PICTURE SPECIAL: New Land Rover Defender

As one of the most highly anticipated cars of the last decade, the new Defender is a must-see

Autocar

10 September 2019

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The much-loved Land Rover Defender is officially back, following its unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show on Tuesday.

The previous model went out of production in early 2016. Land Rover is seeking to take the new car in a whole new direction, exploiting the lifestyle potential of the model while preserving its utilitarian nature. It will be offered in a large variety of trims, shapes, and configurations, and in the process creating a vehicle that will ideally offer something to everyone.

Join Autocar for a deep-dive into arguably the most important new British car for many years:

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For the world

The new car is designed for the globe; at its end in 2016, the car sold only 15,000 or so per year. The new model has been designed to comply with regulations across the globe, and will ultimately be sold in 128 countries.
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Capability

The new Defender seeks to offer a large range of capabilities. On the one hand, Land Rover wants it to be a faithful servant to emergency services in tough environments. On the other, it’s designed to address the ever-growing lifestyle SUV market, with 170 individual accessories and a high degree of overall customisation.

While starting prices will be in the region of £40,000, it will be possible to spend £100,000 for high-end derivatives.
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110

The first model available will be the five-door 110 model, priced from £45,240, and 4758mm in length. It will be available with four accessory packs reflecting the task the owner expects of their car: Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban.

Trim levels will be Defender, S, SE, HSE, First Edition and Defender X.
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90

Shortly after, a more compact three-door Defender 90 model will go on sale, from around £40,000 and 4323mm in length, as well as two Commercial models costing from around £35,000 plus VAT.

Petrol, mild hybrid and diesel options will be available at launch, with a plug-in hybrid model expected to be launched in around a year’s time.
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Design

The styling of the new car reflects an evolution of the car from its utilitarian roots to something more sophisticated, while preserving its rugged overall image.
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Back to the future

There are several design cues that are carried over from the previous Defender. These include short front and rear overhangs, squared off wheelarches, an upright stance, continuous waist and collar lines, plus the rising roofline, and the ‘Alpine’ light windows set into the roof.
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Features

The square panel that sits in the rear glass is a design flourish that buyers can have or not have, it’s up to them.

Other optional extra packs include a folding fabric roof that allows second-row passengers in the 110 model to stand up, a roof-mounted tent, a side ladder or side window carriers.
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Designer

“This is a car that needs to look like it can do the business,” said the design director of Land Rover, Gerry McGovern (pictured).

“It has a silhouette even a child could draw, but there’s nothing simple about it - especially on the surfaces, which on first glance look quite raw and elemental but which are in fact incredibly sophisticated.

"Flat panels can look very cheap and this is a premium vehicle, so we needed to be smarter than that.”
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Approach

The design deliberately exposes many fixtures and fittings to make the car look “tough but approachable.”

Other details include a side-hinged boot, an inset bonnet over a clamshell arrangement, and the option of a spare wheel on the rear end.
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Inside

The flat-top dashboard, cast from magnesium alloy, is a structural part of the car, and is set low to boost visibility.

It also features grab handles, giving occupants a visual reminder to the car’s go-anywhere ability.
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Technology

The 10-inch digital screen is not integrated into the dash, however, and that’s by design. “It’s honest - we didn’t want to pretend this is a high-tech vehicle at its heart,” said McGovern. “There an element of, ‘There it is, use it’ about it.” The screen also displays Land Rover’s next-generation infotainment system, called Pivi Pro.

It’s said to be more user-friendly and intuitive and reputedly needs up to 50% less inputs to perform frequent tasks than earlier Land Rover systems. It can also be updated over-the-air.
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Gearshift

The new car isn’t available with manual transmission. The design of the dashboard-mounted gearshifter leaves room for an optional central ‘jump’ seat in the front, as found on the earliest Land-Rovers.
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3 up front

That means the Defender 110 can be specified as a five, six or 5+2 seater.

“Much as we love the old one, if you drive it for two weeks you get a bad back - that won’t be the case with this one,” said McGovern, in reference to the quality of the seating in the new model.
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In the back

Boot space behind the second row is 1075 litres, rising to 2390 litres if the second row of seats is folded, numbers that eclipse those of the seven-seat Discovery.

The Defender 90 will hold up to six people, with the front jump-seat used. Hard-wearing non-leather choices are available as trim options.
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Steelies

In a radical departure from current lifestyle SUV norms, the Defender will also be offered with an option of 18-inch, white-painted steel wheels (pictured).

“It was a shock to me that I liked them, but they work,” said McGovern.
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Engineering

The new car sits on a version of JLR’s D7 platform, its large vehicle platform that is used on a variety of the company’s vehicles including the Land Rover Discovery. However, the Defender’s version is called D7x.

Land Rover says it’s the stiffest body structure it has ever produced. Although it is a reworked version of the D7, it’s described said to be 95% new. The aluminium structure has been designed to accept electrified - though not fully electric - powertrains.
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Testing

Land Rover says the new cars has been subjected to 1.2 million miles of testing, far more than that of any other model it has ever built. Testing environments include desert, high altitudes and in the Arctic.

A full 62,000 test criteria had to be passed before launch.
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The numbers

Headline figures include 291mm of ground clearance, a 38-degree approach angle and 40-degree departure angle, a 900mm maximum wading depth, 900kg maximum payload, 300kg roof load and up to 3500kg towing capability.
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Drive

The car has permanent four-wheel drive, the choice of independent air or coil spring suspension, a twin-speed transmission, locking centre differential and active rear locking differential.
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Conditions

The Defender has a system called Configurable Terrain Response, which can be manually adjusted to prevailing conditions, or left on automatic where the car will judge for itself.

There are also three levels of throttle and gearbox sensitivity aimed at enhancing control on difficult surfaces.
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Offroad technology

Other available technology to help off-roading includes Land Rover’s ClearSight Ground View (pictured), which displays the area under the bonnet and ahead of the front wheels, on a central touchscreen, Hill Launch Assist and Enhanced Hill Hold.
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On the road

It’s not all about offroad. Land Rover has sought to ensure the Defender is is good to drive on-road, and especially on long motorway and country journeys.

“It is not only the most capable Land Rover ever made, but also a truly comfortable, modern vehicle that people will love to drive,” said executive director of product engineering for Land Rover, Nick Rogers.
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Engines

There will initially be a choice of four- and six-cylinder diesel and petrol engines initially, while a plug-in hybrid will follow in 2020.

The petrols are the 2.0-litre four-cylinder P300 and 3.0-litre six-cylinder P400. The P300 296bhp unit hits 62mph from a standstill in 8.1sec and is rated at 227g/km for CO2 emissions. The 396bhp unit uses mild hybrid technology to deliver 406lb ft of torque, a 0-62mph time of 6.4sec and economy figures of 29.4mpg and 220g/km of CO2.
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Diesels

The diesels are both four-cylinder units and designated D200 and D240. Both deliver 317lb ft of torque and average 37.2mpg with CO2 emissions of 199g/km on NEDC equivalent ratings.

The 197bhp unit delivers a 0-62mph time of 10.3sec and the 237bhp unit 9.1sec.
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Spec options

The four accessory packs are designed to give the car different characters. Urban for examples features 22-inch wheels, a front undershield, side tubes and a scrub plate on the rear. Adventure has side-mounted gear carriers on the rear and undershield guards.

Country has wheel arch protectors and other guards for light outdoor work. Meanwhile Explorer has a roof ladder, roof rack and anti-glare bonnet.
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Paintwork

There are a variety of paint options; owners can opt for split colour paintwork or a satin-finish protective film, which is used to wrap the car over a choice of metallic silver, grey and green paint.

Other unconventional options include an electronic winch, pet packs for transporting a variety of animals, a portable shower, a rooftop tent and inflatable waterproof awnings.
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The future

Autocar understands that the Defender family will expand after launch, and this will include a larger 130 model arriving in 2022. An internal document published online has described the car as a “Premium explorer” for “families, active lifestyle and travel”.

It will be 5.1m long and come with eight seats as standard, despite having the same wheelbase as the 110, suggesting a more substantial rear overhang.
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A new diesel

We gather a new more powerful diesel engine is said to being developed for launch in 2021. This six-cylinder D300 will deliver a 0-62mph time rumoured to be below 8secs and is being considered for launch in the US market, as well as Europe.
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More variants

There are rumours that Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) department is working on more luxurious and high-speed models. Also, an ultra-capable off-roader is said to only be at the consideration stage, a model which may have the new-generation Mercedes G-Wagen in its sights.

The Defender will be built at Jaguar Land Rover's new plant at Nitra, in Slovakia. The car will play a key role in getting that facility up to its annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.
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KEY INFORMATION:
- Five-door 110 and three-door 90
- 110 length: 4758mm; 90: 4323mm (minus spare wheel)
- Width: 2008mm (mirrors folded)
- Height: 1967mm
- Wheelbase: 3022mm (2587mm for 90)
- Two petrols, two diesels, plug-in hybrid to follow
- Six trim options, four accessory pack options
- Best-ever off-road ability of any Land Rover
- 110 priced from £45,240
Scroll through to see further pictures of the new Defender
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Desert
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Offroad
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Dynamic
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Countryside
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Camping
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Offroad
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Desert
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Offroad
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Track
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Mud
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Stream
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Track
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Desert
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Desert
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Desert
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Desert
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Desert
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Desert at dusk

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