Land Rover Defender (L663)

The Land Rover Defender is a four-wheel-drive off-road luxury 4x4 from British automotive company Jaguar Land Rover. The vehicle was launched on 10 September 2019 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It is significant for being the first all-new version of the Defender, breaking the engineering lineage with its predecessor, a descendant of the original Series Land Rovers of 1948. The unibody-based Defender is aimed at a more upmarket segment than its predecessor.

The L663 Defender is available in three body length options, marketed as the Defender 90 (3-door), Defender 110 (5-door) and Defender 130 (5-door with extended rear overhang for three-row seating).

Background
The Defender replaces the original Land Rover Defender (1983-2016). The cars are built in Slovakia at Jaguar Land Rover's Nitra plant, a manufacturing facility which opened on 25 October 2018. The plant covers an area of about 300000 m2.

The car, which shares no components or technology with its predecessor Defender model, has permanent all-wheel drive, locking differentials in the centre and rear, and a two-speed transfer case. Unlike the previous Defender models, the new model has an aluminium unibody instead of a body-on-frame construction. All Defender 110 variants come with air suspension as standard whilst the 90 can be optioned with coil springs or air suspension. Deliveries to customers of the 5-door Defender 110 began in early 2020, to be followed by the 3-door Defender 90 in late 2020.

Reception
The Defender has been well received by the motoring press, all reviews underlining that it is significantly different from its chassis-based predecessor: "It’s all very Defender – but not as we know it" declared the Evening Standard; "Born-again off-roader follows a new path and is all the better for it" declared the Motoring website. "Combine (its) seemingly impossible blend of qualities with a fantastic looking package inside and out and you have a vehicle that is literally like no other". A TFL Car review was critical of the quality of the cars, with readers giving accounts of problems within the first few weeks of ownerships and with only up to a few hundred miles of driving. Poor reliability has been a recurring theme with many Land Rover models.

In 2019, Lego announced a 2,573-piece "LEGO Land Rover Defender" set based on the vehicle, released in October 2019. It is one of the largest sets ever made by Lego.

Mechanical specifications
The Defender 110 is 5018 mm long including the spare wheel on the rear door, or 4758 mm without it, and has a wheelbase of 3022 mm. The Defender 90 is 4583 mm long including the spare wheel and 4323 mm without, with a weight from 2133 kg with a 4-cylinder diesel engine.

Defender 90 models with coil spring suspension have a ground clearance of 226 mm whilst the 110 and the 90 with air suspension have a maximum ground clearance of 291 mm.

The initial engine choice will be from the following JLR Ingenium engines: D200 - a 196 bhp 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel, D240 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel of 237 bhp, P300 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol of 296 bhp, P400 3.0-litre 6-cylinder turbo petrol mild hybrid of 395 bhp and P400e which is only available for the 110 which makes 398 bhp. For the 2021 model year (announced September 2020), the following JLR Ingenium in-line 6-cylinder diesel engines with mild hybrid technology are available: D200, D250, D300.

All variants are fitted with a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission coupled with a 2-speed transfer case. Base models come with the white steel wheels as standard fitment.

In the US and Canada, the 90 model is only offered in a limited edition First Edition and the 3.0 6 cylinder engine while the 110 is offered in both the limited edition First Edition with 3.0 engine as well as the regular models with both 3.0 or 2.0 engines.

Front mount 4536 kg load-rated winch is officially supported, most unibody cars do not support winches.

Trim levels and interior
The Defender is available in Standard, S, SE, XS, HSE, X, V8 and V8 Carpathian Edition trim lines. Land Rover also offers four accessory packs, called Explorer, Adventure, Urban and Country, which include various accessories such as a raised air intake, extended mud flaps, a side-mounted storage box, and more.

The entry-level 110 models will come equipped with air suspension, 18-inch steel wheels, LED headlights, and a 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The Defender 90 comes with coil springs, a standard front jump seat that adds a third seating position to the front row. Models with front bucket seats can be equipped with a wide centre console. The car debuts Jaguar Land Rover's Pivi Pro infotainment system, accessed through a 10-inch touch screen.

There are also Hard Top or Commercial versions of both the 90 and 110 variants, in a number of different trim levels, available as Euro N1 vehicles, fully VAT deductible, in the UK and other markets.

Safety
The Defender has been rated 5 stars by both Euro NCAP and sister agency ANCAP.

2021 Bond Edition Defender
Released alongside the 25th James Bond movie, No Time to Die, the Bond Edition Defenders were three hundred 2020 Defenders created by Land Rover to celebrate the car's appearance in the film. The Bond Edition Defender used a 518 Horsepower 5.0 Litre supercharged V8 and utilised the same gearbox as the standard V8 model. It came with all black exterior and 22" black alloy wheels paired with a rear 'Defender 007' badge and blue brake calipers. The infotainment system was fitted with a custom startup screen to commemorate Land Rover's long lasting relations with the bond franchise. The interior sported 'Defender 007' treadplates and all black seating. The car also sports exterior 007 graphic puddle lamps. The cars had either 90 or 110 wheelbases and had a starting price of £105,000.

75th Anniversary Limited Edition
The Land Rover Defender 75th Anniversary Edition is a modified variant of the 2020 Defender with all Grasmere green paint (as a nod to the original 1948 HUE 166, 1st production Land Rover), for both the main body, wheels and interior cross beam. It is available in either a 300 horsepower, mild or plug-in automatic, all wheel drive diesel hybrid. The 75th Anniversary Edition also features a unique '75 Years' graphic placed across the entire vehicle. It can be purchased with either a panoramic sunroof or folding fabric roof. The mild hybrid version can be purchased with either 90" or 110" wheelbases, whilst the plug-in is strictly the 110" variant. The starting price for this car is around £86,000 ($105,000)

Defender X
The Defender D300 X is essentially a performance variant of the base Defender. According to CarExpert, it has an output of 220 kW and 650 Nm.

Defender V8
The Defender V8 is a performance variant of the Defender, with better performance than the Defender X. It uses a supercharged AJ133 5.0-litre V8 engine. Top speed ranges from 191 to 240 km/h, with 386 kW, with a 0-100 km/h of about 5.2 to 5.4 seconds. Its output is rated at 625 Nm, and uses its engine is that of the Jaguar F-Type's. The Defender V8 is available in the compact 90, and the mid-size 110 and the large 130.

Defender OCTA
The Defender OCTA is the high-performance variant of the Defender, poised above the Defender V8 as the most capable, most luxurious and fastest model. Firstly, the 4.4L BMW V8 engine, producing 635 PS and up to 750 Nm of torque, is sourced from BMW and also available in the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models. This is the most powerful engine available for the Defender, enabling it to go 0 - 60 mph in 4 seconds. The engine has been widely noted for its mechanical issues, undergoing several recalls. BMW's 4.4-liter V8 doesn't actually have a flat-plane crankshaft, but it does have a crossover exhaust manifold that sends an evenly-spaced pulse of air to each exhaust pipe. That's why the OCTA's V8 has a McLaren-esque sound, even though it uses a cross-plane crankshaft. Coupled with the high and low range 8-speed automatic transmission the Defender OCTA has a top speed of 249 km/h with 22 inch wheels, and 210 km/h with 20 inch wheels. To support the larger engine, a stiffened transmission cradle, upgraded cooling system with thicker radiators and uprated oil coolers, thicker driveshafts, and stronger rear differential components are included.

Additionally, the Defender OCTA includes hydraulically-interlinked 6D Dynamics Suspension technology, also featured on the Range Rover Sport SV. This system allows the Defender OCTA more wheel articulation off-road, while also reducing body-roll on road. It is 28 mm higher and 68 mm wider than a standard Defender, allowing for 323 mm of ground clearance, 550 mm of wheel articulation and 1 meter wading capacity. The front and rear axels being moved forward 4mm and 3mm respectively allow the Defender OCTA 33 inch tires with both the 20 inch and 22 inch exclusive to OCTA wheels. Also included is the fastest steering system on a Defender yet, as well as 400 mm front brake disks and 365 mm rear brae disks supplied by Brembo.

As previously mentioned, the Defender OCTA is significantly wider than the standard Defender. Thus, the front and rear bumpers are redesigned for the larger fenders as well as the increased front and rear approach angles. Redesigned grilles and the signature Defender OCTA octagon logo are present around the car. The Defender OCTA comes in colors Petra Copper, Carpathian Grey and Charente Grey with Phosphor Bronze accents while the OCTA Edition One coming in Faroe Green. All OCTA's have a contrast roof and tailgate in Narvik Black. The Defender OCTA also has the option of dual raised air intakes. The interior includes new performance Body and Soul front seats, with the rear bench seat including more bolstering than the standard Defender. The standard Defender OCTA has the option of Burnt Sienna semi‑aniline leather, with Kvadrat textile trim in Ebony, Ultrafabrics PU in Light Cloud and Lunar, or semi‑aniline leather in Ebony for it's interior. Also new is the 'signature logo' button on the steering wheel - positioned below the airbag. A short press changes the car into dynamic mode - best for on-road performance driving - while a long press switches the car into OCTA mode. This new drive mode is for performance focused off-road driving,including an off-road launch control and tweaked ABS settings for better off-road braking. It's also important to note that USDM Defender OCTA's have amber lights on the grille.