Defender doesn’t disappoint

THE sequel always has a hard time, and in some cases is written off before it’s even released, especially when the first one is a classic, and this is the problem Land Rover faced when they had to remake the Defender.

The Defender – born out of the original Land-Rover and the Series I, II and III models which came after – became an automotive legend. It was in production for almost 70 years before production finally came to an end in January 2016.

There were many die-hard enthusiasts who were devastated by its demise, but the Defender had to be replaced – due to the world around it changing. It struggled to keep up with ever changing safety and emissions regulations and that ultimately spelled the end.

Along with the fact that, even though it was an icon, its sales figures just didn’t stand up, it was so tough and rugged that you didn’t need to replace it – and you could fix it yourself with just a hammer – well, not quite.

Land Rover was faced with a problem, do they take the original and try to tweak it to suit the modern world, or do they start from scratch, and try to keep some of the character of the original.

Land Rover went with the start from scratch approach. What they achieved is a big SUV that has the silhouette of the Defender, but on a much larger scale, with all the modern day safety and creature comforts that people want.

Let’s face it, a majority of

Defender owners were farmers, but the new Defender looks way too nice to be ploughing through the fields rescuing sheep, with the muddy farm dog jumping in and out.

The old Defender had a pretty rugged cabin, to the point you didn’t worry about how muddy you were, or the dog was. While in the new one it is a curious blend of posh Range Rover and agricultural. There are rubber mats on the floor and in the boot area, suggesting this new Defender can be hosed-down in the same way the old one could.

There are nods to the old cabin with exposed screw heads, grab handles and the Defender name emblazoned on the passenger side handle that runs the width of the dash. The switchgear and instrumentation are modern to say the least, and wouldn’t look out of place in a Range Rover.

In the middle is Land Rover’s new Pivi Pro infotainment system touchscreen which is intuitive and easy to navigate. This pretty much controls everything and can display all sorts of useful information for when the going gets tough.

Apart from the size of the new Defender the most noticeable difference is how refined it is on the road. The old Defender had great off-road capabilities but its onroad manners were poor. But the new Defender drives just like any other big SUV, if not better.

The air suspension does a great job of making you glide along the roughest of roads like you are on a manicured lawn, and if you don’t hustle and take your time the Defender has really good body control. But push it on a B-road and its size shows.

It has cameras everywhere and they combine to provide an allround 360 degree view. This system is useful on-road, especially when parking, but it is off-road where it really comes into its own, and becomes a pretty valued tool for more extreme off-roading.

And let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a Defender if it couldn’t handle the toughest of off-road trails. I didn’t get the chance to test its abilities, but its off-road stats talk-the-talk with a wading depth of 900mm, a ground clearance of 291mm and approach, breakover and departure angles of 38, 28 and 40 degrees.

And you know with Land Rover’s onboard computers controlling everything it will climb any mountain in its way. Over the years Land Rover has developed many more high-tech off-road driver aids, including Terrain Response and Hill Descent Control. The latest versions of both are fitted to the Defender.

Configurable Terrain Response is making its debut on the new Defender. It allows serious offroaders the opportunity to finetune individual vehicle settings to perfectly suit the conditions. Alternatively the intelligent Auto function lets the system detect the most appropriate vehicle settings for the terrain.

Towing is up to 3.5 tonnes and there’s an option of swapping the five-seat configuration for a seven-seat set up with extra seats in the back, or go for a six-seat arrangement with a third seat in the front middle position.

Currently there’s a choice of two diesel, two petrol engines and a plug-in hybrid in the new Defender. Petrol-wise there’s a four-cylinder P300 and a six-cylinder P400 featuring Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle technology. The P400e is the most powerful and fuel efficient of the range, with power output of 404ps and a combined fuel return of up to 85.3mpg

There’s a pair of four-cylinder diesels – the D200 and D240 – both of which deliver combined cycle fuel economy of 37.2mpg.

The trim levels are Defender, S, SE, HSE and X. The new Defender isn’t cheap. A Defender 110 starts from £45,560 on the road. Defender 90 starts from £40,290 and Commercial Hard Top pricing starts from £35,500 (plus VAT).

As a five-seater, room inside is plentiful, there are way too many cubby holes to mention here, leg and headroom is fantastic, and if you have a young family there are plenty of USBs to charge their phones or tablets, and even an option for a tablet/phone mount on the back of the seats.

Cargo capacity is plentiful on the Defender 110 and also well protected with rubberised coverings and ranges from 646 to 2,380 litres on the five-seat model.

The tailgate opens sideways to the offside and even with the spare wheel attached to the back it’s easy to operate, while there are design touches such as the socalled Alpine windows in the roof side, just like those used on models a generation ago.

Land Rover have succeeded where many have failed in making the sequel as good, if not better than the first, as you can be out in the field all day getting it muddy, then hose it down and go for a nice drive in comfort.