New Landrover Defender Puma engine? Why the change? Are they any good?

throw up some decent info would be a good start..

you wont find many interested in the defender..
a few, but very limited.

regarding the puma engine...
power/torque..
common rail ? 4cyl or 5 ?
blah blah blah..

Bob,

You are better off hopping onto aulro.com and going to the deefer section. You will find sensible answers there.

As was said today by you a Toyota driver : "you will find that people that don't own them know of lots of issues, but those who own them are generally happy. I have no idea why this is"....is so true for other brands.

Brett....

Bob

They have been around for a while, and by all accounts most that I speak with are happy.

Mind you, I have much older Defenders, and the 130 has a brand new International 2.7, which runs great.

But pop into the the Australian Landrover forum, you'll see some great discussions on the Puma.

Here is a link to kick you off.

Defender 130 - TD5 or Puma

Apparently the motor is not a Puma, it's a Ford Duratorq engine, commonly referred to as Duratorq. See this link

We have a 2011 2.4 Puma 90 and have had a trouble free run with our Defender. Ford Transit engine and it always holds it's own when up against the big Nissans and Toyotas in our club. People are always surprised where it can go.

I had a 2007 2.4 Defender 110 up until last year. It has the best off road ability of any 4x4 I have owned. Nothing I did stopped it.

The Puma engine is as others have suggested is just a "family" of engines. The Transit and Defender use the 2.4 and 2.2 engines while the Ford Ranger and Mazda BT 50 use the 3.2 and 2.2. In fact labels on the Defender chassis have "Puma" on them.

In 2007 Land Rover updated the Defender with new interior, dash and engine. The excellent BMW derived TD5 (not Land Rover - BMW owned Land Rover for a short time) was deleted and as Ford also owned Land Rover for a few years, it put Ford derived engines into the update model. They now have a 2.2 engine to meet emissions laws of Europe.

Power was around 92 Kw with 360 Nm torque. While power seems low for some reason it seems beefier on the road. My Defender had plenty of go in it and I had a good run with mine. Only had to replace a clutch as the 2007-2008 models had a faulty clutch spring problem and was replaced under warranty.

Heaps of accessories are available from the U.K. Seating can be something you either like or hate. I found it comfortable, but I am not big framed.

The Defender is definitely on the truck side of 4X4,s and is basic. It is built to do a job and it does it very very well. The gearbox is a Getrag MT82 6 speed manual with low reduction gearbox, constant 4X4. The same gearbox (or near enough) is used in the current manual BT50 and Ranger. It has a good traction control system, anti stall which works very well in low box and ABS brakes. That's it for safety. No air bags.
Turning circle is huge and the vehicle is high which means some carparks are out of bounds.

The Defender is not for everyone and is not perfect. The 2007 models have steel doors, bonnet, and rear door. Other panels are aluminium. Stock clearance is the best in the business and there are not many 4x4 that you can drive from the showroom to the desert and not have to think about it.

I currently own a 2012 BT50. When/if the new Defender comes out supposedly in 2015/2016 I'll be in the showroom quick smart if it has half the heritage of the current model.

Also check out www.Defender2.net for more info as well AULRO.