We Have Lift-off!

Land Rover unveils the new Defender

- Micky Baker

Take a deep breath. Pause. Close your eyes, and quiet your mind. The wait is finally over. The Defender is here, reimagined and forged anew for the 21st century.

Land Rover has spent a good few years teasing the 4x4 world with snippets and scraps from the development process and, over the past few months, we’ve seen plenty of updates as the next-gen Defender was put through its paces around the world.

According to the marque, the prototypes were put through 62 000 tests, withstanding 1.2-million kilometres of travelling through intense heat, numbing cold and dramatic altitudes. But enough about the past – the future is here, available in 110 and 90 variants, and they’re freaking cool.

Ground up

Surely, one of the biggest challenges facing the new Defender is living up to the off-road prowess and all-terrain versatility of the original models. First, let’s look at the numbers on the 110, listed in the sidebar to the right.

Those are some remarkable numbers, especially with regards to the fording potential. Water crossings are assisted by the Terrain Response 2 system’s new Wade function, and that’s just the tip of the technological iceberg.

The new Defender features permanent all-wheel drive with a twin-speed gearbox. The centre differential comes standard, while an Active Locking rear diff is an optional extra.

With the new Configurable Terrain Response system, Land Rover says that experienced off-roaders can fine-tune vehicle settings to perfectly suit road conditions, while newbies can rely on the Auto function to silently select the best calibrations.

Add to that the ClearSight Ground View camera system, and the Defender seems like an unbeatable, unstoppable, and technologically unmatched off-roader.