All one needs to do is lie down on a creeper, pull themselves underneath their Disco, then do the same to any Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, or Dodge truck - and there will be no doubt it's a "Real" Land Rover. It's exceedingly obvious just how much more robust almost every cross bar, axle spindle, steering knuckle, etc - is when compared to any of the aformentioned. Sadly, when you pull yourself beneath a Freelander you can't say the same, but as for the remainder of the Landrover lineup - no other make of truck is as robust right off the showroom floor. We cruise around in solidly built tanks.

 

You got that right. The entire frame itself is double the strength of any other truck cuz it's a fully boxed frame, not just c channel.

 

Discovery 1 and Discovery 2 are REAL ROVERS. Stock or not. Defenders are sought after for their different look, ride, rareity and look of the original series. Any true defender enthusiast should appreciate the Disco, even if they think it's ugly. In my opinion REAL ROVERS in the US ended with the 2004 Disco and the P38A Range. Across the pond the only "REAL ROVER" still made is the Defender. Period.....

the freelander shouldn't be brought up in this discussion. the freelander shouldnt be our forums main image either. The D1, D2 and Defenders are REAL ROVER's. they are offspring of the same amazing family.

the freelander is a that second cousin no body likes.

This reminds me of a story during my youth, (when i was about 17 or 18) I pulled into a rover dealer for my monthly visit and drool session and i asked the receptionist behind the counter which vehicle is the most capable off road rig. She said the freelander,... I smiled and walked away. I wish i would have asked her why she thought so and most importantly i wanna know which dealer employee told her that lie.

 

I agree soooo much with that. Every other forum has a disco or LR logo or something rugged. We, the best forum IMO, have a golden freelander??

 

I have often wondered this myself. This Land Rover Forum site is Discovery dominated. With over 5 times as many threads as Range Rover and over 15 times as many threads as Freelander and Defender put together. I'd like to meet the yuppee who decided on a Freelander, but he might boot me...

 

Damn straight!

 

OK, so we've established that is is the same basic frame.. and engine. But what about the 4x4 system? it's dif. in the Defender yeah??

 

Not really.

 

plus this forum as sloppyjoe and he is the sloppiest of the shloppy

 

I said drivetrain, that includes everything from the engine to the hubs.
The main gearbox on the 5-speed has a different shifter housing, but the internals are the same (I don't know about the automatic but I would expect it might have a different shifter housing too) and the transfer case has a different ratio, but otherwise is the same (you could swap them without a problem).