09-08-2023, 10:50 AM

With a lot of experience with all of the options, here is my short list. I am at 60k miles on mine with all kinds of terrain driven. My focus is capabilitiy off road and simplicity focused on having the least problems when out on the trails. . D90 is preferred for off road (lighter , perfect all around wheelbase, better turning radius) unless people need to be transported. 1. Tow hitch reciever, not tow package.(as stated above)2. P300 (less complex, not mild hybrid, lighter weight)3. Fuji white (looks best after scratches and dirt. Also reflects heat)4. 18 inch steel wheels ( less likely to crack, easy to hammer out a dent, much nicer conical lug nuts)5. Coil springs ( durability, simplicity, easier to upgrade to custom shocks, springs ) air has its benefits, and a lot of them, but there is a larger potential for failure and does force electronic dampening shocks which have known issues and are proprietary. Custom coil springs and fully tuned remote reservoir shocks are in the works6. No active differential. I know a lot of people will disagree, however, this goes back to simplicity vs actual benefit off road. The factory active diff is just that. It decides when to lock and unlock based on settings and feedback. It has its own ECU, electric motor, internal clutches and harness. The other drawback is the differential is much wider. This requires a much shorter cv axles on the left. This is another limiting factor for travel on the rear axle. My 90 does not have the active diff, And I have proven that it is not a requirement for very heavy off-road use. Alternatively the working prototype for an ARB locker is already done to allow a selectable rear cross pinned heavy duty differential. In addition chromoly axles are in the pipeline. Now for the options that have grown on me. Definitely not a requirement,1. Full digital dash. I have to admit, it is nice2. Upgraded sound system. It is so much better than the base system3. Leather interior trim. The wetsuit material has proven to be very difficult to clean and does not wear well over time. The stuff I would leave to the aftermarket 1. Any off road mods including racks, bumpers, ladders , winch kits, skids, and so on. JLR are not a good value here2. Tires. Much better options in the aftermarket. Stick with 18s The choices are very good. 3. Specific software only items. Hence what we call activations. The nice thing about doing these afterwards is that you are not forced to add other options just to get those software only items. Tow assist 2, terrain response 2, and so on. Plus there are some pretty cool ones that you cannot get through JLR. I'm sure I'm missing a couple here, but generally I tell people get the creature comforts you really want mainly on the interior. Those are the items that are very expensive to retrofit after the fact. Leave most of the actual proper off-road items to the folks that know how to do it.. j2c.