[harishpr]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Sorry to disappoint you. But these points are mostly not valid on any of the Land/ Range Rover products. You can buy these if you like, the decision will be from your heart and there is no harm in buying what you like.

Ask the dealership, spare prices of service/ body parts & the stocks availability of the Discovery sports. Better if you can speak to an owner holding LR for over 2-3 Years.

Thanks for offering an alternate view point.
I request the LR owners to PM me if possible, to share your ownership experience.

[Venkatesh]

New Land Rover Defender, Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes Benz G-Class off-road performance

https://youtu.be/vzx9uFsztlo

[Venkatesh]

Land Rover Defender 110 Hard Top

https://youtu.be/Z8Zs0e2o6YY

[Venkatesh]

New Land Rover Defender 90

https://youtu.be/ZZaLoUdl0IM

[Venkatesh]

Land Rover Defender India launch on 15th October






https://twitter.com/landroverindia/s...906974720?s=09

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by sbanerjee

Hey BlackPearl, did you manage to get the test drive? Do update us.

Sorry for not responding earlier. Yes I got a chance to finally drive the new Defender, but got very busy after that to post about the experience.

A teaser pic -



As promised by Land Rover, it was a 3 hour unattended test drive. The test drive process was extremely smooth and all precautions regarding hygiene and social distancing were taken by the dealer. The behaviour of the Rockar Jaguar Land Rover guys was fantastic and it was a stark contrast with that of the Lookers Land Rover a couple of weeks earlier. Coming to the driving experience, I must confess that I kept on comparing it with my Range Rover Sport, which is not a correct thing as they are built for different segments and purposes.

Ready for the test drive -




Likes

1. Superb seating position, easy to drive with great visibility
2. Quite loaded but without that going overboard feeling
3. Build quality felt very good, seemed like everything is built to last
4. Surprisingly good handling for a 2.5 Tonne SUV, felt better than my Range Rover Sport. Steering feels responsive and well weighted
5. Sports mode is quite responsive
6. Born to go off-road - Low Ratio Gearbox, Updated Land Rover Terrain Response System, Adjustable ride heights, 700 mm of water wading. It is engineered for off-road travel.
7. 360 degree camera is fantastic. It is like your personal drone hovering above you and showing you the surroundings. You won't need a spotter for going off-road anymore.
8. A switch on the inside rear view mirror can be flipped to get live feed from the shark fin antenna outside. It is pretty cool.
8. Functional cabin, does not look rich, but well built. I think that was the intention. It is a Defender after all!
9. Huge boot space
10. Many USB charging points along with a 3 pin charging point in the boot and wireless charging station in the center console
11. Loads of accessories available from Land Rover, in fact I don't think any other car has so many accessories available from the manufacturer at the time of launch

Dislikes

1. Outside rear view mirrors are smaller/narrower than what I would like, though it has blind spot warning lamps
2. Extremely small/impractical glove box
3. Meridian music system is not impressive
4. Does not have the road presence of the previous generation Defender
5. It has lost the rugged simplicity synonymous with the Defender name
6. The vehicle has become so complicated now that it will take a long time to build the confidence to take it to extreme remote places, at least for me

A small video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfWqygTZiFE

Exterior

Looks are subjective and frankly speaking, I was not impressed when I first saw the new Defender in flesh. The black colour was not looking good. However, the next time I saw it in the silver colour, the perception changed quite a bit. I believe the lighter colours are looking really good on the vehicle. A decked up Defender with the available accessories will look mean and purposeful. I liked the rear small tail lights in particular, they looked brilliant and class apart.





Exterior pictures from different angles






Could not stop myself from posing


I have been a sucker for tail mounted spare tyre and the Defender has it. For me, it makes a lot of difference to the looks of an SUV.



Look at the gap in the wheel arches when off-road height is selected!




Interior

The cabin is airy and visibility is fantastic. The view from the driver's seat is great.



The sunroof is huge adding to the feel.



There is everything that a modern car should have and layout is well thought of. Everything falls into hand quite easily, but they have not gone overboard with the interiors. Thankfully it does not have a 40 inch entertainment system! The driver's seat is comfortable, a bit on the harder side. But it will be really good for long drives. I drove the vehicle for almost 2 hours and more than a 100 miles.
The rear view mirror gets a nifty feature, it can switch to live view from the camera installed in the shark fin antenna within seconds. The image quality of the display in the mirror is good. The switches and rotary knobs have a tactile feel.

I am not a big fan of TFT screens and love analog dials, but that is a thing of the past. I have to learn to like these screens. The good part is that they can show loads of information.





The glove box is very small, almost useless.



The Meridian music system sounded like any other generic music system, not at all impressive. Interior space is well managed and leg space for the rear seats are also good. The roof is high and adds to that airy feel.


Driving experience, ride and handling

I felt immediately at home behind the steering. The Defender felt much more agile than my Range Rover Sport. It could change directions with lesser body roll and at the same time the ride was quite plush. It was not crashing into the potholes like the RRS. The engine gearbox combination felt similar to the RRS. It moves effortlessly, but I would not say fast. It is not going to win signal to signal races, at least not the 240 Bhp version. But that is not the purpose of this car. NVH wise, the cabin is pretty silent at high speeds.
I could not go off-road with the vehicle as I ran out of time, but I did drive it over a gravel road and it felt at home. The ride got better with speed, but low speed ride quality is more than acceptable. It is far better than the Range Rover Sport. It gets the same adjustable ride height suspension as the Range Rovers. It is cool to be able to adjust the ride heights at the press of a button, but it is not very pocket friendly. I feel they should have provided non adjustable coil springs as an option. It is supposed to come as an option in the D90, but I am not sure.


Verdict: It is very difficult to give a verdict after driving for just a few hours, but I believe Land Rover has built a pretty solid vehicle. I don't want to get into the argument whether it can live up-to the expectations of the legendary Defender name, or whether Land Rover did a good job in naming this vehicle as the Defender, as that would be futile. All I can say is that it drives well, extremely functional, well built, adequately good looking in flesh and has a character of its own. As far as the reviews go, specially from those who drove it in the Namibia drive arranged by Land Rover, it seems it can take a lot of abuse and can live off the road comfortably. That should be good enough to get one, provided it turns out to be reliable in the long run. Though there are many horror stories on the net, I have started to have a lot more faith on Land Rover vehicles after driving one for almost a year and sixteen thousand Kilometers. I don't know if it is a one off case, but the Range Rover Sport is turning out to be a very reliable vehicle, in-spite of being 9 years old with more than 100K Kilometers under its belt. So hopefully the Defender will turn out to be reliable as well if maintained properly.

[Turbanator]

Even I went for a short drive. As you have noticed, it does not appeal in all the colours, but it's a very tall vehicle. There was a velar and RR sports in the showroom and those looked short in comparison. Overall acceleration is fast given the size of the vehicle, but it disappointed me with interiors. These looks barebone and the central screen is tiny. Maybe because of black interiors, but it will be a tough sell in India with that 4-cylinder engine and this kind of interiors.

The exterior side mounted gear carrier made a hissing noise on the highway and appear as a piece of show-off. Overall, they could have done a better job with this vehicle and I won't be surprised if it becomes just another model in the JLR lineup. Mercedes has done infinite times better with G-wagon in my opinion.

[akash_v12]

The First Land Rover Defenders have made their way to our shores in 110 guise.
Image Source - Land Rover India

[123.rishabh]

Just checked the Online Booking website of Land Rover.
The starting price for the Defender is mentioned as 79.93 Lakh which is for the 110 Variant.
Earlier LR had announced that the 90 will also make it to our shores but I don't see that on the booking website

[BlackPearl]

Saw these Defenders outside a dealership in Chur, Switzerland. I did not see so many in London. I think all the colours were on display and they were looking good, especially the ones with the white steel rims!

[Venkatesh]

Land Rover Defender is powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine from JLR’s Ingenium family, putting out 300hp and 400Nm of torque. 0-100kph takes a claimed 8.0sec in the 90 and 8.1sec in the 110. An 8-speed automatic is standard.



Prices for the 90 range from Rs 73.98 - 84.63 lakh, while the 110 ranges from Rs 79.94 - 90.46 lakh all ex-showroom.



Land Rover Defender will be available with four pre-configured packages - Urban, Adventure, Explorer and Country. Here's a detailed look at the accessories on offer with each package.









https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...98-lakh-418902

Walkaround videos

https://youtu.be/V9t5ZscQxao

https://youtu.be/vJSFfIKv-ns

https://youtu.be/iqJUdwtvd88

https://youtu.be/Y6DODcBoemk

https://youtu.be/ZlvkT_3mTOk

[Abhi5868]

Finally the iconic Defender has come to India. The company must take this chance to not just launch their most robust vehicle till date but also revamp the brand image itself, afterall their parent company has shown it's greatest growth in the recent years. I can see this one munching pretty good numbers atleast in the initial run.

However, the prices are overlapping with that of the Velar. Anyone else feels this might affect the Defender's sales or Vice versa?

[karan561]

Likes;

- Looks absolutely imposing in real life, particularly the stance in Off Road Mode (291 mm Ground Clearance)
- Off Road Kit (Terrain Response Modes), Standard Air Suspension (For the 110), 3D Imagery & Cameras.
- Interiors are well modernised & spacious, especially great headroom.
- Plenty of Customizations & Accessory Packs available.

Dislikes;

- No Manual Transmission is a big miss for the old school enthusiasts.
- No 6 cyl Engine Options at launch.
- No Diesel Engine for India.
- Being a CBU, it is pricey.

VIDEO;

https://youtu.be/BhyHKWU0v5s

Platform;

- This generation of the Land Rover Defender is codenamed the L663.
- This new Defender is based on a completely new Platform & this is an all Aluminium one which is a departure from the previous as this is a monocoque. But Land Rover also claims it to be the most toughest, & capable LR ever.
- Monocoque D7x Architecture/Platform is stiffest LR Body ever as claimed by Land Rover & the torsional rigidity is supposedly 3 times the traditional Body On Frame's one's.

Exteriors;



- The Design, its surely modernised greatly by Mixing the familiar and the new at the same time having Respect for the original.
- The model pictured here is finished in a Pangea Green Satin Shade. The satin finish is actually a wrap/film. This Protective Wrap/Film is PU-Based & can be removed anytime.



^ The front is definitely rounder than before, it may be because of all the safety & pedestrian norms and also because the whole design concept is different but at the same time the respect for the original has been kept, which is visible in the design elements once you move around the car a bit more. But for instance the Circular headlights inside the square frames have been the signature Defender highlight which has been continued here.



^ Squared Off Wheel Arches & a strong Shoulder line contributes towards the Defenders masculine looks on the side.



^ The square panel on the window is not only a design element but its functional too as it allows you to attach accessories like ladder or storage boxes.



- 12 Wheel Designs are available globally, ranging from 18 to 22" Size whereas India gets 9 wheel design options to chose from upto 20".
- Tyres are Good Year Wranglers (255/60 R20) All Terrains.



- The Spare Wheel is externally mounted in typical Defender fashion.
- Strong, Iconic Shoulder Line is visible in this pic;



- Also love the sheer verticality at the rear in the tail lamp section.
- Note the Tail gate has soft close operation.

Accessory Packs;

Defender can be Pre-Customised with 4 different Design Packs, namely the;

1) Adventure Pack
2) Explorer Pack
3) Country Pack
4) Urban Pack

Engine & Gearbox;

- The Only engine on offer for both the 90 & 110 variant is the P300 Petrol (Engine Code: AJ200. Ingenium 2L, 4 Cyl) producing 300 HP & 400 NM.
- Gearbox is the 8 Speed ZF Unit.

Interiors;

- Very Overwhelmed with the design approach in the Interiors as it is well modernised but at the same time it has certain Exposed Structural Elements like the Magnesium Beam, Visible Screws & Fixings which gives a very raw approach to the interiors;



- Infotainment is the New Advanced EVA 2.0 (5G Ready) & also has some Cloud based features.

- The Instrument cluster is also extremely customisable;



- Also very happy to see this glass portion which is called the ALPINE WINDOW (or Alpine Lights) has been retained to maintain the emotional continuity for the Defender;



Overall a very spacious Interior

Off Road Gadgetry;



- Permanent 4WD.
- Locking Differentials.
- Water Wading Depth is 900 mm.
- 291 mm Ground Clearance with the Suspension in its highest setting
- Camera Support & 3D Imagery also will boost the visibility, confidence in OFF ROAD situations.

Final Thoughts;

The Defender surely looks 21st Century ready & is reimagined well. As this Video & Thread was based on was a show & tell walkaround review approach will have to wait for the full conclusive review once i drive one & im looking forward to it.
Land Rover India has launched the Defender range in India today & the prices start for the 90 (3 Door Model) from INR 73.98 & the 110 (5 Door) from INR 79.94 (Ex-showroom).
Note: The Defenders being CBU's are Imported from Nitra, Slovakia (JLR's Manufacturing facility).

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Abhi5868

However, the prices are overlapping with that of the Velar. Anyone else feels this might affect the Defender's sales or Vice versa?

They are completely different vehicles appealing to different set of customers. A person who likes the luxury of the Velar will not be happy with the more utilitarian Defender and one looking for a rugged off-roader will not settle for the Velar.

[GTO]

Love the Defender & can't wait to drive it! The styling has already made it one of my favourite SUVs . Land / Range Rover really kill it on styling.

Sadly, they also do so on reliability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBVZ...ature=youtu.be