They aired down the tires a bit and tried to crawl over a rock that was shaped like a paddle with the thin end pointed perpendicular to the wheel surface. So the low air pressure and wheel/tire size resulted in the tire getting pinched against the rim.
In Canada anywho, an optioned up F150 limited is within $1k of an R1T adventure Package, with the standard battery.
Modern LR is rather like subaru, reliability-wise. Either you get one that is an absolute nightmare and lives at the mechanic, or it's stone reliable.
Yeah, I can definitely see how that would get more clicks.
Maybe I’m too conservative but as soon as I am without a spare I get back to pavement and cell coverage as quickly as possible.
I agree, about people buying used land rovers. They require a lot of care and feeding but if you keep them up they can be reliable. There's a reason LR parts are cheaper than land cruiser ones. You need them more often.
I think you're just avoiding pain for yourself. You're also not filming youtube videos for benjamins. I haven't looked, but I bet the video comparing the performance of the 4xe, Bronco, and Defender with the latter subseqeuently getting stuck had the best viewer engagement of any of their videos in a long time. They definitely benefit from the adventure, and were incentivized to try and finish the trail. I suspect some of that is because they had a limited time with the 4xe, because they seemed in quite the rush to compare the three vehicles, but I know they own both the Bronco and Defender.
Absolute truth!
Subaru's have tanked in reliability in the last ~5 years. Maybe it's because I live in Seattle and seemingly 2/3 of the people I know have one (and I did till recently), but it seems like they've had a large number of recalls and maintenance issues that have required them extending warranties.
I agree and was using LR as an example due to the reputation. LR may not be Toyota, and that's ok, but definitely not what they used to be. I would have no problem getting a LR and if the R1S doesn't work out, I would probably be getting an X7 or defender extended length when they come out. Point was for me, interesting and cool is more important than perfect reliability out of the box. I'm a BMW guy (E39 M5 with 190,000mi) and also get tired of the reliability bashing, but they are more needy than a Lexus.Irrelevant to the discussion, but all the bagging on Land Rover made me want to comment, since I've been driving them for many years now. The old adage of LR's having crap reliability is a holdover that isn't entirely true anymore, in my opinion. I've had software issues in my last LR but no mechanical issues even after driving it like a race car for 3 years (it was a Velar).
I've got a Defender now and I've taken it out to do more extreme things than TFL has done and had no issues. I did a rock crawl with it on stock tires about 3 weeks ago that was far tougher than what TFL ran it through and it sailed through like a champ. I don't consider TFL shredding 2 tires as being an indication of an issue with LR reliability.
All of that being said, obviously everyone's experience is different and maybe I'm just getting lucky year after year. I don't, unfortunately, have a lot of friends with LRs so I can't say much from a wider perspective, but thus far I've found the Defender to be incredibly capable and without issues.
It will, however, be getting traded in when the R1T is ready for me
The test was 'how well can you offroad with the vehicles offroad package' and the land rover defender that was it's offroad package, 20" rims and thin tires.
I know. Which is why I said it was a combination of two things. The tire package LR offers with the Defender isn't particularly thicc. Which obviously has it's issues. The TFL guys then went and aired them down. So they took a tire that's already "thin" and increased the likelihood that they'd get pinched on the rim. They did it once, and then didn't learn their lesson and aired down again. I would be willing to bet they wouldn't have gotten a flat if they hadn't aired the tires down.
