Is the all-new Defender as good as the old one? There's massive hype around the 2021 Land Rover Defender, but does it live up to the well earned name of the old one? Paul Maric tests the latest Land Rover Defender in Pangea Green satin wrap with an on- and off-road test!
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Land Rover content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/land-rover
More Land Rover Defender content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/land-rover/defender
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 01:12
Interior 04:46
Infotainment 07:15
Safety Tech 12:23
Practicality 13:01
On-road 18:50
Off-road 23:50
Verdict 29:15
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
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You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
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#landrover #review #defender @landrover @LandRoverAustralia1
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Land Rover content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/land-rover
More Land Rover Defender content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/land-rover/defender
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 01:12
Interior 04:46
Infotainment 07:15
Safety Tech 12:23
Practicality 13:01
On-road 18:50
Off-road 23:50
Verdict 29:15
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#landrover #review #defender @landrover @LandRoverAustralia1
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. So, something special behind me, and it's putting a big smile on my face.
00:04 It's the all-new Land Rover Defender.
00:05 It's been getting rave reviews everywhere in the world, and I've been really, really excited to drive it.
00:11 And it looks really cool in person as well.
00:13 Now, this here, it has caused a lot of controversy because the old Land Rover Defender,
00:17 I was a huge fan of that. It lasted for ages and ages and ages.
00:21 They just kept going along with it, which is kind of what made it cool.
00:24 So they've got big shoes to fill with the all-new Defender.
00:27 It needs to be good off-road, and also needs to be good on-road as well, and safe and all that kind of stuff.
00:31 Now, this right here is the mid-spec P400 SE.
00:35 So it means it's the six-cylinder mild hybrid, and it's mid-spec in terms of the model grades.
00:40 It's priced at just over $100,000, and it competes with things like, well, funnily enough, the Land Rover Discovery,
00:46 the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, and the Jeep Wrangler as well.
00:50 Today, we're going to do a detailed review and a little bit of mild off-roading as well,
00:53 just to see what this is like with all the new technology.
00:56 If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review, you can use the time codes up on the screen there.
01:00 Or, if you're on YouTube, lucky you, you have chapters below that you can use to skip ahead.
01:05 And if you haven't done so already, make sure you hit subscribe and press the bell icon,
01:08 so you can find out every single time we drive a satin-finished car.
01:11 Now, before we get into the design, I want to run you through what this actually is.
01:16 So, it sits on what's called the D7X platform, which is all-new to Land Rover.
01:21 This doesn't share any panels with any other Land Rover product,
01:24 and the D7X platform also has EV components, which is why this has mild hybrid,
01:28 plus also a future plug-in hybrid coming as well.
01:31 Torsional rigidity, it's important for an SUV, but also important for an off-road vehicle,
01:36 when you get weird angles and suspension flexing the body.
01:39 This here has 29 kNm per degree of torsional rigidity.
01:43 Now, if that doesn't mean anything, put it into context by saying that this is three times more rigid
01:48 than a standard body-on-frame vehicle.
01:50 So, it is built to do some proper off-roading, and it should mean that it also handles nicely as well.
01:55 Now, what about the design? I really like it.
01:57 In pictures, I thought it looked a little bit strange and a little bit goofy,
01:59 but in person, this thing has absolute presence.
02:03 There's a stack of colours to choose from, but some of them, like this Pangea Green,
02:07 come with a satin wrap option.
02:09 So, this one here is finished in that.
02:11 So, it's a bit like my Supra. It turns a lot of heads, but there is one thing I don't love, and it's this.
02:16 Yeah, it is cool to have checker plate here, but why can't we have real metal?
02:20 I don't know, the plastic just looks a little bit cheap.
02:22 Big Defender branding along the front there.
02:25 If we have a look down here, you've got some black highlights with this brushed aluminium,
02:29 which is actually plastic, but it sort of sets apart those colours just to give it a little bit of uniqueness.
02:34 Over on the side, you can see the radiators tucked in behind that vent.
02:37 You've also got vents over here that lead you through to brakes and also engine cooling.
02:41 And then, in terms of headlights, the whole range comes standard with LED headlights,
02:44 with these daytime running lights that look really cool.
02:46 This can also be optioned with Matrix LED lights.
02:49 So, if you want to see what that means, you can actually watch our headlight comparison by clicking up here.
02:53 Around the side here, you have standard 20-inch alloy wheels with an all-terrain tyre.
02:58 Now, this has the all-terrain tyre, but you can get a highway-terrain tyre.
03:01 You just tick the box when you're ordering the car, and I think this is really cool,
03:04 because these tyres will have been part of the development process,
03:07 and it means that you are getting a tyre that has been developed for the car and is also good off-road.
03:11 Check out the size of these brakes.
03:12 So, the P400 comes with bigger brakes.
03:14 If you look at an entry-level diesel, they have smaller calipers, so you have some proper stopping power.
03:19 The whole body uses an aluminium structure, which means it is lightweight,
03:23 and I say that tongue-in-cheek slightly, because it still weighs around 2,300 kilos,
03:26 but it is lightweight compared to what it could be or compared to something like a Discovery.
03:30 Now, like here, so this is just a blank, a bit of a fake inlet,
03:34 but on the other side, this is actually one of the breathers, so you can get a snorkel as well,
03:38 and that's where they fit it, and then it's permanently affixed to the car.
03:41 Up here, you've got piano black on that wing mirror.
03:44 Looks okay, but you can see here, it's already starting to get a little bit yucky,
03:48 so I just wish they didn't use piano black on cars.
03:51 It really just, I don't know, doesn't stand the test of time,
03:54 and I reckon this would look cool in a matte finish.
03:56 You can get different roof colours as well.
03:58 So, this one has the white roof, but you can get body-coloured or black,
04:01 depending on the spec that you've chosen.
04:02 It's actually a heap of customisation you can do.
04:05 I love design throwbacks like this window here. We'll talk about that later on.
04:08 You can even get, like, a ladder on the side here with a tent that sits on the roof.
04:12 You know, the options are absolutely endless.
04:15 Come around to the rear. LED taillights all round,
04:17 so you have them for the brakes, also the indicators and the reverse lights as well.
04:21 I love the design of this at the rear because it is just literally square at the back.
04:25 It's just over 5 metres long with the spare tyre on the rear,
04:28 and the spare tyre is really the thing that extends the length of this vehicle.
04:31 Once you remove that, it's not actually too long.
04:33 In person, this car looks a whole lot meatier than it does in pictures,
04:37 and you can see in terms of the height there how high it is.
04:39 Now, the other interesting thing as well is that with this shark fin aerial,
04:42 you also have the rear-view camera built into there, so another cool feature.
04:46 OK, so we are inside the Defender. I'm excited to show you around this cabin.
04:51 Let's start with the key. This is what it looks like.
04:53 You have lock, unlock, a button for headlights to come on
04:57 or just some ambient lighting as you approach the car,
04:59 the boot, a panic button, and then on the back there you have the Land Rover symbol.
05:04 It's a proximity sensing key, so you just leave that in your pocket,
05:07 and then once you jump inside, you have a start button there.
05:11 How cool does this look?
05:14 I remember when I first jumped into this when we picked it up,
05:17 I was like, "Holy crap, this is just something else."
05:20 In fact, it kind of feels a little bit different because I was at the Frankfurt Motor Show
05:23 when they first revealed this, and they had an adventurer drive a Defender down from above the stand.
05:30 It actually, it was a little bit scary because it came down like this almost vertical slope,
05:34 and I thought that it was just going to roll over and hit people,
05:37 and we had a good chance to have a look at the cars, but there were so many people around.
05:40 This is the first time I've actually had the chance to get up close and personal with it.
05:44 So there are just a lot of details here. I'll start with the door.
05:47 So you have this trim up the top here. You have exposed body panels beneath it,
05:50 and then these screws that you could technically undo and take the door apart if you wanted to.
05:55 Then follows on here to the dashboard where you have these soft items that are stitched and run all the way through.
06:00 This is actually a structural component of the car. It's magnesium.
06:03 You can configure the colors inside the cabin too, so you can get open-pore wood here if you want, or this black element.
06:09 It really is just a modern version of the old Defender in terms of just how rugged they've made everything look,
06:15 even down to here. Look at that. You don't get carpet. You just get like rubber.
06:18 You can get carpet if you want, but that means you can brush it out and probably hose it out if you wanted to.
06:23 And then the seat design as well. You've got fabric and then the perforations there too.
06:27 Yeah, it is just a seriously cool-looking cabin.
06:30 So let me know in the comments section below, what do you think about it?
06:33 Is it a step too far or do you think this type of styling is what Land Rover really needed to do to keep that Defender name alive?
06:40 Now, what about the touch points? So this center section is kind of firm but soft.
06:45 It's like this rubbery material and it's the same story on the door there.
06:48 So as you're driving along, you've got really nice points there to stay in contact with.
06:53 How soft are they? Well, we've got our durometer. We've tested the main surfaces in this car.
06:56 If you want to see how it compares to other cars that we've tested, use the link in the description below.
07:01 Now, what about build quality? It's a Land Rover, so a lot of you are going to be asking about that.
07:05 It actually feels like it's built like a tank. There's really nothing around here that's moving around too much.
07:11 So, fingers crossed this stands the test of time.
07:15 Moving on to infotainment. So, PIVI Pro, it's the all-new infotainment system for JLR.
07:20 Today, I'm going to take you through a detailed review of the 10-inch PIVI Pro infotainment system
07:25 and also the screen ahead of the driver.
07:28 So, you can see here it's a bit of a change in terms of the layout.
07:30 You now have these three main pillars and then shortcut buttons on the side.
07:34 So, we'll start off with navigation. Here it is here.
07:37 So, the inbuilt system is nice and quick. It responds very nicely.
07:42 The other thing that's worth keeping in mind is that this is an always-on system.
07:45 So, it means when you get into the car as a cold start, you can start entering navigation destinations immediately.
07:50 You don't need to wait for the system to boot.
07:52 The old car, I remember we had a Jaguar I-PACE as a long-termer that had in-control touch pro.
07:57 It just took forever when you cold started the car.
08:00 So, you're just sitting here waiting to put navigation entries in.
08:03 So, this is a really nice setup and you can see there that it is incredibly high resolution and very quick to respond.
08:09 In terms of audio, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio, along with the ability to stream online stations as well.
08:17 They actually offer you a package effectively that allows you to have a SIM card built into the car.
08:22 You can just insert it here where it says Nano SIM and that gives you that internet connectivity.
08:26 Strangely though, you also need that for traffic for navigation.
08:29 So, you've got to actually have that enabled and then logged in for traffic to work.
08:33 Back into the home screen here, in terms of telephone connectivity, you can hook your phone up just direct through Bluetooth.
08:38 Or you also have smartphone mirroring.
08:40 It is a cabled system, not wireless.
08:42 You have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
08:44 I'll show you what Android Auto looks like.
08:47 So, you can see here, it's not quite a full-screen integration, but they keep the side menus so you have shortcut buttons available.
08:56 It's nice and quick as well.
08:58 The resolution's okay. It's not super, super sharp like we've seen in other cars like Jeep models.
09:02 They're really high-end and sharp.
09:04 Same with Ford.
09:05 This seems to be slightly dulled down a little bit there.
09:08 Let's have a look at what Apple CarPlay looks like.
09:10 So, you can see there, it is a full-screen integration aside from those sidebars.
09:15 Okay, so a tiny bit laggy there as you flick through the screens,
09:19 but this looks like it's much higher resolution there than the Android Auto.
09:22 So, that looks really nice.
09:23 If you want to see a comparison between Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, click up here to watch a video we filmed recently.
09:29 Now, the good news here is that the voice recognition has been greatly improved too.
09:34 So, you can use voice recognition through your smartphone when it's connected to the infotainment system,
09:40 or you can just push the button and use the native infotainment system voice recognition.
09:45 That also works really well and is improved over the last generation.
09:49 Over on the side here, you've got the shortcut buttons, but also a secondary menu that has the rest of your controls.
09:55 You can see here, especially for Defender, you have all of the off-road controls,
09:59 so you can hook up your towing and trailer.
10:01 This car has the optional trailer package, so it allows you to steer the trailer remotely from here without touching anything,
10:07 which is really cool.
10:08 The wide-sensing program, the four-wheel drive controls, and also vehicle dimensions.
10:12 Now, this is quite an interesting one because this is incredibly handy when it comes to fitting into car parks.
10:18 You need to know what the height of the vehicle is.
10:20 If you get accessories fitted to the car, it will also tell you the story here in terms of how much space they take up.
10:26 The other good news here is that it's 5G ready, which means when 5G does become available,
10:31 the SIM card and the modem that's built into it will fully support that.
10:34 It also comes with over-the-air updates, so it's nice to see that they are getting with the times on that front.
10:39 It also has the ability, if you're in the middle of nowhere, to connect to a satellite phone to download those over-the-air updates,
10:45 so they can deploy fixes while, you know, you're trekking through the centre of Australia or something like that.
10:50 So, really impressive setup.
10:52 The other cool part here is controlling the camera system, especially on Defender.
10:56 You can scroll between the different camera views and then shortcut to certain views of the car,
11:01 so you can get ultra-wide angle and then flick between them.
11:04 You also have an off-road view too, so if you want to do off-roading, you can see where the wheels are, where the ruts are.
11:10 Yeah, it is just a really nice setup.
11:12 OK, moving on to the screen ahead of the driver, it is a 12.3-inch display.
11:16 Really high resolution and it gives you all of your critical information.
11:20 When you're off-roading, it'll show you what the differentials are doing, what kind of wheel extension you have.
11:24 Over on the left-hand side, you have your speedo, then tachometer.
11:28 You can customise all of this as well.
11:30 If we click here, you can actually change the layout of everything and go between the menus.
11:35 I'll show you what that looks like if we go over here to layout.
11:37 You can pick from the one-dial setup, the full map display, a media screen or the driver assistance screen.
11:46 There is a high level of customisability there, so I quite like that.
11:50 And, I don't know, it's just a really big step forward when you consider the old Defender just had a few analogue controls.
11:56 Now, what about speakers?
11:57 This specification comes with a 14-speaker Meridian-branded sound system.
12:01 And in terms of connectivity, you have USB points all over the car.
12:04 I'll show you the ones up the front here first.
12:06 There's one up here, which is a USB-A port, and it's there so you don't have to have cables running along the cabin.
12:11 You can just have your items placed up the top there while they're charging.
12:14 You've got a USB-C port down here, another USB-A port, a 12-volt outlet.
12:20 You can get wireless charging as an option.
12:22 Now, safety.
12:23 You get a whole stack of safety features.
12:25 So, autonomous emergency braking that works at low and high speeds.
12:28 Also has pedestrian detection.
12:30 You have a blind spot monitor built into the wing mirror.
12:33 You also have a lane-keeping assistant and a lane departure warning.
12:37 You also get radar cruise control and a clear exit monitor.
12:40 Now, that is a light on each of the doors that will prevent you from opening the door if there's a cyclist, another car coming.
12:45 It just means you won't accidentally open the door into the path of something that's going to hurt either them or you.
12:51 And then in terms of parking, you have front and rear parking sensors, and the cameras are just what I showed you before.
12:56 You can rotate around.
12:57 You've got an off-road view and also a towing view as well if you're hooking up a trailer.
13:01 Righto, storage.
13:02 So, there's a fair bit to get through here.
13:03 I'm going to disconnect this.
13:05 Where are you going to put your phone?
13:06 So, the phone can virtually live anywhere.
13:08 You've got this neat little tray just there.
13:10 You can pop it in the cup holders.
13:12 You can have it up there if you want, down there wherever you want it.
13:15 There's plenty of room for your phone.
13:17 Now, bottles.
13:18 So, we'll start off with our coffee cup.
13:20 So, a lot of the times, small coffee cups like this, you will spill easily if you can't secure them.
13:25 So, if I get rid of the key, it doesn't really fit in the big cup holder.
13:28 It moves around too much and it's hard to get hold of.
13:30 But there is a smaller size cup holder here that perfectly fits a coffee cup.
13:34 And then in terms of bottle as well, that will fit in the bigger one and also the smaller one.
13:39 Inside the door, you have loads of storage there as well.
13:42 You also have storage up here.
13:44 Centre console.
13:45 This is massive.
13:46 You can option a fridge here if you want to.
13:48 Otherwise, it's a fairly deep storage slot, big enough for a bottle.
13:51 You've also got a glove box down here that isn't too massive but will fit a bottle.
13:57 And finally, you have a sunglasses holder.
13:59 But in terms of other storage locations, so you've got that storage along the top there.
14:03 There's storage behind the screen.
14:05 Storage over here.
14:07 Storage down here as well with a little rubber mat.
14:11 You've got extra storage under here.
14:13 There really is just plenty of places to put your things.
14:16 Moving on to comfort.
14:17 So, all of your comfort controls are run through here.
14:20 You can enable your dual zone climate control just by hitting auto and then individually change your temperatures.
14:25 If you want your headed seats on, it is a push of that dial.
14:29 You then turn it up and down to turn the headed seats on and off.
14:32 In terms of seat adjustment, both the driver and front passenger have electric seat adjustment with this car.
14:37 It has a few options on it.
14:38 That also comes with seat memory for both driver and front passenger.
14:41 You get these nifty things.
14:42 So, standard sun visor with a built-in vanity mirror.
14:45 But if you tilt that around to the side, that extends which is all pretty straightforward.
14:50 But I haven't seen this before.
14:51 A centre one as well which is kind of cool.
14:53 Over here you also have grab handles.
14:55 In fact, you've got grab handles everywhere in here.
14:57 So, it's going to make life easier getting in and out with another handle at the top there.
15:02 Now, what about the seats and comfort?
15:04 So, the seats themselves are really comfortable.
15:06 But you can see that the base is really flat.
15:09 And it means that you move around a fair bit as you're driving.
15:13 And it's really hard to find a comfortable position.
15:15 I just wish they had more bolstered down the bottom.
15:17 Outside of that though, the steering wheel sits nicely in the hands.
15:19 It is a pretty big wheel.
15:20 It's kind of like driving a bus.
15:21 But for the most part, it makes off-roading fairly straightforward.
15:24 All of these controls are very easy to reach as well.
15:27 OK, back seat.
15:29 I like it back here as well.
15:30 So, grab handle to get in.
15:32 And in terms of room, there is just acres of room here.
15:34 This seat is really far back and I have tons of knee room.
15:38 Toe room's really good.
15:39 Headroom is exceptional.
15:41 And can you hear that?
15:42 The rubber floors continue back here.
15:45 In terms of centre armrest, that pops down with two cup holders.
15:49 Pop those in there.
15:51 It's got rubber grips as well.
15:52 And then your bottle can also fit inside the door easily.
15:56 On the door there, you see that clear exit system that I mentioned earlier.
15:59 Air vents down here.
16:01 You also have a little tray there for storing trinkets.
16:03 And connectivity.
16:04 Connectivity galore.
16:05 So, you have like an iPad/device holder built into here.
16:08 Five volt outlet for charging.
16:10 But then additional outlets here.
16:12 Two 12 volts on the side.
16:14 And then two more USB-A outlets as well.
16:16 ISOFIX points and map pockets.
16:18 By the way, this is a five-seater.
16:21 But you can get a jump seat up the front.
16:23 So, you can actually have three across.
16:25 And also seven seats, which means you get an additional two seats for the third row.
16:29 Now, the other cool thing here is this.
16:31 It's kind of like a throwback to the old Defender and also the Discovery.
16:35 You actually have a real window built into that roof.
16:38 Gives the cabin a little bit more light.
16:39 And I think it's, I don't know, just gives you a little bit of authenticity and a reminder of the Defender that built its way to what we see here today.
16:47 Okay, let's talk cargo space.
16:49 Now, how do you open this?
16:51 You have to grab the handle here.
16:52 There's a little button behind it and it swings the door open.
16:55 Unfortunately, though, it means that you are always going to need to leave enough room between your car and a wall.
17:01 If you're parking, I live in an apartment and it means I'll have to go in forwards if I buy one of these.
17:05 Which is a little bit annoying, but just something to think about.
17:07 Now, space-wise, you have a little over a thousand litres of space here without the third row in place.
17:13 And that's measured all the way up to the roof.
17:15 There are some clever features though.
17:16 So you've got some buttons on the side that raise and lower the suspension.
17:19 It's currently in the access height mode, which is the lowest it will go.
17:23 You can push that to go a little bit lower if you need to.
17:25 And that means getting things in and out is going to be easier.
17:28 Now, have a look at all these surfaces.
17:29 It continues on with that theme inside the cabin where it's all quite rugged and rough and tumbles.
17:34 You can throw things in and not worry too much.
17:36 You can pop your extras under there, including the actual cargo blind itself and the recovery hook.
17:41 But you can take this out as well.
17:44 And you can use this outside the car to hose yourself off before you get back in.
17:48 And that's entirely washable.
17:50 So, clever feature there.
17:51 And if you are an adventurer, you're going to find that useful.
17:54 Now, what else have we got here?
17:56 So, a stack of hooks off to the side.
17:58 You have a 12-volt outlet.
18:00 And you also have little hooks just off to the side there as well.
18:03 And then nets to hang things in.
18:05 Plus, fire extinguisher holder, bottle holder, whatever you want off to the side.
18:09 Let's throw our bags in so you can get an idea of just how much room there is.
18:13 There you go. Stacks of space.
18:16 Now, what I'll do is show you what it's like with that second row folded flat.
18:20 There is a trick to this.
18:21 You can just throw the seats down, although you can't do it from here.
18:24 You've got to reach in for that.
18:25 It just won't be flat.
18:26 What you can do, though, is drop the headrests by pushing the button on the side.
18:32 And then come around here.
18:34 A little bit of a trick here.
18:35 So, you pull these seats out of the way.
18:37 And what you'll notice is this allows the seats to then fold flat.
18:41 And that means you get a flat load floor.
18:44 And that exposes just under 2,400 litres of cargo space.
18:49 Okay, so we've hit the road in the Defender.
18:53 Powering this particular model, the P400, is a 3-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder petrol engine.
18:59 It makes 294 kilowatts of power and 550 newton metres of torque.
19:05 It's mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, but more importantly, it uses a 48-volt mild hybrid system.
19:12 Now, we've spoken about mild hybrid systems before, and if you've seen our review of the Mercedes-Benz GLE,
19:18 I go into a bit more detail about what they are, why they exist and how they work.
19:21 But in this particular instance, it stores energy that would otherwise be lost as heat when you brake,
19:26 puts it into a battery, and then when you need to accelerate, it gives you that extra boost.
19:30 Now, let me show you what I mean.
19:31 So, I'm going to slow down here, and we're just going to give the throttle a punch.
19:34 Normally, you'd have to wait for this to wind up for the turbocharger to get boost,
19:38 but all I'm going to do is sink the foot in.
19:40 I can already feel that torque coming on thanks to mild hybrid components,
19:44 and then once the turbocharger comes on, it just pushes you along nicely.
19:48 So, it is a really, really nice package.
19:50 It's incredibly smooth and in and around town.
19:53 It gives you all the zip that you need to make this feel far smaller and lighter than it actually is.
19:58 OK, let's talk fuel economy.
19:59 So, Land Rover claims 9.9 litres per 100 kilometres.
20:03 I'll rifle through this and see how we're doing.
20:06 OK, we're sitting on 11 litres per 100 k's, which is pretty decent.
20:10 I think that's where it should be for a vehicle this size,
20:13 and obviously the more highway driving you do, the better that figure's going to be.
20:17 Now, you don't have any drive modes, so to speak.
20:19 Well, not for on-road driving.
20:20 You just have Comfort and Eco, but if you do want instant sport response,
20:24 you just whack it over to Sport mode, it drops back a few gears and it's ready to rumble.
20:30 The one thing that is worth noting as well is there's no paddle shifters.
20:34 So, that's a deliberate thing by Land Rover because they didn't want, I don't know,
20:38 the image that you associate with a Range Rover Sport or Discovery or something like that,
20:43 they didn't want that associated with this.
20:44 You can still manually change gears if you need to, but just an interesting thing to note.
20:49 Land Rover reckons it'll do 0 to 100 in 6.1 seconds.
20:52 Let's put it up against the stopwatch and see how it goes.
20:55 Now, what about handling?
21:04 So, slide it over to Sport mode, we've got a couple of corners coming up.
21:08 It's seriously impressive.
21:12 This is going to sound weird, it almost feels like a Range Rover Sport in the sense that
21:16 it sits just nice and flat through corners and it doesn't feel big,
21:20 doesn't feel like a Defender, it's genuinely bizarre.
21:24 OK, let's talk about ride.
21:25 I think this is the thing that Land Rover has done best.
21:28 The ride is sensational.
21:29 So, we have air suspension on this vehicle and that gives you almost an unlimited amount
21:35 of configurability in terms of the ride and handling tune.
21:38 But what they've done is they've really softened it out nicely, but not made it too soft.
21:43 So, when you hit those continuous undulations, it doesn't float like a lot of American vehicles do.
21:49 It's really nice, nicely tight, nicely composed and it's really just fun to drive.
21:53 It doesn't feel anything like the old Defender in that sense, but you still get the benefits
21:57 of the air suspension for off-road driving.
21:59 What about visibility?
22:00 Look, it's pretty good.
22:02 I can see all the way down the front of the bonnet there thanks to that faux checker plate stuff.
22:06 Out the back, it's not amazing because the spare tyre is there, but you do have this
22:12 doover here that gives you a clear view out the rear thanks to that shark fin aerial.
22:16 And then the wing mirrors are massive and have blind spot monitoring built into them.
22:20 It's also fairly easy to park as well because of all the cameras and sensors that it has.
22:24 So, it doesn't feel overly intimidating behind the wheel.
22:27 Let's talk about road noise.
22:29 It's pretty quiet despite the fact we're running all-terrain tyres.
22:32 I literally can't hear anything.
22:34 I'm getting a little bit of wind noise coming in through the wing mirrors, but that's about it.
22:38 It is nice and smooth.
22:39 So, with a three and a half tonne towing capacity, it means that you could, in theory, tour around
22:44 the country with a caravan on the back and be perfectly comfortable behind the wheel.
22:48 Okay, so let's just quickly touch on some negatives.
22:51 One is the idle stop system.
22:53 So, it uses that 48-volt system to have a smooth departure and also an imperceptible start.
22:59 So, you come to a stop, it switches off, it's all nice and quiet, but then you let off the brake,
23:03 it's got a hold feature.
23:05 When you get on the throttle, it just gives you a bit of a shunt.
23:08 It's actually not that smooth, and I think that's that hold feature kind of interrupting things.
23:13 So, we'll come to a stop again, it switches off, get on the throttle.
23:17 Yeah, it takes just a little bit to realise what's going on, and then it shunts you a little bit.
23:21 So, it's not as smooth as some of the systems we've seen in the German cars, like the Benzes.
23:26 I think they do a really good job with those idle stop systems.
23:29 It's just a tiny bit too harsh here.
23:31 Okay, turning circle.
23:33 It is not amazing.
23:34 Just like the old Defender.
23:35 Well, it's not as bad as the old Defender, but 12.84 metres, it means you're probably going to
23:41 have to do three-point turns every now and then.
23:45 It's not quite a city car.
23:49 Okay, it is time to do a little bit of off-road driving.
23:52 Now, I'm going to preface this by saying the old Defender was kind of the king off-road.
23:57 So, while it was fairly easy for Land Rover to get this right in terms of on-road dynamics,
24:01 this really had to excel for off-road.
24:03 Now, the specs are pretty impressive.
24:05 So, 38 degree approach angle, that's the angle of the face you can approach before you hit something.
24:09 40 degree departure angle, that's the same angle but in reverse.
24:12 You have those excellent figures because of the short overhangs.
24:15 It means that you aren't going to clip anything when you do some off-roading.
24:18 Ground clearance of 291 millimetres, so that's higher than even the highest of dual cab utes on the market.
24:24 With the air suspension, this can lift by an additional 175 millimetres when it needs to.
24:28 So, that means you're going to clear pretty much all obstacles.
24:31 The air suspension also offers 500 millimetres of suspension articulation.
24:35 I'm going to show you what that means in a second.
24:37 You also have the ability to ascend and descend 45 degree slopes and also sit on a 45 degree tilt angle.
24:44 Now, while we're going to go up Log Mountain and down our rocks for a little bit of light off-roading,
24:49 I just wanted to explain to you what a lot of those figures mean.
24:52 So, we have a 4x4 info screen which is displayed right now that shows our tilt and pitch.
24:58 We also have the ability to see what the suspension's doing and whether the centre or rear differentials are locked.
25:03 This car comes standard with a centre differential lock and you can option a rear differential lock too.
25:08 This has that, so it shows up on the screen there.
25:10 And as we drive, this is going to give us all of that information.
25:13 I'm going to manually raise the suspension height because we're going to be doing a little bit of tilting here.
25:18 Now, this is probably not going to look that extreme on the camera, but I can tell you right now that when we come into this,
25:24 I can see that angle increasing. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.
25:31 Okay, so there it is there. We've peaked at 23 degrees.
25:35 I feel like I'm going to fall out of my seat here.
25:37 From the outside as well, you'll see the angle that the car's on.
25:40 I can tell you now, this is going to make you feel sick if you're inside here.
25:43 Now, there's still more to go. This can go up to 45 degrees before rolling over.
25:47 It is just a stomach-churning feeling in here.
25:49 Okay, we'll progress through here.
25:51 Now, what's happening right now is the car is demonstrating what's happening with the differentials.
25:57 As we get to this seesaw here where we get wheels off the ground, rear diff is open, centre is locked.
26:03 This parking sensor is going nuts there.
26:05 Okay, now let us get to a situation here where we have one wheel completely off the ground,
26:11 so I can show you what that suspension articulation looks like.
26:15 Okay, here we go. Rolling into this situation.
26:17 Look at that wheel off the ground, which is right there.
26:21 Now, let me demonstrate what I mean on the outside.
26:25 Okay, so this is what I mean by suspension articulation.
26:28 The amount of distance your wheel can travel in relation to the body,
26:32 500mm here on the Defender is absolutely massive.
26:35 Now, if you have seen our 4WD Controls Explained video, you can click up here to watch that,
26:39 but if you remember that one, we had a D-Max and that wheel was completely off the ground at this exact same point.
26:44 So, this gives you an idea of how much more travel you have with this air suspension setup.
26:48 When you do have more wheel articulation and you do have more contact with the ground,
26:52 it means you have more traction and you're able to get yourself out of sticky situations.
26:56 Now, let's go to Log Mountain and see how it goes up there.
26:59 Okay, so we are at Log Mountain.
27:01 There are a stack of drive modes here to choose from, so I think Land Rover calls it Terrain Response.
27:06 You press this button here and then you use one of the climate controls to flick through them.
27:10 You've got everything from grass, gravel, snow, mud, ruts, sand, rock crawl, wade,
27:16 and also the configurable programs.
27:19 What we'll do is flick it over to, maybe, let's go Mud Ruts. I think that'll work.
27:24 We've left the suspension in its high setting.
27:27 So, right now the car's tailoring the stability control for the type of terrain you're telling it that you're on.
27:32 It also has Hill Descent Control active, which you can control using the steering wheel.
27:37 I think it's going to walk up here fairly effortlessly because it's all nice and dry.
27:42 Yeah, this feels good.
27:45 It's actually quite comfortable as well.
27:47 Nice to think that you can go do some hardcore off-roading and just be comfortable behind the wheel.
27:53 So, yeah, this stuff that we're doing here is very soft off-roading.
27:56 We're hoping to get this behind the wheel of our four-wheel-drive expert shortly,
28:01 who will be able to put it through its paces, but for a novice like me, it just makes life really effortless.
28:06 Okay, we're going down our rocks here now.
28:08 I'm deliberately picking the hard path here because in every vehicle we have here, it always touches.
28:14 So, I'm keen to see in its highest setting whether we actually get any knock underneath the car.
28:20 By this point here, we would have heard something.
28:24 Damn, that is impressive.
28:26 That is seriously impressive.
28:27 I didn't think the air suspension would work that well off-road, but it's coping really well with this.
28:33 Let's test out this Hill Descent Control.
28:35 I'm just going to roll out of the throttle and reduce that speed to its lowest setting.
28:42 That's pretty good, actually.
28:43 So, you can hear it locking the wheels there.
28:45 Yeah, that's fantastic.
28:47 Very impressive.
28:48 And to cap it all off, you have 900mm wading depth.
28:51 It also has a wade program.
28:53 In the wade program, it effectively, once you tell it that you're going to wade,
28:57 it'll start measuring where the water's coming up, and it will then also close vents,
29:01 so you don't have any water ingress or anything like that.
29:05 Yeah, really impressive.
29:06 I do like that it shows you how deep the water's getting, but generally, if it does get too deep too quickly,
29:11 a sensor that tells you it's too deep is probably not going to be all that useful.
29:15 Okay, Land Rover Defender.
29:16 I've got to be honest, I thought the UK publications that first reviewed this car were being just a little bit patriotic and generous with it,
29:22 but I can tell you right now, it is really hard to fault.
29:25 It is just a weapon off-road.
29:27 It's really good on-road.
29:28 It's got a really punchy engine as well, and there's new six-cylinder diesel coming.
29:32 I don't know, it just puts a smile on your face.
29:34 It makes you happy to drive it, and I think that's what cars are all about.
29:36 You know, it's not just about fuel economy and getting from A to B.
29:40 It's about really just enjoying the car that you own.
29:42 So, yeah, really impressed with this, and so much so that, I don't know, I want to buy one.
29:47 In fact, in this exact color, I think it looks really cool.
29:49 So, watch this space.
29:50 I might end up doing it if I can convince my wife.
29:52 Now, let me know in the comments section below, what are your thoughts?
29:55 I know a lot of you are going to complain about reliability and all that sort of stuff,
29:58 but in Australia, at least, this comes with a five-year warranty, which means it is fully covered.
30:03 But I'm keen to get your thoughts.
30:04 Land Rover owners, what has your reliability experience been like?
30:07 Are they as bad as some of you are complaining about, or are some of those people that are complaining
30:11 not actually Land Rover owners?
30:12 Let me know in the comments section below.
30:14 Now, if you did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and share it,
30:17 and if you haven't done so already, hit subscribe and press the bell icon
30:20 so you can find out every single time we drive a car that puts a big smile on my face.
30:24 But, until next time, drive safely.