Land Rover Defender Review | Part Two

The Defender is powered by Land Rover's 2495cc, 5-cylinder, direct injection, turbo-charged diesel engine which produces 122 bhp @ 4200 rpm and has been the class leader in power, tractability and clean emissions for on and off-road use. The 0-62 mph figure is not generally published as the Defender could never be described as rapid but progress is steady.

First and foremost the Defender is an off-road vehicle which is permanent four-wheel drive with a dual-range transfer box and locking centre differential enabling it to tackle most challenges thrown at it with ease. The 5-speed manual gearbox took a little getting used to but once you do it is surprisingly easy to change gear and it will forgive the most lazy of changes. With 221 Ib/ft of torque the Defender is not only ideal for transporting livestock between fields it could also happily tow a horsebox, trailer, boat or caravan.

The Defender coped well on the motorway and once up to speed proved itself to be a surprisingly good motorway cruiser at 60 to 70 mph. Despite the atrocious weather conditions which included heavy winds and torrential rain the Defender felt reassuringly stable and we knew that whatever the weather threw at us we would reach our destination.

Around town the Defender was easy to drive however, in crawling traffic the constant 1st and 2nd gear changes did eventually become tiring. Parking is surprisingly easy once you get used to the turning circle and visibility is good with few blind spots. The handbrake took some getting used to as it is very low down and slightly offset and those with shorter arms found it awkward to engage.

The Defender benefits from Appropriate Throttle Response and under normal driving conditions when an instant throttle response is desirable, the engine uses a Fast Throttle Control (FTC) setting where most of the engine´s power is accessible in the first 30 per cent of pedal travel. However, when low range is selected the throttle reverts to a long travel setting to allow the gentle application of off-road power.

On-road fuel economy is good for a vehicle of this size returning a combined figure of 27.9 mpg. On the downside the engine was relatively noisy at idle, although this is a characteristic of most diesel powered vehicles - but once on the move it was less intrusive.