70 Series 1HZ vs Land Rover Defender Transmission Backlash

[DerekV]

Hi,

This is my first post on this forum, though I have been a long time reader.

I am considering purchasing a 70 series LC (1HZ). I currently have a 2015 Land Rover Defender (2.2 TDCI). Anyone who has driven the Defender will know that there is a large amount of transmission backlash, which makes every gear change very noisy and clattery, not matter how you drive it, and feels like its wearing the transmission out at a rapid rate. I was wondering whether the 70 series Toyotas suffer from this too, or whether they are slightly more refined in that partcular area? If anyone has experience with driving both, then that would be very helpful!

Thanks.

Derek.

 

[Gr8Yota]

Short answer… No…

That’s why we drive Toyotas :0). I’ve owned an old 90 and driven many Land Rovers and Discoveries and no you’ll not find any backlash, clunking, oil leaking or any other well known Solihull vehicle ‘characteristics’. Nor will you be changing wheel bearings every 15k miles (mine last 100k) So whilst LR peeps will tell you how expensive Toyota parts are (mainly because there are not so many cheap and poor quality after market parts available, OE is pretty comparable) you’ll not need them so often.

The 1HZ is slow… but pretty much bullet proof, that’s why it is still in production and used all over Africa. A 1HZ 70 series is like stepping back 30 yrs even in a brand new one, but it should drive smoothly.

 

[DerekV]

Thanks for your really helpful answer.

I kind of suspected they would drive smoothly, and I've seen various videos etc where they appear to, but I've never actually driven one, so it was hard to say for sure. I've had various Land Rovers over the years, and the Discoveries were generally ok in this regard, but the Defenders have all been extremely agricultural to drive. I also have an LC 120, which I'm selling (possibly to help fund the 70 series), and although it's not really fair to compare the smoothness of that with the Defender, the difference in build quality is very apparent!!

With regard to the 1HZ, I'm aware that it is slow, but this doesn't particularly bother me. I've heard that it's not that dissimilar to the LR 300 TDI and that was never an issue for me - it's not like you expect a vehicle like this to be a sports car!! I'm more interested in getting something without any electronics, emissions systems etc, that will hopefully go on and on with proper care. I am planning to use it to tow from time to time (max weight would be around 2.5 tonnes, but usually only 1 tonne), and I'm aware that the 1HZ isn't great for towing compared to a modern engine, but providing it makes it to the top of the hills, I'm not particularly worried how long it takes or what gear is needed!!

Derek.