Land Rover New Zealand’s Defender set to defy critics
The Land Rover Defenders show off its new hill descent capability. Photo: Ben Montgomery
There are times as a motoring writer that you look at a vehicle and realise it’s set to win many awards; for me that’s been the Golf Volkswagen 7, the current Mercedes-Benz A-Class and now, Land Rover’s all-new Defender.
The Defender is priced from $89,900, $125,900 for the First Edition and $159,900 for the 90X and comes as a three-door (aka 90) or five-door (aka 110).
At the end of 2021, Land Rover NZ will have an eight-seater 130 model for sale, plus a hybrid will be available eventually.
At the moment in New Zealand only the110 is available, with 90 arriving before the end of the year.
The power trains included a 2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine producing 147kW of power and 430Nm, a 2-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder (221kW/400Nm) and 3-litre turbo-petrol inline-six (294kW/550Nm).
The interior is pared back, with it gets such technology as ClearSight ground view (see screen). Photo: Ben Montgomery
The Defender was discontinued from manufacturing in 2016, much to the woes and wailing from existing owners. Hey, I was a Defender owner, it was a 1974 90 that I drove from London to the Greek Island I lived on a lifetime ago. On the island during winter when no buses were running, if an old Greek woman waved you down, you had to give her a lift to the village.
So let me tell you, stopping on a hill, helping an old woman on board and using the double clutch to start it up again, meant I had little love left for our Defender.
But purists were still upset and have been naysaying this new vehicle.
The rear lights of the Defender make it stand out. Photo: Liz Dobson
Land Rover New Zealand is basically channelling comedian Catherine Tate’s character Lauren: “Am I bovvered?”.
Because Kiwis are clamouring to buy the Defender, with people trading in such vehicles as the tough Toyota Prado for a bit of British metal.
There have been 100 pre-sold and the shipment has120 onboard set to arrive soon, plus up to 400 orders.
For Land Rover New Zealand’s general manager, Steve Kenchington, the launch of the Defender was “the most anticipated in my career”.
During lockdown Kenchington was questioning himself whether he should reduce the first shipment, now he’s begging the UK factory for more Defenders.
There are also accessories galore with such packs as Country, Adventure, Explorer and Urban. And although Kenchington ordered the accessories 18 months ago – they’re only just arriving.
The five-door (110) model is for sales now in New Zealand with the three door arriving later this year. Photo: Liz Dobson
No matter what the pack – or if you want to spec up your own model – the Defender is one stunning vehicle. Photos really don’t do it justice. I loved such features as the rear tail lights, the indicators and the dialled back interior. It’s rugged but not a kitsch way as It has the basics that you need and that’s it.
You want a fancier off-roader, Land Rover NZ suggests the Discovery.
Some of the specifications I was impressed with includes ClearSight technology (where the fin on the roof is used as a camera, and your rear view mirror turns into a screen for outstanding vision), plus ClearSight ground view (cameras project onto your screen what is below you) and an activity watch key so you can lock up the Defender and go surfing.
The launch included an hour-long off-road session that included hill descent on a steep bank (pictured at the top) to show that the speed is now down to 2km rather than 5km/h.
Look Mum, three wheels!
We also practiced automatic hill hold - that does what words suggest - and Land Rover showed off the Defender’s suspension system and articulation with a drive over two mounds so the Defender was on three wheels.
Easy stuff for this SUV.
I can’t wait to test it at Parihoa farm on the tracks that will be more challenging than the off-roading at the launch.
Bring it on!
The muddy track was no trouble for this off-roader. Photo: Liz Dobson
