Land Rover Monthly – October 2019

EXCLUSIVE NEW DEFENDER PREVIEW

Sam, the engineerat the wheel, is

able to adjust thesteering wheelto

end up in what looks avery civilised

position. Before he takes hisseat,

though,we peek down into the driver’s

footwell, to see if the ‘STOP’ and ‘GO’

pedals, shown on acouple of interior

pics leakedearlier thisyear, are there.

They aren’t, thankgoodness.

Time is tightso we fast-track ourway

from Gaydon’s central control tower

to the gravel tracksof the Developing

World region of the facility. On the

broken asphaltof the access road the

Defenderfeels like a modern petrol SUV,

with acomfortable, compliant ride and

notic eably strong enginerefinement.

The engineers just smile whenwe

ask for confirmationof what’s under

the bonnet, but we’re going to say it ’s

an Ingenium 2.0-litrefour-cylinder

turbo engine, with296 bhp – asseen in

the Evoque. And while it’s not quite as

hushed as it is in thebaby RangeRover,

it’s not far off – a whole new benchmark

for a Defender,for sur e. The gearbox is

automatic and it shifts smoothly.

The De velopingWorld isn’t Gaydon’s

roughest terrain but there are plenty of

rippled surfaces and roadside potholes

to expose a car’s weaknesses. We get

up to 50 mph on aroad whichwouldn’t

necessarily break a less capable car, but

one thatwould break anysemblanceof

ride composure. And again, the Defender

dials out theworst of what’s beneath us;

there’s the occasional thud as a wheel

drops into a holeat speed, but it’s a

distant occurrence instead of something

that shakes you outof your seat.

As a tour deforce, Sam throws VN68

MZDat Gaydon’s water splash.The

first attempt results in a damp LRM

correspondent aswater pours in from

the passenger doorseal. But a hasty

inspectionreveals that ourtemporary

radio antenna hasfouled theseal, and sure

enough, with the problem quicklysorted,

a (more committed) repeat run passes

without incident. The De fender never feels

anything but surefooted, either,regardless

of whether it’s clawing itsway back out

of the water, or changing directionat

relatively high speeds, on fine gravel.

We wonder if the air suspension has

been under anyextra focus as a potential

pointof weakness? “Notreally,” Deeks

tells us. “Thesystem had already been

developedstrongly for use in RangeRover

and Discovery, so we knew its fundamental

strengths.The chassis hasrequired

modifications – different bushes andball

joints, andwe made the front lower

control arms thicker and changed the

material too.

“We also beefed up the electric

power-assis ted steering,” he adds,

“but for durability; it’s a gen-two rack

so we knew itwas fine interms of

performance.” He ’s not wrong. Aswe

return to Gaydon’s car park, we’re struck

by how easily the Defender manoeuvres

its way in to a tightparking space–

again, urban users shouldexpect a

quantum leap here.

This extra livability makes us wonder,

in fact, if the newvehiclewon’t end up

being as much an indirect successor to

the Discovery 4 as areborn Defender.

We could certainlysee a 110 being used

as practical, hose-down,go-anywhere

family transport in precisely thesame

way as countle ss Disco 4s. And there’s

a telling shrug from the LandRover reps

as we suggest this developmentcould

allow thecurrent Discovery to evolve

into something else again.

As for the Defender, thisearliest and

briefest of experiences leaves us in little

doubt that it will have a much wider

appeal than anything that’s worn the

badge upto now. And if thatworries

you, we’re notconvinced it should.

Because if theoff-roading abilityreally

is asgood as LandRover claims, then

this car might not just be astunning

Defender; itcould be avehicle that

defines what an all-round SUVcan be.

Now, wouldn’t that be a great thingfor

LandRover to do, again?

Current air

suspension has

undergone

modifications

New Defenderfeels surefooted

28 LANDROVER MONTHLY