Not sure if you saw this video yet, but The Fast Lane (TFL) youtube channel automotive reviewers bought a new P300 Defender several weeks ago and have had horrible luck. The check engine light came on with less than 200 miles on the vehicle. After weeks of trying to fix it, Land Rover said it would need a new engine, or Land Rover could get them a replacement vehicle. They opted for a replacement vehicle, but Land Rover did some permanent damage installing a winch......so now they are waiting for a 3rd Defender. Bad luck for Land Rover too because they have a huge following on youtube. Here is the link:

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2020 Defender 110 First Edition Indus Silver (Current)
2020 Discovery HSE Luxury Si6 Fuji White (Current)
2015 RRS Autobiography Fuji White (Former)
2011 RRS Supercharged Fuji White (Former)
2008 LR2 Fuji White (Former)

 

Installing a winch could brick your Defender: that's new. And the replacement vehicle will not be spec'd the way they wanted it (no rear lockers) , so this is not going to end well regardless.

 

I’ve been watching those TFL father and son videos for a few years now.
They had a perfectly good Disco 2 that they sold for a perfectly good LR3/Disco 3 which they sold for the problem riddled 2020 Defender.

 

There is a delicate part where you must cut tape around the harness to separate enough cable length to reach the front cameras new position. I installed my winch slowly and methodically. I know sometimes techs get paid flat rate and try to get jobs done quickly, but that is the only step I can think of where they could have cut the harness. I feel bad for these guys as they have run into a string of bad luck.

 

I did my own winch install and when drilling into the front upper fascia to reroute the camera to the black plastic hbar I accidentally drilled into the parking sensor camera harness. I lost my parking sensors but thankfully I missed the camera harness or I could have damaged my baby. The dealer fixed the parking sensor part of the harness for free. I guess if you cut the fiber optic cable for the camera you’re screwed? Amazing that jlr doesn’t have a replacement harness????

 

Yep, it's not going to end well, at all. They are going to have to state repeatedly in their videos that it does not have a rear-locker, so they will not be able to conclude anything categorically for the New Defender. I feel bad for them.

The rear lockers, tow package and Terrain response 2 are necessary to fairly judge the potential off-road capabilities of the New Defender. Also, an off-road New Defender needs to be able to adequately air-down its tires, which really only approaches being practical for all types of terrain using the 18 inch wheeled version.

I am off-road daily in mine and that clutched rear locker is very active. The rear locker, TR2 and airing down appropriately makes a marked difference.

I am still waiting for a bull bar and aftermarket winch of some type, as I cannot obtain these from my dealer. I am kind of shocked the install step includes trimming back / cutting a wiring harness and moving a sensor. That's scary stuff.

 

The cutting is only the tape around the wiring harness, if done with caution it's not overly difficult. Moving the sensors was fairly easy, the only surprise here was in the instructions. The instructions indicate that you should throw out the silver sensors and install the black sensors that come with the install kit. No black sensors came with the install kit, so I moved the silver sensors and everything works great.

 

Would think that based on their viewership, they will take any Defender with the Off road pack with preference for those with the Towing pack as well. I didn't hear in that video that their third vehicle was going to be anything specific. Roman seemed to leave it open that he didn't care anymore if it was the P300 or P400 even.

However, on a related note, even with my financed Defender fully insured with new cost replacement, I dread the situation of finding an exact replacement due to it potentially being totaled. Even though I bought off the lot, I have a P400 with TR2, advanced towing, and off road pack among other things, have come to accept I would need to special order its replacement in that situation and wait for a long time. The changes I would add to mine would be the center fridge and a US diesel.

 

I too have watched with dismay the bad run of luck for the TFL folks. I have also watched the U-tuber from UK on winch install and agree that with care the harness should not have become an issue. I really appreciate folks experience on this site as I did consider adding a winch and or at least a bull bar. Interestingly enough and even though I peppered the dealership with questions before I ordered in March, I couldn’t determine what options gave me the rear locker initially. I have the Tow Package with the extra off road features including TR2 but no rear locker. While I am disappointed if I am realistic with myself, my hybrid use and true off-roading wouldn’t need the rear locker that much. What I really think about are tires. I specified 19 inch trying to get that very decent highway vehicle and still have enough to air down if required. I should probably just obtain 18 inch rims and a really good terrain tire as I think from everything I see it would make the biggest difference.

I am very curious about highway noise and ride from owners on all terrain tires in slushy and or wet highway driving. I end up driving a good distance at times for my bird hunting and am trying to hit that sweet spot on a setup between highway and mild off-road.

 

If you have a P400, there is no 18" option for wheels (at this time), from either Land Rover or the aftermarket. 19" is the best you can do. To downsize to 18", at the very least you'd have to mess with the brakes - either replacing the rear calipers with smaller ones or grind the existing ones down until they clear the few 18" rims that would fit. Either option would be, uh, frowned upon by your dealer for warranty work (they would find a way to blame your "unapproved" brakes mod for just about anything that's wrong with your car... one thing most LR dealers do extremely well), not to mention the possible safety implications of shrinking or weakening the stock brakes for the sake of fitting a smaller rim.

There is nothing wrong with the couple of 255/65R19 A/T offerings for your stock wheels. The "mild", standard off-road GY Wrangler Adventures are very quiet and pretty much as competent as good all-season tires on the road. They are not the most aggressive All Terrain tires out there (especially over mud, ice/snow and other slippery surfaces) and are known to have tender sidewalls, but if your off-roading is mild and doesn't involve lots of sharp rocks, ice and thick mud, they will be plenty capable off road. They are chunky enough to safely air down, your mileage will not take a meaningful hit from an aggressive and noisy tread on pavement, and they are very comfy as a daily driver. I have them on right now and have zero complaints so far.
The more aggressive 255/65R19 GY Duratracs will likely be noisier and not as competent on the road, they'll wear faster and your mileage will likely take a small hit, but they are tougher and will give you a definite edge off-road if you are tackling more challenging terrains. They look great on a Defender and get consistently good ratings in the off-road community.

More options and slightly larger sizes from other tire manufacturers would be nice in 19" (and hopefully they will come if the Defender sells in meaningful numbers around the world), but the two stock options are not as bad as some make them sound. I remember what a pain it was to upsize from standard 30" dia. to "huge" 31.5 to 32" tires on my LR4, to get those couple of precious extra inchrs of sidewall that made all the difference in the dirt. The Defender comes with 32" tires as standard.