The Land Rover Defender is back after a three-year-or-so hiatus. The new Landie is a completely different beast inside and out, compared with the ones that rolled off the assembly line till early 2016. That SUV was an evolution of the original Land Rover Series 1, although, to be fair, it had evolved so much that apart from the visual cues and basic structure pretty much nothing was shared with the first of the line. For its final send-off, a black, double-cab pickup version diced in the snow in the Austrian Alps in Spectre, the 2015 James Bond film.
Since the Defender was so distinctive and had oodles of character, the question on everyone’s mind was whether Land Rover could successfully create a new version of such an icon. Naturally, then, the 2020 model was a much-anticipated one. In fact, there was also apprehension in certain quarters that there might be an overdose of sameness and the new model would be and also look too much like the other SUVs in the Land Rover family. While the resemblance is surely there, it still carries enough Defender cues to be distinct from its siblings.
In spirit, however, the two generations remain the same. The new Defender earns its stripes in the upcoming 2020 James Bond film No Time To Die where a four-door 110 version is tested pretty much to its limits in the rough and inhospitable. While this is supposed to be a somewhat modified version, the stock ‘110’ as well as the ‘90’ two-door version that will follow soon after look like very capable off-roaders going by their specs. And they are expected to be in India next year, making it the first time since Jaguar Land Rover came to this country that the Defender would be available from the company.
The Defender has ditched its body bolted on chassis underpinnings and gone for a monocoque, that is a structure where the chassis is integrated into the body. This architecture, called D7x, is entirely new and is claimed to be capable of taking a heavy beating. The figures for load carrying capacity are impressive and as is that for wading depth of 90cm. Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 technology now adds a Wade programme and world-first off-road Configurable Terrain Response that makes sure that the SUV is getting the maximum possible grip in any condition. The monocoque should help with on-road manners too.
A range of diesel (200hp and 240hp) and petrol (300hp and 400hp) engines with mild hybrid technology will be available initially and would be followed up with a plug-in hybrid and an electric version as well. The new SUV is also smart and equipped with artificial intelligence that learns what to do as you keep driving the car. That should help with some defensive driving too!
