Land Rover’s crucial new Defender has arrived … and it’s spiffingly good.

WHINGE all you like and keep telling whoever will listen that Land Rover is mad … but all you self-appointed traditionalists are heading down the wrong track bagging the latest Defender for having steered away from the ‘true’ path.

For all the truth in the saying about studying history being requisite to avoiding past mistakes, having now seen the new model in the metal and achieved opportunity to test its mettle on local soil, I’m in no doubt about the pointlessness of wasting breath on argument about rights and wrongs.

If you’re unable to break out of that nameplate-cherishing clique that remains firmly mired in the past, with an addiction to a predecessor model that achieved two million units across three look and mostly feel-alike series and was an antique when it finally ceased life in 2016, so be it. Land Rover wishes you well and Ineos awaits your business. You’re the whole reason for the Grenadier; heir apparent to the traced-back-to-1948 original. 

Meantime, the brand that holds the actual nameplate is moving forward, whether you’ve with them or not. Moreover, it progresses with 101 percent confidence that the path it has chosen to take now lends the best – actually, only – chance of keeping the Defender meaningful.

Yes, it’s a new world, holding new challenges. Hence why this is a complete rebirth and reinterpretation. The armies, the industries, the farmers and the explorers who put their faith in the original are, by and large, no longer on the customer list. Now, at least with the first wave products, it’s more about box-ticking private customer wishes. Yes, they still want ultimate toughness and durability. But pocket knife simplicity no longer cuts it. 

And yet, as much as it goes more glam and sophisticated, and climbs the ladder in price -  the 110 five-door format the kicks off the charge here ranges from $89,900 for the entry D200 2.0-litre diesel to $164,900 for the P400 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol X version, while the three-door 90 adding in from February starts at $84,900 - it’s misconception to think this new Defender is so dedicated to a different route that it is wed to a wholly different purpose that its forebear. 

While it is patently nothing as agricultural as the old one – which, so tailored for off-road brilliance that it was awful on it, and so dedicated to keeping a classic design it couldn’t achieve comfort or safety – it’s wrong to imagine this new car is not still a workhorse.

Yes, the editions here now are more for play than toil, but commercial editions are being developed. Whether the distributor takes them … well, that’s another story. So many past opportunities of relevance don’t exist. Even if the products at least do.

You’ll wonder how much of that old-school ‘character’ has been sacrificed. Well, yes, obviously, the flavour has changed. Yet so much about how it imparts comes down to definition.

Surely even those utterly prejudiced toward the old model cannot deny its flaws. For one, it had the world’s most utterly awkward and uncomfortable driving position. If leaning inwards to get the door shut, suffering the window winder digging into your leg and striving, in vain to find somewhere to put your right elbow, counts as ‘charm’ … then, sorry, that’s gone.

Also divested to the dustbin are such joyous traits of prayer-inducing road manners, tinnitus-threatening driving din and minimal crash-test durability.

Instead you’re getting a now comfortable, quiet model with almost car-like on seal attitude that is expected to fly through modern crash testing requirements. How can anyone argue that’s not a good thing? Silly question: Of course they will …

So what makes it a Defender? Mainly because it acquits like one. In interest of journalistic integrity (yes, some of us still abide by it), on strength of today’s launch, the testimony has to be considered less strong that it could have been. The event included off-roading, certainly nothing of the scale of the car’s international release in March, when they bashed it around Namibia, but still a decent workout on Clevedon dirt and enough to reinforce the quality of the new Terrain Response system.

It’d be a pity if Defenders don’t have their off-road credentials challenged by owners. There are numerous drive modes, depending on the type of terrain you'll be tackling, plus it has noticeably short front and rear overhangs lending impressive approach and departure angles (38 and 40 degrees respectively). 

Much has been said about the styling. There’s no doubting it’s a Land Rover but, like most seeing for the first time, the first impression is that you wonder about which one. Yes, it gives several nods to the old codger with the side window shape that includes the 'Alpine Lights' in the roof, the spare wheel hanging from the side-hinged rear door and the plastic diamond cut panels on the bonnet, but there’s something to the look that suggests it could have been a Discovery 3 evolution. Still, on the ‘big, tall, blocky and plenty of presence’ score, it gets a high mark.

That goes all the more for the interior, but for divergent reason of being nothing like the old car’s, save that there’s an ongoing sense of utilitarian ruggedness, with hard-wearing plastics and no truly soft surfaces. Yet incoming are premium materials that never came with 100km of the old car unless it was furnished by some after-market crowd.

The digital instrument display and touchscreen infotainment screen (and an abundance of charging ports - six just for the second-row seating), are, of course, from a future too advanced even for the Dan Dare comics the Wilks brothers might have known back when they were drawing lines in the sand, but very much in keeping with current broader family practice. The screens alone are great; logical, easy to read and, by serving up iPad-like screen sharpness and refresh rate, better than in any other Land Rover. Or Jaguar. 

Meeting a Defender that is truly well-sorted inside is fantastic. Not only is the driving position really good for comfort, it’s also properly pukka in offering something consumers cite as a reason for buying SUVs: A truly commanding view of the road. Defender doles up the same kind of view enjoyed by Range Rover hoi polloi.

It’s properly roomy, too. The five-seater 110 version has plenty of legroom and headroom in the front and middle chairs along with a fair amount of glazing to peer through, plus a heap of boot space. The three-door 90 probably won’t be too bad either and, if you need to cart a proper tribe, then there will be an eight-seater 130 along next year. 

The side-hinged luggage door (again, a heritage touch) isn't particularly heavy, even with the spare wheel affixed to the rear, and a decent gas strut prevents it from swinging wildly open. There's now a soft-close function, too.

Extra spending buys an electrically deployable tow bar operated by a button inside the boot door. When not in use, it tucks up out of sight. The Defender is rated to pull 750kg unbraked and up to 3500kg braked. Another handy feature is being able to raise or lower the rear suspension to help with loading bulky items. Like the tow bar it's done via two buttons in the boot and it performs the task reasonably quickly.

Speaking of pace. Doubtless, some will express surprise about petrol making a comeback. But this is a modern engine,  a 298kW three-litre six-cylinder (P400) that also has 48-volt mild hybrid electrification. Further into the future are a performance V8, already confirmed to be called SVX, and a plug-in hybrid. Naturally, the distributor is keen. 

 Either way the main charge is still by a diesel, and the fact that it’s a 2.0-litre four-litre shouldn’t dissuade. This comes in two states of tune, a D200 with 147kW and a D240 with 177kW, yet either way they both produce the same 430Nm of torque, which is arguably the more important figure. Next year comes the six-cylinder D300.

I’d be happy with the D240, picked to be the most favoured engine by Land Rover New Zealand. You can still tell it's a diesel, but is well-insulated, sound and vibration-wise, and the combination of all that torque with an eight-speed automatic gearbox means that it comfortably cruises without strain. At 100kmh the tachometer is seeing little more than 1500rpm.

The air suspension isn't a soft and floaty as you might expect out on the open road; if anything it's a little on the firm side. The ride lowers at higher speeds and, even if you leave it in its tallest off-road suspension setting, it will lower itself once you pass beyond the 80kmh mark.

Don’t be misled by what this means. Road driving was brief, but enough to demonstrate it’s not by any stretch a particularly sporty vehicle. You can expect lean that is amplified by its height and though steering now has feel, it’s still purpose-designed not to be extra-sharp: A certain degree of play and movement is desirous for off-roading. Acceleration is less urgent than you’ll find from sister models: top speeds range from 175 to 208kmh and 0-100 times span from 6.4 to 10.3 seconds. But still, if measured against the old one … well, there’s no comparison. It’s light years ahead.

The other factor that should restrict the playfulness is the model’s size, it’s not overall a leviathan, but it did feel wide on the road I sampled. Realistically, you’ll be most aware of any bulk when parking. Over-shoulder visibility is limited and though the reversing cameras are quite good, the roof-mounted ClearSight rear-view camera that displays an unobstructed view onto the rear-view mirror will be a key asset.

Land Rover has created five specification grades, all coming here: The starter called simply Defender, the top edition is the X and in between are S, SE and HSE trims. As a bonus we also achieved the First Edition, nicely placed and well-provisioned at $125,900, that’s around for just the first year of sale, this delivering here with the SD4 240 diesel  and in 110 body shape. 

The entry point spec delivers the car on 18-inch steel wheels that purist will call cool,  LED headlights, air suspension, a 10-inch infotainment display, all of the off-road hardware including driver assistance systems and a walk-through style cabin up front. 

The First Edition will capture interest because it loads in the Terrain Response 2 and configurable terrain response, but if you want full plush and all the smarts and can swallow the $39,000-plus premium then the X will likely be the one.

It has all the luxury trimmings, top-notch Windsor leather included, a head-up display and panoramic roof, while the off-road capabilities are enhanced with more configurability, an electronic active differential and adaptive dynamics. 

By the way, the indicated RRPs are just starters for discussion, because there are four options packs – Explore, Adventure, Country and Urban – that each tailor the car’s look and capability in different ways, for a cost of course: think around $10k for any one.   

So, yes, go nuts and you can turn it into a hugely expensive car. But, hey, it’s been years since this variant has ever been properly cheap. Plus, there’s talk from the UK media the ‘other Defender’, Grenadier, won’t be any less expensive. Still, it’s possible to buy any version of the Discovery ($115,900 to $139,900) for a lot less than a high-end Defender.

Still, that won’t inhibit interest. The car is already off to a banging start, with all but 15 of the initial shipment of 115 cars sold even before it has reached the showroom and interest so high that LRNZ has already asked for 100 more units than they had forecast to shift for the remainder of this year.

Land Rover will be happy to oblige. One happy state of affairs that what is being called the most important car they’ve had in years is sourcing from a brand-new and bespoke factory in Slovakia, which was less affected by Covid-19 and is back to full production, whereas the JLR plants in the United Kingdom are still a bit constrained.