In a long time before there were SUVs, real SUVs drove the gravel roads of the world. Few of these species survived. One was recently reborn and now visited us for an everyday test.
Large, high, angular, as if milled from solid, the Defender of the modern age stands before us. Smooth surfaces, slightly rounded corners and solid metal almost everywhere you look or grasp. The Defender gives you the feeling of being ready and able to go around the world. And not necessarily on paved paths. We didn't go that far.
Power under the hood
For our everyday test, Land Rover put the Defender 110 in front of the door as a P400. 110, that stands for the five-door long version of the off-road vehicle veteran with up to 8 seats. In the engine nomenclature, P400 indicates a six-cylinder turbo gasoline engine with a displacement of three liters and 400 hp. Not exactly the engine you'd expect in a car like the Defender. But after all, you can hardly have enough power even in the field.
After the door has been opened, the seat literally climbed and the door closed with a big pop, the Defender is also presented inside as a massive monument to British automotive art. The cross member and steering wheel are made of the same unbendable metal - at least that's how it feels. Only the space and the mighty center console remind of the luxury of the sister brand Range Rover. But everything is practical, washable and seems indestructible.
Of course, the Defender also has the usual display technology with lots of touch options, voice control and a few buttons, but thankfully also has a few powerful switches and rotary controls. The latter are double or triple occupied. You can also control the seat heating by pressing the controller for the heating and use a right / left button to use one of the two heating controllers to select the drive programs and the other to control the fan. Cleverly done and intuitive to understand. The stub for gear selection only accepts commands when the vehicle is stationary if you also press the release button - quite classic but sometimes irritating today, where you sometimes only press buttons or tap a lever.
After pressing the start button, the six-cylinder wakes up with a hotter puff, only to go into quiet and almost inaudible idle. You don't need much more than that if you just want to swim with the P400 in traffic. Those who demand the 400 hp can storm up the hills with mighty propulsion and break the 6 km / h mark after a good 100 seconds. It would now continue on the motorway until the electronic limiter intervened at 190 km / h. Can be done, does not have to be. Even without acceleration orgies, the six-seater in the Defender approved almost 13 liters of super. The standard consumption is 9,6 liters. If you use the performance potential from time to time, it can also be 16 liters under winter driving conditions. With all due respect, that is completely out of date. So that we understand each other correctly: the six-cylinder is a nice engine, but it belongs in a Jaguar, not a Defender. A smaller gasoline engine with or without a hybrid or a decent diesel is sufficient here. Fortunately, there are all these variants and so we don't have to point out the manageable range of the large turbo.
It can also take on winter on a level road
Let's play a little with the driving programs. Thanks to Ms. Holle's active help, we completed a good part of our trips on snow-covered roads. Naturally, that doesn't matter much to a four-wheel drive car as long as it goes straight ahead. If you accelerate a little more in normal mode, the rear of the car announces the classic desire to overtake from the side, but - thanks to the long wheelbase - it can be easily caught again. If you choose the one for snow instead of the normal mode, the rear will stay where it belongs. We didn't have scree slopes and rivers to drive through, but we suspect and believe Land Rover that the Defender is well equipped for this.
This also applies to the various seating options. Grips to hold on to are also available in sufficient quantities and sturdy designs, so that a road seems dispensable. However, we would not recommend the third row of seats for long journeys or for off-road use. The Landy holds plenty of luggage, at least when the seats disappear in the back of the trunk. There is plenty of storage space (up to 1.946 liters) for a visit to the beverage store, but there is quite a loading sill to cope with. And because we are dealing with a British and thus originally right-hand drive car, you have to walk around the trunk door to charge on the European side of the street.
For fans of fashionable SUVs, the Defender is only an alternative to a limited extent. With a length of over 5 meters, a height of almost 2 meters and the spare wheel attached to the outside, it is simply too powerful for urban climes. In terms of price (from 55.600 euros) it would be an interesting option for the Audi Q5, Mercedes GLC or BMW X3. The P400 costs 68.900 euros. Of course, the list of extras leaves plenty of room for the price. These include many things that are not available for SUVs. A ladder, for example, to get to the roof, where you can camp if necessary. Yes, yes, dear city adventurers - this is also possible with an off-road vehicle that deserves its name.
Technical data
Eight-seat, five-door SUV of the mid-range, length: 5,02 meters, width with exterior mirrors: 2,11 meters, height: 1,97 meters, wheelbase: 3,02 meters, trunk volume: 160 - 1.946 liters
3,0 liter turbo gasoline engine; 294 kW / 400 PS, maximum torque: 550 Nm at 2.000 - 5.000 rpm, all-wheel drive, eight-speed automatic, 0-100 km / h: 6,1 s, Vmax: 191 km / h, standard consumption: 9,6 liters / 100 kilometers, CO2 emissions: 220 g / km, emissions standard: Euro 6d, efficiency class: D.
Price: € 68.900
In brief
Why? powerful and indestructible
Why not? too powerful and too thirsty
What else? a premium SUV or the G-model from Mercedes when things get serious off-road
