|
By
EWAN KENNEDY
26 November 2007
This one’s a truck, an old truck. And very proud of being so. Land
Rover Defender is a direct descendent of the 4WD vehicle that was such a
huge success when launched in Britain 59 years ago.
The Land Rover was intended to do just that, rove on the land.
It had to work hard for its living as it was aimed chiefly at
farmers. But was also popular with vets, miners, builders, anyone
who wanted to traverse harsh conditions in their daily life.
Defender is no toy SUV. In an age of pretenders that might look
like 4WDs but are in reality just people movers with a macho body
and a few more driveshafts, Defender is the real thing.
There's good and bad in that. The good is Defender’s amazing
ability in off-road driving. During an extended drive program that
included overnight camping we recently pushed Defenders to the
limit in areas that would have stranded and/or broken almost all
other vehicles. It scrambled its way up and down slopes that were
sometimes as extreme sideways as in a fore and aft direction.
The Land Rover's body may be old, but there are now some pretty
sophisticated traction controls under that aging skin. Fitted to
the Defender 110 wagon, but not to the 130 double-cab ute, these
electronic aids aren't there so much as to get the Defender
through, as to let it do so at crawling speeds and thus minimise
impact on the vehicle and the landscape. Not to mention making
life easier for the occupants, real four-wheel driving can be hard
on the body!
In its latest iteration, the Land Rover Defender has a new
engine. A 2.4-litre four-cylinder unit it has been borrowed from a
Ford Transit van (Land Rover is currently owned and controlled by
Ford). Modified to suit harsh off-road running, it only manages 90
kilowatts, but it’s torque that talks and this commercial engine
has a handy 315 Newton metres that starts at only 1500 rpm and
goes all the way up to 2700 rpm. Most operators will have the
engine at its torque peak virtually all the time.
The main change to the appearance of the Defender was brought
on by the height of this new engine, necessitating a bonnet bulge.
So you can no longer carry a spare tyre on the bonnet. Another
major change is the deletion of the traditional vents at the base
of the windscreen. From a distance these appear to still be there,
but in fact all you are looking at are filled-in blanks.
Air conditioning is now standard on all models because of the
absence of the vents. The air-con unit is now in a conventional
position behind the dash instead of robbing room from the
passenger’s footwell.
Sitting behind the new engine is a six-speed manual gearbox.
Adding the extra ratio over the five-speed in the previous
Defender has enabled the use of an extra-low first gear, and a
highway cruising sixth gear.
Use that low first with the transfer case in low range and the
big Defender can crawl over all sorts of terrain with ease.
Other than the engine the biggest improvements to the latest
Land Rover Defender are to the dash area. Using a panel that’s
virtually a carryover from the LR Discovery 3 gives the Defender a
less industrial look and provides better instrument visibility and
improved ergonomics.
Changes to the chassis, steering and suspension are relatively
minor, but do give the new Defender a slightly better feel from
behind the wheel.
We have criticised the Defender in the past for having tiny
windscreen wipers and for leaks in the cabin during heavy rain.
The wipers remain as minute as ever, but light to moderate rain
during our test trip didn’t see any water entry. We reserve our
judgement on this, but it looks as though the deletion of the
under-screen vents may have solved the problem.
Defender now comes with as many as seven seats in the 110
wagon. The extra pair in the rear fold up to the side of the body
when not in use and don’t take up too much luggage room in that
cavernous space. They are not the most comfortable seats we have
ever sampled, but the kids will love being back there.
The front seats remain somewhat flat and don’t support very
well. They continue to be wedged against the door, so restrict
elbow room.
Ride comfort and general refinement are good – for a truck
that is. Those pampered souls who love their toy 4WDs won’t like
what they feel and hear inside the Defender.
Land Rover Defender is exceptionally well priced. The
seven-seat 110 wagon sells for $48,990 and the 130 pickup has a
recommended retail of $50,990. Land Rover Australia has chosen not
to import the 90-inch short-wheelbase Defender to this country at
this time.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
