistake of getting in a mutatu several times around there, and on the way out of town...
You know what I'm on about. Holy shit. I'd rather just buy a car. There are better ways to die.
They're crazy enough in the middle of nowhere, but get in one of those things leaving Nairobi and you'll wish you hadn't. Voi isn't much fun, either.
Cheers,
Kennith
The closest I ever thought I would come to death in a vehicle was in Nairobi. I've only been to Voi once, and that's when it was just a dusty crossroads in the vast emptiness between Mombasa and Nairobi. Crates of Tusker and soda stacked in the sun outside the small store, chickens running around in back, one of which got the chop for my dinner. It was served undercooked and let's say inadequately prepared in other ways. That experience turned me off to chicken for about 15 years. Other than my culinary misadventures in Voi and the overwhelming chaos of Nairobi, the rest of the country was brilliant.
The last time I was there, Voi had developed a bit of an edge; crime was more organized under bad actors from other areas, but it still had a personality.
As for the rest of the nation... After about a week, it's about the most relaxing place on the planet.
Cheers,
Kennith
It's a contender, however I'm leaving in a week for a trip to Botswana. I've been before, but it's been a while. Watching the sun set on the baobabs from my rented 76-series Cruiser, poling tranquilly through the waters of the Okavango, and drinking Windhoek while watching big game congregate along the Chobe River might be more relaxing than anything I did in Kenya. I'm ready for it.