Land Rover Defender 110 2021 review: off-road test

In true Land Rover style, the 2021 Defender is available in many and varied forms.

In 110 guise, there is a choice of three engines: the D200 (a 2.0-litre i4 diesel, 147kW/430Nm); the D240 (a 2.0-litre i4 diesel, 177kW/430Nm); and the P400 MHEV (a 3.0-litre i6 294kW/550Nm petrol engine as part of a mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV) set-up – more about that later).

There are six trim levels: Defender 110, S, SE, HSE, First Edition and X.

There are nine variants: Defender 110 with the D200 ($69.626); the 110 with the D240 ($75,536), in S ($83,435), SE ($90,936), or First Edition spec ($102,135); and the P400 in S ($95,335), SE ($102,736), HSE ($112,535), or X spec ($136,736).

The 2021 Defender is available in many and varied forms.

Unprecedented times have impacted the supply chain and there were no new diesel Defenders available to drive at the Aussie launch, or even available to buy in Australia until further notice, as demand has rapidly outstripped supply in the current global conditions.

The Defender will be available in 90 (not here yet) and 110 body designs, with up to six seats in the 90 and the option of five, six or 5+2 seating in the five-door 110.

As standard, the Defender gets a stack of gear including LED headlights, heated, electric, power-fold door mirrors, approach lights and auto-dimming keyless entry, cabin walk-through, auto-dimming interior rear view mirror, carpet mats, fabric eight-way heated semi-powered front seats 

It also has 10.0-inch touchscreen Pivi Pro system, a smartphone pack (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), DAB radio, satnav, an online pack with data plan, and a 180W six-speaker sound system.

As standard, the Defender gets a stack of gear including LED headlights.

Driver-assist tech includes AEB, a 3D surround camera, a 360° parking aid, wade sensing, cruise control and speed limiter, lane keep assist, and traffic sign recognition and adaptive speed limiter.

The new Defender has a permanent all-wheel drive system with dual-range transfer case, electronic air suspension, and Terrain Response. 

But, again, in true Land Rover tradition, Defender buyers are able to option up their vehicle with a multitude of accessories and Packs, which include grouped accessories to suit your particular bent, i.e. Adventure, Explorer, Country or Urban.

There’s a choice of 11 wheels across four sizes – from 18-inch to 22-inch – and that range includes the Defender’s old-school 18-inch white steel wheels, although I haven’t see any of those available here in the metal yet.

Driver-assist tech includes AEB, a 3D surround camera, and 360° parking aid.

At launch, we spent the lion’s share of our time in an Indus Silver five-seater P400 S, which, as mentioned, has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $95,335, but its price as tested is $109,987, because it was equipped with a stack of optional accessories, including a $2740 comfort and convenience pack (with premium cabin lighting, front centre console refrigerator compartment, Meridian Sound System and wireless device charging), a $2086 driver assist pack (with blind spot assist, rear collision monitor and rear traffic monitor), 19-inch six-spoke, gloss black alloy wheels ($520) and more.

Exterior colour choices (satin protective wraps) include Pangea Green, Indus Silver and Gondwana Stone.

This Defender has a 3.0-litre turbo-charged in-line six-cylinder petrol engine – producing 294kW at 5500rpm and 550Nm at 2000-5000rpm. It has an eight-speed automatic transmission, and a permanent all-wheel drive system, dual-range transfer case, as well as Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 system, with switchable modes such as Grass/Gravel/Snow, Sand, Mud and Ruts, and Rock Crawl, all which optimise throttle response, engine outputs, transmission shifts and diff control to best suit the terrain. 

Our test vehicle also had the Defender’s new configurable terrain response system (giving the driver the ability to select and save powertrain, traction and diff settings for off-road driving) and a wade programme, which increases air-suspension ride height and closes off HVAC vents to reduce the ingress of moisture in the air.

This Defender has a 3.0-litre turbo-charged in-line six-cylinder petrol engine.

It also has centre and rear diff locks.

As mentioned earlier, the P400 is an MHEV (a mild hybrid electric vehicle) and, as such, it has a 48-volt lithium-ion battery, aimed at reducing engine load and fuel consumption, and it has a 7kW electric supercharger aimed at minimising turbo lag.

Damn good, as capable as ever, if not more so. With trade-offs though – let me explain.

In terms of off-road measures, the Defender has a claimed 291mm of ground clearance and a wading depth of 900mm. If you belly out in the Defender, there’s an automatically applied emergency 75mm of extra height from the air suspension system.

It has approach, ramp (breakover) and departure angles of 38 degrees, 28 degrees, and 40 degrees respectively.

The off-road drive loop, organised and guided by 4WD and towing experts, John and Carl Eggenhuizen of Getabout Training Services, included a mix of gravel and dirt tracks, rocky hill-climbs, slippery descents, mud-holes and water-crossings.

So, with air suspension raised to off-road height and tyre pressures dropped to 26 psi, we got stuck straight into the drive and, from the get-go, the Defender was in its element.

From what has traditionally been a real basic, no-nonsense 4WD, the new Defender offers such levels of comfort and refinement that it’s a dramatic change. 

Steering is light and responsive at low speeds and that's always handy for such a big vehicle during low-speed, low-range 4WDing, especially when tracks become quite tight and twisty.

As it did on-road on this launch, it felt strong and planted on the track, any track, and ride and handling at speed over chopped-up sections of dirt road is so smooth and so composed, I could barely believe I was driving a Defender. 

The new Defender offers such levels of comfort and refinement that it’s a dramatic change. 

The Defender’s suspension – a combination of a multi-link set-up and fully independent air suspension – works supremely well to smooth out most road-surface imperfections at all speeds. Case in point: it made bearable what would otherwise have been a particularly teeth-rattling ride over a chopped-up dirt road.

There’s plenty of low-down torque from the petrol engine and in low-range that’s evenly applied.

The comprehensive terrain response system, which gives you the option to dial through different driving modes, including Mud and Ruts, and Rock Crawl both of which we used a fair bit on this off-road drive loop, is quite a clever set-up and almost feels out of place in a Defender.

The added bonus is: you can calibrate the responses – acceleration, traction sensitivity, and diff control – to suit your driving style and the terrain you're on.

Wheel travel is decent and the Defender is able to get useable flex out of that multi-link set-up and air suspension combo.

Another thing is the fact we were doing a lot of bouncing around on hard-core terrain – over rocky ground and through mud-holes – and it was still comfortable. I could imagine doing hours of low-range 4WDing in this Defender and not suffer a massive headache or feel like I’ve sustained a spinal injury as you might feel after hours of driving in some other modern 4WDs. 

And that's a big plus in this Defender’s favour and something no driver of previous defenders could surely claim.

The Pivi touchscreen system is essentially the new Defender’s command centre, where you can cycle through terrain response programs, set driving modes, and operate everything from that screen. It's easy enough to use, generally, however, one of the few niggles I have about this Defender, is that this system can get a little bit tricky to operate; I had problems trying to select the modes that I actually wanted in between sections of terrain. Maybe it's just me, the Luddite that I am, but it just feels a little bit tricky to operate on the move.

I could barely believe I was driving a Defender. 

The driver-assist tech and all the high-tech off-road-oriented wizardry, especially terrain response, is so seamlessly effective and works so well that it’s almost too good, too smooth. You feel one or two steps removed from the experience of actually driving the terrain you're on. It doesn't feel like such a dialled-in experience as the Defenders of old, or even as hands-on as it still does when driving off-road in the rebooted old-school 4WDs, such as the Suzuki Jimny, or the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. 

That's not to take anything away from the new Defender’s capability – it’s very capable – but it just feels a little bit cold, a little bit too clinical in its execution.

You can’t fault the efficacy of the electronics but that’s another part of the problem – you’re wholly reliant on them functioning and being effective. One journo reported that a fault alert flashed on the dash when he went through some water. Now, that may be an easy fix – and it was on this occasion (just a quick turn-off-and-back-on solution) – but then again, it may not be a quick fix. And if you’re in the middle of nowhere, at the mercy of your high-tech off-road systems, and a sensor malfunctions, then minor strife could become a real problem. It’s certainly not something the application of good old-fashioned bush mechanics could solve, as may have been the case on a previous-generation Defender. But then again, this is an issue you’ll potentially be confronted with in any modern-day 4WD.

The Defender has a claimed maximum unbraked capacity of 750kg and a maximum braked towing capacity of 3500kg.

It has a maximum roof load of 300kg.

In terms of safety gear, the new Defender has AEB, a 3D surround camera, 360° parking aid, wade sensing, cruise control and speed limiter, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition and adaptive speed limiter, hill descent control, tyre pressure monitoring system and more.

It has ISOFIX points on the second-row outboard seas only.

The Defender does not yet have an ANCAP safety rating.