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I still need to pull all my photos from my phone and camera, but I just returned home from my long road trip - Washington DC area to Badlands National Park (South Dakota), Black Hills, and Devils Tower in Wyoming. It was 10 days, 13 states, and probably around 4000-5000 miles. We ranged from regular highway in good weather, to 80MPH across the South Dakota prairie at nearly 100 degrees for hours (with a serious headwind), to a thunderstorm, and otherwise obnoxious metro driving (I'm looking at you, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Maryland as a whole). We also had a good bit of driving on gravel, washboard gravel, dirt, and solid off-road "high clearance vehicles only" - not a single issue with the Defender. OK - one time it flipped out and disabled cruise control for about 10-15 minutes until it reset itself, but for all I know the massive amount of bugs on the windshield was blocking the sensors. I was a little worried about the "Land Rover reliability" when crossing the very hot prairie with two people and two dogs in the car, but I had supplies so we probably would have been fine, but there was no need for concern.
100% would recommend a Defender for any sort of trip. So comfortable for multiple long days in the drivers seat, effortless power, great handling, and plenty durable!
One photo (for now) - I shared this on the New Defender Owners Facebook page so you might have already seen it (with hacky job of blocking the license plate, done on the phone):
I wrote about this in another post but my car was also disabling cruise control and it ended up being a clip missing from a wiring harness for that module. If it keeps happening and also saying the emergency safety systems you might be experiencing the same thing. Happened to me on a similar length trip after dong some off-roading on bump roads.
I've done a lot of long road trips in the west (although not yet in my new Defender).
If I were going from Austin to Vancouver and in no particular hurry I'd take the following route:
Austin - Lubbock - Roswell - Socorro - Grants - Gallup- Through the Navajo Nation via Chaco Canyon - Monument Valley - Moab - Provo - Pocatello - Dillon - Butte - Helena - Shelby - cross into Canada at Coutts - Lethbridge (go to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump) - Fernie - north to the Trans Canada via Radium Hot Springs - Revelstoke - Kamloops - Whistler - Vancouver
You could also follow that itinerary to Butte, MT and then go via 90 to Spokane and then either cut north up to Canada (up to Castlegar, BC) or stay in Eastern WA (I'd take the northern route rather than 90) to Leavenworth, side trip to North Cascades) and up 5 to Vancouver.
On the wya back, I'd come down the west coast as far as Northern CA and then start to cut through Nevada into Northern AZ, go to the Grand Canyon and then south to Tucson (avoiding Phoenix if possible) and then to 10. Check out Bisbee and maybe even take a side trip to Puerto Peñasco which you can do with a US vehicle easily. Check in with La Migra at their big station on 10 North of El Paso and then head home through Texas.
I hope your road trip to the Grand Canyon and back was an incredible adventure! Long-distance trips like that are always filled with unforgettable memories. By the way, have you ever wondered why Canada ranks high on expats' lists? It's an interesting topic that sheds light on the appeal of Canada for people living abroad. Check out this article https://wowtravel.me/oh-canada-9-rea...-expats-lists/. It might provide some insights that resonate with your travel experiences. If you have any more stories or road trip adventures to share, feel free to let us know.
Last edited by michellepowell; Jul 12, 2023 at 07:41 AM.
Did a 2500 mile (round trip) from south west Florida up to northern New Jersey in my '23 110 V8. The Defender performed magnificently. Managed a touch over 20 miles per gallon even while maintaining a steady 75 mph on the interstate. Quiet and comfortable. Only thing done by way of preparation was an oil and filter change prior to departure. As a side note, I used a 0w-30 motor oil in place of the "recommended" 0w-20. Mobil 1 has a 0w-30 ESP oil that meets JLR's specifications. Here in the US we unfortunately don't have the large number of oils from which to choose that meet JLR's specs as those in the UK ; It's either the Castrol Professional or Mobil's ESP offerings. There may be one or two others available via import tho that adds to the price.
Defender is the most comfortable vehicle I have ever owned for long distance driving. Even better than our old LR4 and far better than the painful sport seats in our X5 M50i.
Put 12K miles on our 2023 Defender in 3 months. Currently waiting for a new windshield due to a crack and a new rear bumper from being rear ended.
Did an NY-PA-IL-MN-MI-OH-NY last summer in my p300 D90 and it was such a wonderful vehicle in terms of performance, comfort, utility, style and efficiency (average 24 mpg)!
Received quite a few of compliments and inquiries including car enthusiasts, overlanding enthusiasts, yuppies, millennials and park rangers.
Got a couple of double takes from new broncos who *seemed" to be somewhat "disrupted" by the sight of my D90... probably just me reading too much into it...
Last edited by sacharama; Jul 10, 2023 at 03:41 PM.
We took the P300 from Baltimore to the Grand Canyon & back almost exactly a year ago. Tons of smaller trips regularly; I do Baltimore to RI almost every other month. I've also done Baltimore to Toronto, and will probably do Montana in the fall.
Haven't had a single is. I actually did the Grand Canyon trip with a cracked glass. It's a comfortable machine, even as a 2dr - plenty of room. And you don't feel like a shrimp on the road.
We took the P300 from Baltimore to the Grand Canyon & back almost exactly a year ago. Tons of smaller trips regularly; I do Baltimore to RI almost every other month. I've also done Baltimore to Toronto, and will probably do Montana in the fall.
Haven't had a single is. I actually did the Grand Canyon trip with a cracked glass. It's a comfortable machine, even as a 2dr - plenty of room. And you don't feel like a shrimp on the road.
Great looking D90. Are those Thule wing bars? How are the road noise?
