This is where the new Defender will come from:


It has evolved from an ATV to the Rhino, then the RZR, and full cab 4x4 in just a few years. Already it is more sophisticated than the Series III, and trails the Defender very slightly in any feature or capability. It may not exactly appeal to you yet. It looks awkward, and the wheels look small. But what has Land Rover done for the last 20 years that looked promising at all?

These SxS's are starting to look like mini-Humvee's with a Unimog cab. It won't be long before there's styles to suit other tastes. What are they missing?

Forget about driving it on the street. You either live in a State where you have the freedom to travel where you want and how you want, or you live in a State where you will be driven by a GPS-tracked, networked car under the control of some front like AT&T, Verizon, Google or Apple, and you'll go where and how it allows you to. All the new Land Rovers are equipped to take control. You can't even open the door unless you're authorized by the digital key that you are not permitted to control. Everything from the throttle, to the brakes, the suspension and all the functions on the body are under control that you are only granted provisionally. Well, that's another subject. The Sxs's look very straightforward, like a Land Rover used to.

 

yes they are cute 4wheeler/golf cart hybrid things. driven them, ridden in them several times. good for hunting, limited light farm/ranch use, and great as a toy.
but what is the reference to defender?

 

Huh? The RZR is faster , more powerful, and more offroad capable than a Defender. Well, almost. About the only thing it doesn't do better is hauling 2 tons of non-sense. They do make SxS for 6 people now.

If you think these are golf carts, you haven't been paying attention:


What exactly does the Defender do better, other than haul weight like a lorry?

This is just for the sake of discussion. Look, like I wrote, Land Rover hasn't done anything for offroad for 20 years. They went another way. If you look at the style and full cab of the Ranger in the first video, and performance and offroad capability of the RZR in the second, you can see SxS's evolving toward the Defender/Wrangler market from their ATV-roots, which seem very distant now. And they have none of the crap that ruined Land Rovers.

 

i agree that the defender leaves a void in the US market and all that junk. I don't agree, that very fun and capable toy is anything like the lr farm trucks from years past or the newer pumas. and I am not willing to move to Wyoming so that I can drive one to work. then again, I'm not willing to acquire more friends to fill up that 6 passenger one either. I was merely curious as to your connection of the 2? your thread, I was curious. apples to oranges, for me.

 

The Ranger has the farm truck thing covered. With farmers, SxS are red hot. They have all the utility a Series 1 ever had, and then some. That is the connection. SxS are today's Series 1.

My hypothesis is that SxS are also tomorrow's Defender.

 

please don't post after smoking that stuff

 

well, that's one way to view it.
i like "today's fun little atv.....tomorrow's fun little atv"