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Two dealers in SoCal told me they were not allowed to sell me the rails, based on the VIN number of the car. My primary dealer also told me the warranty for many parts of the vehicle would likely be void if I brought it in with self-installed rails. Had I bought the V8 without knowing (I was about ten minutes from signing) I likely would have found a way to put rails on for my skybox, but it just seems so wrong to buy a $130K off-road vehicle and then have to worry about voiding some of the warranty for putting on rails.
The online marketing material and the dealers should make this more clear. To me this isn't like "option A doesn't work with option B". This is major miss, like if you buy a V8 you can't use a tow bar or if you buy a V8 you can't put down the seats for cargo room -- it is that big. I was very close to buying a V8 and had no idea, even after doing a lot of research and talking to three dealers. Also, one dealer I called to double check insisted I could put rails on a V8. I told him to check with his service dept and he said, "of course you can" - then I sent him a screen grab of the build note for the V8 showing the dynamic and static loads and he replied, "well, I guess you can't put anything on the V8 roof"... Sales guys are clueless.
I have a V8 CE I got in Dallas and asked my local Austin dealer to give me a quote for roof rails installed. The service rep said “I’ll do it only if you tell me you’re not going to add a rack because it’s not allowed” then he winked at me and gave me the quote. I ended up not doing it because they wanted $2k for two pieces of metal installed. Hard pass.
I owned a 2020 110 X and put over 60K miles on it... Loved it. Now I have a 2023 110 V8 which I love even more. I think the V8 is a better power plant that has much more to offer than 0-60 times or sporty on road driving. In fact other than passing on the highway or an occasional "functional" need to accelerate quickly I dont really drive the V8 more aggressively on road. That said, I do think it handles better on a twisty road due to improved suspension dynamics....It is also amazing off road with plenty of low end torque and smooth power delivery in low traction situations. Worth noting: the only new defender to have done the Rubicon Trail was a modified V8! I was also surprised that they offer no roof rack options from the factory. After researching it, the conclusion I came to was it's more of a certification issue vs a functional issue. Someone here said the V8 is MUCH heavier and that is why, but gross weight of the vehicle is only 143lbs different so that doesn't seem to make sense.... Structurally the vehicles are the same and the V8 even comes with the mounting points for the roof rails installed (but not the roof rails)Anyway, there are many examples of V8's out there with various roof racks installed driving around with no problems at all... In my case, I had the rails and expedition a roof rack installed by an independent LR shop and am happily enjoying using my V8 Defender.
I owned a 2020 110 X and put over 60K miles on it... Loved it. Now I have a 2023 110 V8 which I love even more. I think the V8 is a better power plant that has much more to offer than 0-60 times or sporty on road driving. In fact other than passing on the highway or an occasional "functional" need to accelerate quickly I dont really drive the V8 more aggressively on road. That said, I do think it handles better on a twisty road due to improved suspension dynamics....It is also amazing off road with plenty of low end torque and smooth power delivery in low traction situations. Worth noting: the only new defender to have done the Rubicon Trail was a modified V8! I was also surprised that they offer no roof rack options from the factory. After researching it, the conclusion I came to was it's more of a certification issue vs a functional issue. Someone here said the V8 is MUCH heavier and that is why, but gross weight of the vehicle is only 143lbs different so that doesn't seem to make sense.... Structurally the vehicles are the same and the V8 even comes with the mounting points for the roof rails installed (but not the roof rails)Anyway, there are many examples of V8's out there with various roof racks installed driving around with no problems at all... In my case, I had the rails and expedition a roof rack installed by an independent LR shop and am happily enjoying using my V8 Defender.
Great looking vehicle! Love the rack with no ladder look. Are those 22” wheels? Mine have them and I’ve been curious to know how it feels when going overlanding
I have a V8 CE I got in Dallas and asked my local Austin dealer to give me a quote for roof rails installed. The service rep said “I’ll do it only if you tell me you’re not going to add a rack because it’s not allowed” then he winked at me and gave me the quote. I ended up not doing it because they wanted $2k for two pieces of plastic installed. Hard pass.
Not to be disagreeable... because 2k is ridiculous indeed - but technically the rails are metal, not plastic.
These are 20" wheels with BFG KO2's 275/60/20... it actually came with 22's but I swapped my 20's from my old one that I traded. A 20" wheel is as small as you can go with a V8 and is workable for over landing / forest service roads... definitely not a rock crawler! Am considering going up to 35" tires but will require some significant mods to do so...
These are 20" wheels with BFG KO2's 275/60/20... it actually came with 22's but I swapped my 20's from my old one that I traded. A 20" wheel is as small as you can go with a V8 and is workable for over landing / forest service roads... definitely not a rock crawler! Am considering going up to 35" tires but will require some significant mods to do so...
Did you have to grind down the brake calipers or they just fit nicely?
Did you have to grind down the brake calipers or they just fit nicely?
you don’t have to alter anything for 20” wheels. I ordered mine with them and am very happy. They are excellent on road and just that much more capable off. Here is mine with 20” wheels and roof rails.
Saw this on Facebook. The owner of this V8 (not idea if he is on here) has installed a Front Runner roof rack onto which he has mounted an Overland 270 awning. They don't apparently fold in half if you do.
The Insider went through this. I believe the reason was all around getting it re-certified with transportation authorities with the additional weight of the V8 + payload. Has nothing to do with the other driving dynamics mentioned.
The quote below actually mentions "dynamic certification tests" and the "...the V8 is VERY heavy and it has imposed limitations because of the weigh increase combined with heightened handling limits"...
Originally Posted by swajames
Here's the link to the post, and the answer posted below. robably don't need too many guesses to work out why, but it's a real shame that The Insider doesn't post any more...
"I'm going to address this since there seems to be a great deal of interest. The decision to not offer a roof rack has absolutely NOTHING to do with design or marketing. Marketing is shouting at the top of their lungs right now for a roof rack. Some retailers are shouting for a roof rack. This whole situation has been argued at the board level with the CEO himself. The organisation as a whole wants a roof rack. It's purely for engineering reasons that the rack is not available.
There are dynamic certification tests that must be cleared before we allow someone to strap over 100 kilos to the roof. The V8 is VERY heavy and it has imposed limitations because of the weigh increase combined with heightened handling limits.
It would be very costly to make the roof rack work at the moment, so its all a big mess. The choice was don't offer the V8, or offer the V8 without the roof capability. We assumed it's easier for everyone to find a way to put their own roof rack on than install their own V8. The fact that the V8 is even allowed in the Defender is a triumph itself given the resistance to fuel guzzling vehicles in the world right now and the low volumes.
Keep telling the retailers (sales managers, owners, etc) you want one offered. Keep emailing executives and tell them you would have purchased a V8 if they had offered the rack. Eventually we'll give a green light to engineering to address the problem at great cost if enough people create enough noise."
I am not going to pretend to know what went on at LR, but the one statement that I don't really get is the one I quoted above: "...V8 is VERY heavy and it has imposed limitations because of the weigh increase combined with heightened handling limits..."
The V8 weighs either 200 or 210kg depending on the source and the AJ20P6 weighs 205kg with MHEV ancillaries. So how is the V8 very heavy? Yes it has one radiator more than my D250, but still...
I actually believe it has more to do with fleet mileage requirements or similar. My info here is only second hand, but I have a friend who was working to get accessories certified for the Ineos Grenadier (as OEM accessories) and they were told from the get-go that there were several things that they were not going to get through including a basket style roof rack. And this due to the fact that OEM accessories need to be certified for the vehicle in every regard, safety, emissions, consumption, etc. So the costs Insider mentioned would make sense with regard to penalties for not making minimum fleet mileage. Or something else along these lines.
Whatever. But as Gavin mentioned above, strictly from a legal standpoint there is no way LR can turn down a warranty claim for roof rails - other than anything having directly to do with the roof rails themselves (at least in the EU jurisdictions where I am familiar with the law). But fighting the dealer and LR couldl be a royal PITA if it comes to that.
If I had a V8, I'd put rails, a rack and anything else I wanted on it. My car. FU LR. But I don't have a V8 as it would add easily 1/3 to 1/2 more to my already hefty fuel bill (EU prices). If I want to go fast, I don't go moderately fast in my 2.5+T Land Rover, I take my just-over-1.2T Porsche with more hp than the V8 Defender and go very fast
06-24-2023, 09:03 AM
