Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
D5 not designed for dwarfs!
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24th Apr 2017 6:38 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72786
Doesn't the gesture thing work? Might need trained for different part of body.
24th Apr 2017 6:39 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
Yep, gesture opens it. We worked out that the ideal spot to put your foot in and out was at the forward pointed edge of the lower light. We did spend a good deal of time 'doing the D5 hokey-cokey'!
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24th Apr 2017 6:46 pm
ronp
Member Since: 29 Nov 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 15213
Terrific write up and pics
The D5 is looking very 8) , though I'm still trying very hard to like that rear end, but I'm getting there.I was a normal heterosexual chap, but in these new woke awakenings I now identify as a Wardrobe.
24th Apr 2017 6:49 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72786
Would be a good game, doing the foot gesture under the bumper when crossing the street with stationary traffic and there happens to be a D5 in the queue.
24th Apr 2017 6:49 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
I'm not sure that would work Del, the key needs to be in your pocket and you need to be in the right place. However, accidentally pressing the tailgate open button on the keyfob when your car is parked very close to the White D4 behind (like you do on a car ferry perhaps?) is not recommended!
Andrew assures me the tailgate would stop as soon as it felt a restriction - he did demonstrate this by putting his arm in it and closing! However I'm glad he didn't demonstrate it against the front of my D4
24th Apr 2017 6:59 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72786
Good to hear my fiendish plan is foiled. Wouldn't want all those pooches running around having been liberated a bit early before walkies.
24th Apr 2017 7:03 pm
J77
Member Since: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Fife
Posts: 6261
Good real world test 23.5MY Defender 90 X-Dynamic SE D250 MHEV Pangea Green
24th Apr 2017 9:01 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
ronp wrote:
Terrific write up and pics
The D5 is looking very 8) , though I'm still trying very hard to like that rear end, but I'm getting there.
It really does get better the more you look at it.
Just for balance, the Qashqui was driven 450 miles and returned 51mpg brim to brim.
I'll settle for 30mpg and a Disco of any any vintage post 2005
Turning to the rear seats. As Gareth has already mentioned, DiscoStu and I sat in the back of the D5 for 50 miles from Donegal to just south of Derry, then did the return trip in the D4. The return took a lot longer due to traffic, roughly 100 minutes versus 70 on the outbound leg.
For those who don't know me, I'm 5'6", have a 29" inside leg, 36" waist and 42" chest, so not the exactly a giant amongst men. I'm giving all the dimensions as it hopefully gives some context to the following.
D5.
Entry. After the initial wow of the electric folding seats there's a slow realisation that you have to fit yourself through the gap that's presented you. It's very tight to get your foot in to the gap and is hampered by a relatively low ceiling . Remember we were all suited and booted for a wedding, so it's possible I would have been a little more flexible in jeans and a t-shirt, but I doubt it.
Seat comfort. All of your weight is placed on your lower back and the rear of your buttocks. There is simply no way to get your thighs on the seat to support your weight, and you struggle to brace yourself with your feet as there is very little room under the middle row. There's a lot of headroom, but it has been achieved by dropping the seat cushion way too low.
There's nil lateral support/sculpting and the seats are very hard, so corners see you grimacing and bracing with your fellow sufferer. In addition the sides of the boot floor have very restrictive plastic ledges that press into your knee/thigh as you brace for corners. After 30 miles we begged Andrew to stop and switched to the middle row seats as we were both suffering some pretty severe lower back pain. Sadly these also lack any meaningful sculpting or lateral support so you still find yourself bracing on corners. Similarly you are hard pushed to get your thighs flat on the seat cushion as the seat bases are too low. As with the 3rd row, headroom is fantastic, but has been achieved by lowering the seat base. With Mrs Dosh 5'6" and size 12/14 in the car too, we were very squeezed as three adults in row 2 and I ended up sat at an angle to give her room in the central seat.
There were some positives:. Noise levels were very low and it was extremely easy to have a conversation between front and row 3 without the need to shout or repeat. The stadium view was also very good, no doubt due to the overall forward tilt design of the car.
Exiting the rear. Less said the better. Neither graceful nor controlled! It's a very tight gap.
After 2 hours on a wooden pew and the Irish ritual of drowning your wedding guests in tea after the service r, we jumped into the D4 for the return leg to Donegal. Same route, but more holdups so took longer.
D4
Entry to row 3. Much easier. The gap you step through is wider and the floor to roof height greater.
Comfort. Thighs are flat on the squab, seat naturally positioned, and the seats are shaped to hold you with moderate side bolsters. We sat in row 3 the whole way back and we're so comfortable that at one point we both nodded off! No need to ask to sit in row 2 as neither of us suffered any back pain or other issues.
Ride was less supple with more roll. Hard to tell on noise levels as Gareth treated us to Adele and some intimate moments with the subwoofer just as Stuff nodded off for the second time.
Exit. As with entry, the higher roof and wider entry made exit a doddle.
In summary, I wanted to like the D5 and on many levels I did. It's clearly a car aimed at families where it will be teens and younger in the back, with the rear seats only for occasional use, and for this it will be superb. D3/4 was over-engineered to seat 7 adults across continents and while I have undertaken 1 such journey (in over 200,000miles of D3 ownership) I can quite see how JLR have dialled back on this excess of seating capacity.
So if that's your likely use, I think you may want to give D5 a try. If your family runs to more than 3 teens, it is going to be a squeeze. I would recommend asking for a decent test drive with the whole family, minimum 1 hour, if you are looking to buy it with the larger or older family in mind.
Would I buy a D5 over a late D4 if I had the funds? Probably not. I will be waiting for the Defender replacement. My use case and needs may differ wildly from yours so don't think for a second I'm saying it is a bad car. It's just is not right for me.
24th Apr 2017 11:50 pm
petersw
Member Since: 17 Nov 2012
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 1135
Member Since: 20 Sep 2005
Location: Home and Happy
Posts: 6917
Balanced view
Personally, I think, in the right colour combination its a winner.
25th Apr 2017 8:49 am
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Wirral, UK
Posts: 3067
These are some of the most balanced and informative reviews I've read anywhere D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
25th Apr 2017 8:58 am
AndrewS Tarquin of the Desert
Member Since: 06 May 2005
Location: Y...... because I can
Posts: 10438
One thing I was very impressed with on the D5 was the sat nav. As the car has its own data sim you can type in words that relate to where you want to go, it will then search and give you a list of suggestions, then one simply selects the destination from the list and away you go.
For instance whilst on the wast cost of Ireland I typed in 'Cliff' and it gave me a list of cliffs starting with the closest to us In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded.
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& informed balanced reviews.
