Get defensive
It looks mean but Land Rover has a soft side too
LAST September, when I posted photos on Twitter of the international reveal of the Land Rover Defender at the Frankfurt Motor Show, I immediately was attacked by t wo very dif f erent cohorts.
The first were motoring purists who complained that this large SUV had no right to share a name with the original utilitarian Defender, as if it somehow was my fault this actually had happened.
The second were cyclists, one of whom told me I should be ashamed of myself for promoting what she called a death machine. The irony is that were she ever to come off a mountain bike somewhere completely inaccessible, she would be bloody glad to see anyone arrive in a Defender to carry her to safety. No one’s ever going to do it in a Lamborghini.
The cyclists’ biggest concern was their own safety and I get that, but there are so many warning systems in the Defender, their misgivings are misplaced. So too are those of the Old Defender brigade because while this certainly is not the car of old, I reckon all would be converted within minutes if they got to drive it.
Let’s be honest — the old Defender was great if you wanted to scale a mountain in the Andes, but it was noisy as hell and often so jarring in motion it would disThe lodge teeth, never mind fillings.
new one still has great off-road credentials (at the launch in a Frankfurt exhibition hall, it made its debut being driven down a near-vertical ramp) but it’s still i ncredibly comfortable and manoeuvrable on the open road.
The week I had it, I had to go to Donaghadee in Co Down, and from there to Wexford town to renew my driving licence, so the return trip was a four-hour, 347km drive. In the old Defender, I would have ended it deaf and possibly with a few bone fractures; in the new one, I couldn’t have been more comfortable had I been driving a premium executive saloon.
The cabin is a delight, even if getting into it posed a couple of problem for a middle-aged man unused to having to hoosh himself to such a high seat (and, thankfully, there’s a grip on the dashboard to help).
It’s vast and spacious, and there’s a very handy ledge on the fascia that proved useful when I stopped at motorway services for food — I’m still not fully comfortable eating indoors and was happy to take my sandwich and crisps back to the car.
Cargo space is generous at 647 litres, or 1,075 if you’re off to Patagonia and need to pack tents and other gear to roof height. With the rear bench down, you can fit a whopping 2,380 litres of cargo.
The car is available as a twodoor model, the shorter Defender 90 (from €58,450), but I drove the 110, which has four passenger doors and can be configured as a five- seater, six- seater or 5+ 2, depending on your specification when buying. It came with quite a few optional extras, including a panoramic sunroof, Pangea green metallic paint, electrically deployable towbar, black roof rails, front fog lamps, carpet mats and heated front seats.
For those who actually need the off-road capability, the permanent all-wheel drive can be adjusted for whatever surface you’re travelling on, be that mud, sand, snow or ice. The maximum wading depth of 900mm would get you out of pickle in a flood. For hilly terrain, the approach angle is 38 degrees, the breakover angle is 28, and the departure angle is 40. The ClearSight Ground View camera also shows you obstacles obscured by the length of the bonnet.
My car was fitted with a 2.0-litre diesel engine offering 237 horsepower; even more powerful diesel and petrol options, including a plug-in hybrid, are available.
Anyone doing solely leisure driving with the occasional need for sturdy winter performance would be fine with the 2.0-litre diesel version.
As for the looks, well, I think it’s a terrific reinterpretation of the Defender, chunky and solid, and with the side- opening rear door with spare wheel attached.
My only quibble there is that when it’s parked on road, the swing angle means you need a fairly big space.
All in all, I think Land Rover has done a mighty job, in every sense of the word. It has reclaimed an icon but it is not mere pastiche – the good looks might fool you, but this has serious all-terrain chops. So any of the detractors can still come at me — I’m here for this lovely car, and I’m ready to, well, defend her.