The Land Rover Defender is an icon. It has always been an icon, for a long time it was the very definition of a go-anywhere car. When Land Rover finally updated the Defender, everyone was very skeptical. Cars with such a status don’t evolve much, take the Wrangler or the G-Wagen for example, but Land Rover did a brilliant job. The new Defender looks so damn good. It retains some of the iconic touches of the old one, like the wide hips near the taillights and the window on the rear section of the roof, while also looking completely new from every angle. Prices for the new Defender start at Rs 69.9 lakh and deliveries are scheduled to start in August 2020.
On the outside the Defender is a huge departure from the boxy silhouette it replaces. The edges are smooth and curved, it still has a very boxy shape but it has been sculpted to be more modern, it almost looks like a concept-like thanks to those sculpted edges, metal detailing and the LED headlights. In India, we will get both the ‘90’ (three-door) and ‘110’ (five-door) configurations of the Defender. Between both body styles will be a multitude of variants ranging from — Base, S, SE, HSE and the First Edition. There is only one engine on offer, a 2-litre petrol engine which produces 295bhp and 400Nm of torque, not over the top, but ample.
Land Rover will allow customers to customise their Defenders to their liking and utility via the multitude of accessory packs and variety of seating options on offer. In terms of features the Defender will get a 360° camera and Wade Sensing which uses Sonar sensors to gauge the depth of the water and warn you if you go too deep, neat. The Defender also gets electronic air suspension as standard, on the five-door 110 configuration, off-road tyres and a refrigerated compartment on the centre console as an option, among others.
The extensive feature list and the Defender’s looks will definitely make it a very very serious contender to the Jeep Wrangler that is priced just a shade lesser than the Defender, but loses out on a lot of features and is only available in a single five-door variant.