Just started a long road trip today - DC area to Badlands National Park. Even spotted another pangea green with white top Defender while passing through Columbus Ohio! Very comfy ride for me, no issues at all, and both dogs seemed happy, especially this old guy.

 

I’m near the end of a trip through the national parks in southern Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion). Drove here from Tacoma WA. It will end up being about 3K miles. We also did a trip to Glacier last fall (similar total distance). We tend to do more hiking than off-roading, but there have been a few trails through the parks. The Defender has been great overall on both trips. Comfortable cruising, easily able to carry 2-4 people plus all our stuff. And it is really well suited to getting beat up and dirty. It will be easy to clean out after we get home.

I took off the cross bars on the roof. Way less wind noise on the freeway and much better mileage. I’m around 22mpg with a mixture of highway and some slower driving through the parks. Mostly at elevation with climbing and descent.

Two negatives. First is driving in windy conditions. You feel and hear the wind. Second is the lack of any autonomous driving capability. We don’t have adaptive cruise. This kind of driving would be perfect for adaptive cruise and a true lane centering system. Our other car has these and I do miss them during long open road stretches.

 

Just got back from a ~6 week stay in the Moab area. We drove from Rhode island so it was just around 4600 miles round trip. The Defender was very comfortable, and the adaptive cruise control was absolutely a game changer. Like others have said, strong cross wind is loud and makes you feel unstable at 80+, especially with a rack. It makes that already interminable Iowa/Nebraska leg that much less pleasant 😀


MPG was terrible, but we also have a heavier rack, sliders, and 10 ply mud terrains. Also I drive too fast for decent mileage on roads like I-80/90

 

where is that/

 

That’s top of the world! Its a popular trail 15-20 miles NE of Moab. Definitely challenging in an unlifted Defender

 

my stock 110X or my escalade will not make it?

 

i dont know what an escalade can do. It’s 4ish miles of pretty technical rock crawling, I definitely banged the rock sliders a few times. I don’t have a lift, but I do have lucky8 sliders and slightly larger than oem 10-ply mud terrains. You’d want to be pretty careful with your 110’s doors and sills but it can do it for sure. Rock stacking ftw!

 

i’ve gone across the country (la <> ny) 3x in my 110 X. i’m about 1.5 years in with 22k miles. this thing has held up like a champ. no driving specific issues at all. when i drove from NY > LA (middle trip), i caught the tale end of the Feb nor’easter that hit NY in 2021. I swear i felt like a king on the road in this thing from NY to Indiana

 

did 3,800 miles from New Orleans to Los Angeles in Mid-May, prepped by having our 3rd oil change done (was at 18,000 and decided to do it every 6k) and five wheel tire rotation (every 3k) and put a gallon of anti-freeze in the boot, just in case (the check coolant light came on a couple times on shorter trips, and when I checked it was actually a little low). Stopped in Big Bend NP on the way out and Joshua Tree, Vegas, Grand Canyon and Scottsdale on the way back. It was a long, but pretty awesome trip. I drove out by myself, wife flew to LA and rode back with me. Some very mild off-roading in Big Bend and Joshua Tree 4X4 trails.

currently on a 2,300 mile trip from NOLA to Green Bay, WI. Prepped by having the dealer do a routine check and rotate the tires again. No coolant issues on last trip so anti-freeze still in the boot. Drove up through MS, AL, TN, KY and OH (downtown Cincinnati is AWESOME, we watched the Brewers play the Reds then hung out ). Very scenic drive through the mountains. Averaged about 74 mph and 19.4 mpg on the way up. Cruise Control (77-78mph) and ECO mode are the way to go. Gonna go to SummerFest in Milwaukee, take care of biz and hang out in Chicago, before driving back the quick, but boring, way: IL, TN, MS, LA.

Our 21 P300 has been fabulous so far.

 

Annual trip up the PCH to camp in the redwoods. 1mpg uphill, if having to speed up to pass a semi. Towing a trailer of roughly 3k lb. Straight always on cruise control at 60, averaged approximately 9-10 mpg. Which meant filling up every 200 miles or so. And with prices they way they were it meant about $140-160 or so at a time.




This “highly edited” picture was off my wife’s IG.