Feb19Written by:David Pretorius
2/19/2008 5:14 AM 
On weekend of 16- 17 Feb we took the Defender on an outing to the Anysberg (see latest 4x4 magazine ). The Anysberg is a trip well worth doing , with spectacular scenery . The trail is not particularly difficult , but it is a 4 hour grind to get up and another 4 hours to get down , all in low range difflock , mostly 2nd gear, How did the offender do ? Very nicely thank you. This is Defender territory and it felt really happy out there . When we reached the top , 1700m high, a fellow traveller in a Jeep Cherokee commented how heavy the trip had been on petrol - he had used half a tank full I called him across and showed him the fuel gauge on the Defender - still indicating more than full. He could not believe it. My consumption over 450 km , which included the trail and 300km of highway was 9 km/l - not bad for a big chunk of metal like the Defender.
The 300 tdi is not a ball of fire , but let it plod around at its own rate and it will demonstrate some unique virtues. What was good out on the trail was the accelerator control at low revs - does not die out on you like the TD5 can.Tags: