Designed by Drew Wright (hence the company name), this product has been available for Series II and III Land Rovers and most Defenders for quite some time. The cab kit comprises a trio of a single seat base cover, floor and tunnel cover and a central bulkhead panel. The entire seat base is covered by the former, while the last piece covers the section of bulkhead between the foot wells. At a small extra cost, kick panels for the outboard sides of the foot wells are also available. Drew also supplies rolls of the same material for lining other areas of the vehicle, principally the rear load bay, moulded with a 5-bar chequer plate pattern. The products are available in a pale (dove) grey, dark (slate) grey and black, made of a polyurethane material that resists scuffing, chemical attack from oils and the like, is non-absorbent (important in these vehicles) and is heavy enough to act not only as an aesthetic trim and panel protector, but also as noise proofing.
The kit isn’t cheap, but it’s extremely effective – far more so than the more conventional (and similarly priced) premium noise proofing products I used elsewhere on the vehicle. I have used this product for several years and it is holding up extremely well with little visible wear, despite heavy use. It has made the cab a reasonably comfortable place even at 60 mph with a raucous 200Tdi engine and the SIII’s low gearing. It also makes the interior look very smart and is easy to clean – a damp cloth, or occasionally the use of a rubber and vinyl car cleaning product makes it look like new. Fitting is relatively straight forward, though does take a small amount of time and some basic tools.
The seat base unit has no apertures as it is made to fit all the different models, both left and right hand drive, and allow for owner modifications to the seating arrangements or hand brake. Witness marks on the underside show where to cut holes for the hand brake lever, where to drill for seat fixings with the various standard bolt positions, and where to cut any of the three desired inspection panels to the transmission and under-seat storage boxes/battery compartments/fuel tanks. The choice is left to the owner so that noise attenuation is maximised and neatness ensured, and this is the only part of the job which requires any cutting or much time and effort.
The floor section is specific to the vehicle; Series, Defender with LT77 or Defender with R380 to allow for the different tunnel shapes and lever positions. It’s a single piece and is heavy to lift into place. It’s a bit tricky to fit on the Series models due to the tall hand brake lever and the configuration of gear levers, but only takes a few minutes. I cut my mat into three sections along the folds between floors and tunnel to make access to the gear box tunnel a little easier. It has only had a marginal affect on noise and the only gap I get is by the red lever’s gaiter.
The bulkhead panel can simply be put in place, held at the base by the floor mat. You could choose to secure it more, but I found it unnecessary. I also fitted the kick panels, but they are for purely cosmetic benefit.
The flat matting for the rear comes on 8×4′ rolls, so picks up a bit of a curve in storage. This, combined with its fairly slippery back, makes it a bit difficult to bond with adhesives, though I have only tried Impact Adhesive and PVA – PU adhesives may work better. The curvature will eventually flatten out on large pieces over a week or so, so my floor panel lies perfectly flatly with no adhesive. It’s only small sections like the lids of my lockers which seem to need something stronger than Impact adhesive.
All in all, it’s a great product that I have no reservations in recommending to others.
Effectiveness: 9/10 (loses one point only because it’s difficult to glue down)
Value for money: 8/10
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