DG wrote:

Red Merle wrote:

DG wrote:

Think of the manufacturing requirement vs the financial return of 100 whiners wanting a split tail

Definition of "whiner": Someone who disagrees with the official DG / Land Rover party line!

Not at all ...I may like a split tailgate ....but obviously it ain't happening ....so I move my mind on to the reality of the situation instead of moaning about it

Lost for Words wrote:

I don't see you keeping your mouth shut about the EU referendum.

Quote:

Pity you're not so phlegmatic about Brexit

Only 'brexiteers in wonderland' could compare the manufacture of a tailgate to the up of a nation

BLFarrar wrote:

....both worth looking at
http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20160707ptan20160193903.php
rear seating platform
http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20160728ptan20160214510.php

Good find there BLF. I wonder how relevant that would be to the current discussion. Would applying for the patents in July 16 indicate that work had started on those systems or that work had been completed? The bench seat is allegedly already incorporated in the D5.

Red Merle wrote:

The bit about seats folding flat is a thought.

I don't think that they do in the DS, the RRS or the Evoque, I know they don't in the FFRR. They used to in the original RRS, obviously they do in our D4's and I believe they did in the previous FFRR L322. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I suspect, in order to get the boot floor low enough to give half decent clearance under a pointlessly fashionable tapering roof, this is probably an inevitable consequence. Most car reviews ignorantly criticise estate cars where you need to lift the seat squab to lower the best rest anyway and the need to drop a backrest remotely from the tailgate seems to be a "must have", so I'd assume that a flat floor won't be technically possible.

I don't imagine that the need for a flat floor in a loading bay is something that most of their new target customers would understand, let alone demand, anyway.

crews control wrote:

One thing that used to make owning a Land Rover something special was all to do with passion. Until I drove one, I didn’t realise just how highly the British people respected the brand. Its was almost as if they could do no wrong. Even when poor design and reliability became an issue, people still loved the brand simply because of it’s history and what it represented.

So where did this iconic status come from? It would be easy to say innovation… but really the original Land Rover was a copy, albeit a good one. Maybe the fact that the shape continued for so long, or was it because it was the vehicle of choice for worldwide explorers? It’s difficult to remember how startlingly different the Range Rover looked when it was launched. That was certainly innovative and started a whole new market sector, but you couldn’t say the love of the LR brand came from just the Range Rover, certainly not in London!

I think it’s all about honesty, not just about the company but also honesty of design. The Brits respect the “does exactly what it says on the tin” approach to design. Land Rovers have a reputation for being the best at whatever they do. The best off-road, the most luxurious, the most capable or utilitarian. We all know about their reputation for reliability, so they’re not the best at everything, but people will put up with that because the honesty of design is more important to many buyers.

I’ve heard people who drove in the Camel trophy say the Defender is the best vehicle in the world, I’ve met CEO’s of large companies say the Range Rover is the best vehicle in the world and there are many people on here who think that the Discovery is the most capable vehicle they could ever think of owning.

It’s a passion… a passion for great design and a respect for total capability.

So what about the future? We don’t have a Defender any more, or the utilitarian Discovery. The Full Fat Range Rover continues to be one of the most luxurious vehicle around, but can that alone carry the passion forward?

What we have left is the Range Rover Sport, Discovery 5, Discovery Sport and Evoque. All pretty much the same vehicle scaled up or down depending on your point of view. I’m sure LR will sell loads… in much the same way as Samsung sell a lot of telly’s and Zanussi sell loads of fridges, and if you measure success by sales alone, that’s fine. LR will continue to prosper (at least for a while) or until everyone gets totally bored.

So where’s the passion to take this brand forward?

To be honest, this whole Watergate Bendgate Tailgate scandal is getting boring. The only response to anyone who doesn’t like what LR are currently doing is to accuse them of being whining old codgers who won’t update. For a while, owning what many people on here would argue was one of the best vehicles on the road, has been great fun... but it's clearly time to move on.

Amen to that

I think we're all just going mad whilst waiting to see it in the metal !!

DG wrote:

Lost for Words wrote:

I don't see you keeping your mouth shut about the EU referendum.

Quote:

Pity you're not so phlegmatic about Brexit

Only 'brexiteers in wonderland' could compare the manufacture of a tailgate to the up of a nation

It's called attention to detail.

 Current: Discovery 3 06MY (55 reg) HSE Auto Zambezi Silver Allisport Fast Road Intercooler, V8 Brakes, Silicone IC Hoses, EGRs Blanked, Remapped, De-Cat pipe, FBHIC
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J77 wrote:

Red Merle wrote:

The bit about seats folding flat is a thought.

I don't think that they do in the DS, the RRS or the Evoque, I know they don't in the FFRR. They used to in the original RRS, obviously they do in our D4's and I believe they did in the previous FFRR L322. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I suspect, in order to get the boot floor low enough to give half decent clearance under a pointlessly fashionable tapering roof, this is probably an inevitable consequence. Most car reviews ignorantly criticise estate cars where you need to lift the seat squab to lower the best rest anyway and the need to drop a backrest remotely from the tailgate seems to be a "must have", so I'd assume that a flat floor won't be technically possible.

I don't imagine that the need for a flat floor in a loading bay is something that most of their new target customers would understand, let alone demand, anyway.

The DS definitely doesn't have a flat floor with its slide and recline seating.


BLF - powered split tailgate is already available on the RR so really shouldn't be too hard for LR to offer on the D5.

The problem is that every LR product that's had a split tailgate has had a relatively flat surface across the back of the car, making a hinge practical. The Range Rover has a nice flat back end, but the back end of the D5 is more like a rounded pebble! I can't see an easy adaptation, not without making a very bulky and clumsy hinge.

I'm accepting that it's unlikely to happen and that whatever my next car might be (and it's a long time off!), it won't be a D5. Could quite fancy a used V8 diesel L405 FFRR one day, but that's just dreaming really!

Lost for Words wrote:

It's called attention to detail.

Really ...when you find out what the detail is ..can you let us and the rest of the world know please

DG wrote:

Lost for Words wrote:

I don't see you keeping your mouth shut about the EU referendum.

Quote:

Pity you're not so phlegmatic about Brexit

Only 'brexiteers in wonderland' could compare the manufacture of a tailgate to the up of a nation

You're quite right DG, I apologise for my flippancy



Brexit fallout is as nothing compared to the global catastrophe of this one piece tailgate.

DG wrote:

Lost for Words wrote:

It's called attention to detail.

Really ...when you find out what the detail is ..can you let us and the rest of the world know please

Some of us consider it good practice to iron out perceived flaws or problems even if they are only small. The tailgate may be small matter vs Brexit, but what matters more is that it's a solvable issue, a choice to be made, and therefore it justifies some thought in line with what the benefits of that thought might be (and to a LR enthusiast taking an interest in the vehicle, the thought pays for itself easily). Thus the expected conduct for either scenario could be considered reasonably similar.

 Current: Discovery 3 06MY (55 reg) HSE Auto Zambezi Silver Allisport Fast Road Intercooler, V8 Brakes, Silicone IC Hoses, EGRs Blanked, Remapped, De-Cat pipe, FBHIC
Freelander 2 2007 HSE Manual Tambora Flame
Previous: FL2 56 reg SE Manual Black (written off )
Disco 3 06 reg B7S Manual Rimini Red
Disco 2 TD5 Y reg ES Manual Blue - Chipped
Several Discovery 300 TDis