New Land Rover Defender

[Nuclear Nick]

I would agree with that. I was just amazed at the height when I topped across the road from the supermarket opposite the Pulborough dealer. With the now all 6cyl and 8cyl options now probably the best offroader and with the refinement to be an all journey, all-road vehicle.

A lot of their recent group problems have been with electrical, media and nav systems on moving to modern systems and they may have solved those now.

Ever the optimist!

We all need a bit of that at the moment

Yes I’ll certainly go along with that.

[Tom 2000]

I have one like this arriving on the 2nd July Defender .png

Very Special Forces.

[Nuclear Nick]

It'll be interesting to see how the Grenadier turns out........

[On-Track]

I preferred the robustness of the previous Defender 90/110. I can't imagine the military ordering this new one - it just doesn't look soldier proof!

That said, it does look good for a less demanding (perhaps more fashion-conscious) market

Isn't this forum devoted to a car that perfectly meets the needs of a less demanding (perhaps more fashion conscious) market?

I do struggle to see the market Land Rover is aiming for with the new Defender. The dedicated off-roader is more likely to look at a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and the on-road market is much better served by the Macan. Will serious horse trailer/caravan users move to the Defencer from the Discovery?

[SAC1]

In our area the old model Defender has been replaced almost entirely by 4x4 pick-up trucks, some with the 4 seater double cab. Ford Ranger, Isuzu D Max,Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, VW Amarok and Mitsubishi L200. These are used by farmers, large estates (like Longleat with its safari park) and trades people.

There are a handful of the new model Defenders about, but these are all converts from other luxury SUVs. Certainly not being used for off-roading! Exept perhaps the grass verge around schools at pick-up time, excuse the pun!!

[Wing Commander]

I preferred the robustness of the previous Defender 90/110. I can't imagine the military ordering this new one - it just doesn't look soldier proof!

That said, it does look good for a less demanding (perhaps more fashion-conscious) market

Isn't this forum devoted to a car that perfectly meets the needs of a less demanding (perhaps more fashion conscious) market?

I do struggle to see the market Land Rover is aiming for with the new Defender. The dedicated off-roader is more likely to look at a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and the on-road market is much better served by the Macan. Will serious horse trailer/caravan users move to the Defencer from the Discovery?

I have no axe to grind here, but in the same way that Porsche have made a huge success of selling SUVs/4x4s to people who don’t really ‘need’ one (hence Macan & Cayenne now massively outsell the sports car models at Porsche) then JLR are selling bucket loads of SUVs/4x4s (as a company where this type of vehicle is in their DNA). I wish JLR the best of luck with the new Defender. If you look at the video reviews, it is a massively competent vehicle and I’m willing to bet it’ll go places & do things that a Macan or Cayenne couldn’t. Of course, the vast majority of Macans, Cayennes, new Defenders etc will never be asked to do any serious off-roading. I think JLR have a huge hit on their hands with this new Defender, but as it is seen to be replacing a British icon that is the ‘original’ Land Road Defender, there are bound to be people who are happy to criticise this new car. Let’s see...

[On-Track]

Despite my doubts over the market Land Rover is aiming for, I too wish them success with the Defender. Mind you it seems to me that one of the biggest mountains the car has to climb is JLR's reputation for unreliability. As Vauxhall found way back in the 1960s, it can take decades to do that even when the cars themselves have changed.

Some years ago, I watched a video where Steve Sutcliffe (then of Autocar) compared a Cayenne Turbo with a Range Rover Sport SVR. As expected, on road the Cayenne aced the comparison. However, the big surprise was off-road. The Cayenne went everywhere the RR did and was only defeated by repeated climbs up a wet grassy slope. It was the Range Rover's Mud & Snow tyres that made the difference. I remember from my time at the Silverstone PEC it's actually amazing how good an air sprung Cayenne is off-road. Of course, it will never match the approach and departure angles of a Defender.

Edit: Finally found the videos I referred to above:

[mcnallys]

I have one like this arriving on the 2nd July Defender .png

Rab, did you get it? Need pics!!

[TD444]

I have one like this arriving on the 2nd July Defender .png

Rab, did you get it? Need pics!!

2nd that - what colour did you go for - in the pic, is that the £1800 Carpathian Grey option? :O

[Rab J]

Took delivery a couple of weeks ago. Really enjoying it so far. I've never drove anything that had so many people wanting to look it over and talk about it