Land Rover Defender
HELLO £51,295 OTR/£74,146 as tested/£1,004 pcm WHY IT’S HERE
To live the life most Defenders can only dream of DRIVER
Ollie Marriage
THE NEW DEFENDER HAS A PROBLEM. IT’S BECOME YET ANOTHER family SUV Don’t think that’s a problem? Imagine how life is for those Defenders the ones on the biggest wheels with the blackest paint doing nothing more strenuous than a fulllock lap of a Waitrose car park All that capability and engineering consigned to a life of furious urban kid carting They must dream of wide open spaces of getting out there of being used
This one is going to live that life So it’s a threedoor as that immediately differentiates it and it’s that bit nimbler and more engaging to drive than the big fella A D because that’s what suits the car best not only more economical than the turbocharged four or sixcylinder petrols but with the reassuring torque and rumble only diesel can deliver
From that point on there’s nothing frugal about our car We’ve gone overboard on the spec swelling the list price by over The intention is that this is just about the most rugged and capable Defender out there so it’s got the Explorer Pack which brings everything from mudguards and snorkel to side box and roof rack plus extended side protection to go with the barmy paint protection over the Eiger Grey paint
The towing pack is which sounds ridiculous until you realise it includes all the elements of the Advanced OffRoad Capability Pack plus the electric towbar kg capacity Then there’s the OffRoad Pack with its active diff and torque vectoring by braking Want to be sure we don’t get stuck anywhere so we’d better have the Air Suspension Pack too Variable ride height means better ramp angles and wading depth
We’ve been waiting a year for this with the global semiconductor shortage affecting delivery times including ours But now it’s here and ready to feel fresh air in its grille and get muck in its treads It arrived on a Thursday These pictures were taken in Scotland that weekend