Does anyone own / tow with a Land Rover Range Rover?

I've been a passenger for many miles (trans Europe) in a Range Rover and driver for not quite so far of a defender- both pulling up to their max weights. Absolute no brainer of the Range Rover- very little of your use of it (assuming you use it like we use ours) will actually require a partbred tractor. (I do love my defender but for towing a light weight pony on roads actually it's so clunky the ride isn't as good as a RR) The short wheel defenders also actually have very little space inside, and they're massive theft targets. The long wheel base ones are a nightmare to take around a town!
 
Nappy Croc said:
The long wheel base ones are a nightmare to take around a town!
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Ditto this, turning circle on a defender LWB is roughly the same size as that of a barge.

Range rover's is tiny. SO much easier to shunt your way out of tight space with a trailer on the back.
 
9tails said:
The rear door on the defender is incredibly annoying. Too small to remove a saddle easily and won't open fully as it fouls the jockey wheel column on the trailer. The shogun door is also annoying, but the RR boot opens upwards so probably better. These things are important!
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It is slightly annoying, but you just drop the jockey wheel to open the door, it takes a couple of seconds.
I prefer the 90 to the 110 despite the lack of space. It just seems to me to be a lot more stable when towing - apparently because the rear wheel are very close to the tow bar - this is good for towing, I've been told. All I know is I've always been much happier in the 2 90s I've had than the 2 110s.

On a sliding (of the ones I've towed with) scale I'd go:
90
Disco 3
110
Range Rover (but was a very old one)
Disco 2
Freelander 2 (was fine with 1 horse but obviously doesn't have the capacity for more)
Freelander 1

For about town (I never took the Range Rover into town, it was OH's toy so only used it for towing)
Freelander 2 - not too bad mpg wise and easy to park etc
Freelander 1
Discovery 3 - suspension drops to go into car parks (as does RR)
90
110
Discovery 2 - ours had big roof rack so impossible to park

Long journeys (again, I never took the Range Rover)
Disco 3
Freelander 2
Freelander 1
Disco 2
110
90
 
We bought one of the very last new Defenders, I was unconvinced but hubby had his heart set on it. I agree, it tows like a train and I feel very safe and confident in it. It has leather, heated seats, aircon and bluetooth... however when I use it for the school run my child has to shout from the back seats to be heard and recently, poor hubby hurt his left foot and sheepishly asked me if I would swap cars for a few days as the clutch in the Defender was killing him so he went off with my Rav instead. So pros and cons.. and there are times when I can’t get round sensible corners or roundabouts in one go and it has been known to ‘chug’ but hubby blames my driving , I blame the fact it’s a glorified tractor!
 
NeverEver said:
We bought one of the very last new Defenders, I was unconvinced but hubby had his heart set on it. I agree, it tows like a train and I feel very safe and confident in it. It has leather, heated seats, aircon and bluetooth... however when I use it for the school run my child has to shout from the back seats to be heard and recently, poor hubby hurt his left foot and sheepishly asked me if I would swap cars for a few days as the clutch in the Defender was killing him so he went off with my Rav instead. So pros and cons.. and there are times when I can’t get round sensible corners or roundabouts in one go and it has been known to ‘chug’ but hubby blames my driving , I blame the fact it’s a glorified tractor!
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Haha, yes the clutch is a little on heavy side but you get used to it. When I went back to the Defender after a Disco I got a bad back from the clutch. The gear stick's heavy too particularly getting it into reverse. I hurt my wrist and had to either get OH to put it into reverse for me if he was in the car or reach over and use my right hand. There's a definite knack to driving one. Never had a problem getting it round a corner, I find the 90's turning circle pretty decent but it sounds like you might have a 110?
 
I have a discovery. It tows like a dream. When we got it I felt it was a bit OTT as I had previously had a Nissan X trail. Anyway this car has completely won me over. The automatic back massage is a real treat on the way home after a long day eventing!
 
annagain said:
Haha, yes the clutch is a little on heavy side but you get used to it. When I went back to the Defender after a Disco I got a bad back from the clutch. The gear stick's heavy too particularly getting it into reverse. I hurt my wrist and had to either get OH to put it into reverse for me if he was in the car or reach over and use my right hand. There's a definite knack to driving one. Never had a problem getting it round a corner, I find the 90's turning circle pretty decent but it sounds like you might have a 110?
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haha yes we have the utility version 110, it’s a long beast, it doesn’t like mini roundabouts at all
 
thanks all,
just need to convince other half - as it will mainly be his car and has his heart set on a defender

my day car is a hot pink smart covertable so not sure how much he's going to listen to me.
 
Hey. We have a Range Rover Sport V6 and it tows beautifully and easily. I towed an Ifor Williams HB511 plus a 600 kg horse with ease and have no doubt it would have towed just as well with 2 horses in the back.

We have just sold the trailer as I did not feel confident reversing (it's nearly all single track where we live) but the RR was a good choice. I think defenders are great but we opted for a bit more luxury so we could use it for longer journeys and be more comfortable.

Hope that helps.
 
only_me said:
It's good that I only own one horse then. The disco is the main jeep used, the evoque I use if the disco isn't available. Evoque tows well imo, we've got the 511 trailer. It's just not as good as the disco though :)
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Thank you for sharing as I am in the rarity and like them plus cheaper x
 
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