Motor Trend - USA (2020-06)

Opuwo

Skeleton Sesfontein
Coast

Windhoek

Puros

NAMIBIA

ANGOLA

Atlantic
Ocean

Rooidrom

Its unibody D7x platform can be sized

in either short-wheelbase, two-door

Defender 90 or long-wheelbase, four-

door Defender 110 form, and it’s both

lighter and three times stiffer than a

traditional body on frame. Its indepen-

dent suspension gives the Defender up to

11.5 inches of ground clearance, up to 12.5

inches of articulation, and improved ride

quality both on-road and off, especially

when equipped with optional air springs.

It also features an automatic center and

rear differential—both capable of func-

tioning as limited-slip and fully locking

units—and an electronic brake-based

front “differential.”

Land Rover’s latest Terrain Response

system is responsible for tying all the

hardware and software together.

that would be in short supply would be

asphalt—just two of the 500 miles we were

about to traverse would be paved. In other

words, Land Rover is pulling no punches

with its new Defender.

The Defender should be well suited

for the task. With a lineage tracing to the

original go-anywhere Land Rover Series

I, the new Defender is a drastic departure

from the generation preceding it—perhaps

hinting at why Land Rover chose such a

remote region for the Defender’s launch.

Look underneath: The live axles,

manually locking differentials, and

even body-on-frame construction Land

Rovers are known for—all features

hardcore overlanders want in their

off-roaders—are gone. In their place sits

a thoroughly modern and capable SUV,

one that challenges the conventional

notions of the off-road world.

AFRICA

40 MOTORTREND.COM JUNE 2020