1984 Land Rover 110 from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

At 175,000 km when I bought the vehicle, the V8 showed all the well-known characteristics of a worn Rover V8 - in particular a lack of power and poor fuel economy characteristic of worn camshaft, lifters timing chain and gears. I replaced these for approximately 700 Australian Dollars (say 300 pounds). This markedly improved performance and fuel economy. Subsequently I replaced the mechanical distributor with an electronic ignition with some performance improvement.

Apart from these fairly major maintenance items the vehicle has performed flawlessly.

For a true Land Rover (ie not a Discovery or a Freelander) this vehicle is very comfortable to drive, especially on long trips and on genuine 4WD tracks. It is an excellent family tourer as it carries large loads easily and the visibility for the children in the rear seats is good.

Fuel consumption is poor, but is less bad than before the camshaft, lifters and timing chain were replaced. On a recent 1500km trip I averaged 6km/l (17 mpg) over a combination of highway cruising (100km/h) and easy bush tracks. Fuel consumption was very high (6mpg) over a 80 km stretch of very rough track (Low Range 1 and 2 country). I use this vehicle as a second car and only for camping trips in the bush. Even at Australian fuel prices (85c/L = 35p/L) I would not want to use this as my primary source of transport due to fuel costs.

It's interesting how the author doesn't consider the Discovery as a true Land Rover. They were certainly good enough for the Camel Trophys and the D90 and the Disco share numerous parts so there aren't a lot of significant differences. I think if they were able to use the Discos for as many years as the the Camel Trophy was on, they're probably good enough to be considered "true" Land Rovers.

Aside from that comment, the rest of the review was fine.

Good point, but a Defender/110 would have covered the terrain just as well, if not better, for £7k less (depending on model), and could have been cleaned inside and out with a hose pipe afterwards.

The Disco's off road ability is impressive, but you're paying extra for trim and on-road refinement. As a pure off-road vehicle, the "Landie" still offers far more ability per pound, and is far more in keeping with the spirit of the original concept. There is also far less to go wrong.

I have bought a v8 last year, and can't believe the sheer power and fun this car has given me this far, I'm taken my Beast in to lesotho and the rest of our great country, yes it only gives 5/6 km to a liter, but who cares,

this is a real 4x4 terain beast, and should be treated this way.

If you want to see more e/mail me,

cheers.

Hans.

I wrote the original post and thought that, four year's later I'd provide an update.

Over the last 4 years the 110 has travelled another 40 thousand kilometers, including two crossings of the Simpson Desert in Australia, including the first traverse in 2007 of the Hay River track (see http://www.exploroz.com/TrekNotes/RedCtr/Hay_River.asp?xc=1) in April.

Generally the trips have been mechanically uneventful except for the annoying failure of a refurbished centre diff lock switch in the middle of the Simpson desert! I went berserk 18 months ago and completely rebuilt the engine, and in the process found that there was a major crack in the main bearing cap of my original block which I replaced. Rebuilding the engine has certainly made it perform better, but nothing will make the fuel consumption drop - as might be predicted. Still I travel relatively few miles each year, so the fuel costs are not a major drama.

The vehicle remains a wonderful long-distance tourer. A newer 4WD is more comfortable, but importantly, I can fix this one, and I don't feel too bad when another scratch or dent is put into my (now) 23-year old vehicle. I think it'll last me another 10 or 15 years, by which stage the inexorable improvements in roads and closure of tracks in Australia, or the price of fuel will make a 4WD pointless. I may convert the V8 to an Isuzu diesel in the next few years, and perhaps whack an air conditioner in (I live in the North of Australia which is pretty hot), but apart from that I'll leave it alone.