[Cresterk]

Im seeing a large number of brand new defenders on the roads of kerala these days. All with new registration plates. Are they having some clearance sale on them? All the non-enthusiast businessmen who normally ride around in Fortuners seem to be switching to defenders here.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

Im seeing a large number of brand new defenders on the roads of kerala these days. All with new registration plates. Are they having some clearance sale on them? All the non-enthusiast businessmen who normally ride around in Fortuners seem to be switching to defenders here.

As far as I know, there's currently a waiting period for the Defender, and unfortunately, no discounts are available. Its imposing design makes it highly noticeable, which may explain why it seems more prevalent on the road compared to other vehicles in its segment that often go unnoticed. I don't think JLR SUV sales in India are anywhere close to the Germans.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by shortbread

As far as I know, there's currently a waiting period for the Defender, and unfortunately, no discounts are available. Its imposing design makes it highly noticeable, which may explain why it seems more prevalent on the road compared to other vehicles in its segment that often go unnoticed. I don't think JLR SUV sales in India are anywhere close to the Germans.

No, I notice all luxury cars. Especially the ones with yellow temporary plates. It was very rare to see Land Rover’s or range rovers earlier but defenders are everywhere these days.

[Needforspeed004]

Hi Everyone,

My Team-bhp joining request got approved recently and this is my first post. I purchased Defender 2 months back and have already driven it 3500 kms.

I did one long drive from Indore to Goa and back( 2100 KMs round trip) and it was super fun. The car runs super smoothly on all road and even after 850 kms on day 1 was not as tired as I would get driving fortuner for 600 kms.

Car returned FE of 8.4 kmpl by tank full to tank full method. MID was around 10.6 liters/100 km. Drive was 95% highways.

Below is a picture from somewhere in Konkan on the way to Goa from Kolhapur on day 2.

[viXit]

Welcome to the forum NFS,
What's the 2004 signify?

Congrats on the defender, Which fortuner are you comparing it to? We're looking at one.

[Needforspeed004]

Originally Posted by viXit

Welcome to the forum NFS,
What's the 2004 signify?

Congrats on the defender, Which fortuner are you comparing it to? We're looking at one.

Thank you.

I own a 4*2 AT.

[Sourd810]

Originally Posted by Needforspeed004

I purchased Defender 2 months back and have already driven it 3500 kms.

Hi, is your Defender petrol or diesel?

[Needforspeed004]

Originally Posted by Sourd810

Hi, is your Defender petrol or diesel?

Mine is a 2.0 L petrol.

[Needforspeed004]

Just complete 6 months and 5555 kms on the defender.


I have used the car for couple of long trips. One was a 5 day trip to Goa from Indore which was 2100 KMs. and more recently on new year to Bhandardara which was about 1100 KMs.
Car has done well on highways and i was able to maintain 115-120 kmph very easily.

I have used the car in city for about 2000 kms and it is a easy to drive car. Has been a excellent experience so far.

[shiva75]

Originally Posted by Needforspeed004

Just complete 6 months and 5555 kms on the defender.


I have used the car for couple of long trips. One was a 5 day trip to Goa from Indore which was 2100 KMs. and more recently on new year to Bhandardara which was about 1100 KMs.
Car has done well on highways and i was able to maintain 115-120 kmph very easily.

I have used the car in city for about 2000 kms and it is a easy to drive car. Has been a excellent experience so far.

Congratulations on the new Defender! It has been my dream vehicle for a while but quite out of reach from an affordability stand point for me. Would you be ok to share what was the on road price including insurance and accessories(if any)?
Did you choose any of the packs on offer e.g adventure pack, urban pack etc.? OR did you add any accessories or options? If so, what did you include?
Does your defender have the air suspension feature?

[Needforspeed004]

Originally Posted by shiva75

Congratulations on the new Defender! It has been my dream vehicle for a while but quite out of reach from an affordability stand point for me. Would you be ok to share what was the on road price including insurance and accessories(if any)?
Did you choose any of the packs on offer e.g adventure pack, urban pack etc.? OR did you add any accessories or options? If so, what did you include?
Does your defender have the air suspension feature?

Hi Shiva,

Many thanks.
My on Road price including all the accessories and packs with PPF was 1.35 cr.

I added family pack, comfort and convenience pack, Air suspension with adaptive dynamics, centre console refrigerator and rear sight camera which is on the shark fin.

As a user I would suggest you take all the above packs in addition to any other you are planning to get with exception of the rear sight camera.

Rest all the customizations were for alloys and colour of interior.

[Omkar]

• With the internet buzzing over the launch of Land Rover Defender Octa, I got to spend some time with the regular Defender. Having looked forward to driving the Defender ever since reading Akshay1234’s Official Review, this was a special one. I’ll not go into details that have already been covered in the review, but just list some observations about living with the Defender.



• This is the Defender 110 X-Dynamic HSE variant with the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine that puts out 296 BHP and 400 Nm. I think it looks great in this military green shade (Pangea Green):


• This particular variant has a price tag of Rs. 1.04 crore (ex-showroom) and there’s no direct competition that you can benchmark the Defender against. As of now, the Wrangler is capable, but it is from a segment below. The Grand Cherokee doesn’t feel as rugged or plush as the Defender. All the other German SUVs are soft-roaders focusing on on-road behaviour and performance. No wonder the Defender is the highest-selling model in Land Rover’s portfolio.

• It’s settled by now that the Defender looks badass. The styling is bold and rugged and suits the name Defender. It was launched back in 2020 and even now, it attracts a lot of attention on the road. I recently had the Made in India Range Rover with me and while it also got a lot of attention, it wasn’t as much as the Defender. I saw people from my building stop dead in their tracks when they saw the car and just admire it.



• Just like the exterior, the interiors are also unique and impressive. The design looks functional and rugged. I believe some people might not find this very luxurious compared to the German cars in the same price bracket or above it. And that’s true. Some parts or materials used aren’t very plush, but they feel solid. Our test car’s odometer was just under 25,000 km, but it didn’t feel like it had done more than 1,000 km! Note that the 25,000 km consisted of media publication test drives and usage by company drivers for internal events, so the car had been through a lot of abuse.



I like the tan leather (Windsor leather in Land Rover terms) used in the interiors. Looks good and is also easier to live with than the white interiors:


The second row is spacious and offers good overall comfort. Not super luxurious though:


The third-row seats are a joke. Easily some of the worst third-row seats in any car. I am guessing the 130 will have a better third row, but in the 110, just avoid it:


Noticed that the blind spot detection feature for the doors was not present in our car (reference image). A feature deletion for the MY 2024 cars maybe?


• I primarily drove the Defender in the city, a bit on the highway and hit some gravel patches. Given the lovely traffic conditions of Mumbai, you are forced to drive any car sedately, which was good for the Defender. The 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine offers relaxed performance and isn’t something you’ll enjoy pushing hard. It has enough power to get moving, but for those quick overtakes and closing gaps, don’t expect instantaneous response. You have to plan those a bit in advance to make good progress.

• I even did the notorious peak-time commute from North Bombay to South Bombay on the Eastern Express Highway and it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. The relaxed throttle response meant that the drive was smooth and the gangster looks of the Defender meant that a lot of people actually moved out of the way. You’d expect the gearbox to be user-friendly, but it’s not. It gets confused while driving in the city.

• Cruising down the highway, the engine felt adequate and with this as a baseline, it’ll be interesting to see how the recently launched Octa with its 4.4-litre V8 BMW engine drives.

• The air suspension gulps bad roads like nobody’s business. You can easily carry a lot of speed on gravel patches without having to slow down. The car glides over undulations and you don’t even feel them in the cabin.



• Also found a party trick for the air suspension. You can operate it from the outside using the key! Say you want to raise the height of the car for easier loading or just want to show off that your car has air suspension. With the hazard lights switched on, using the key fob, lock the car and unlock it. Now, if you want to raise the car, press and hold the headlight and unlock button on the key and the car will rise! If you want to lower it, you have to press the headlight and lock button. Pretty neat!

• If I have to sum it up, the Defender is a car with a lot of character and capabilities. It has some flaws, but you can live with them, and you will. End of the day, it is one of those cars that I didn’t want to hand over but had to.

[LionX]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Noticed that the blind spot detection feature for the doors was not present in our car (reference image). A feature deletion for the MY 2024 cars maybe?

Land Rover has deleted blind spot monitoring from defender long back in the name of ‘chip shortage’. Infact the vehicle comes with only Adaptive cruise control as an ADAS feature nothing else. Could be because of the negative publicity for ADAS features in India - Automatic Emergency Braking, Land Rover decided to deleted everything but Adaptive cruise control. Nowadays most of the sub 20L vehicles comes with all ADAS features !

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Omkar

• This particular variant has a price tag of Rs. 1.04 crore (ex-showroom) and there’s no direct competition that you can benchmark the Defender against.

• It’s settled by now that the Defender looks badass.

• Also found a party trick for the air suspension. You can operate it from the outside using the key! Say you want to raise the height of the car for easier loading or just want to show off that your car has air suspension. With the hazard lights switched on, using the key fob, lock the car and unlock it. Now, if you want to raise the car, press and hold the headlight and unlock button on the key and the car will rise! If you want to lower it, you have to press the headlight and lock button. Pretty neat!

[/ATTACH]

Nice review

Need to find a nice used 6 cylinder one for my bucket list. Unfortunately, the bad ass looks means that these are popular with wannabe political leaders and dubious construction tzars.

Am pleased to know, these are holding up well under use. I do find that the party trick requires a bit of an orgy of switches to deliver the trick!

[after]

Nice review. Defender 110 with tinted windows seems to be the car of choice for politicians these days. Agree on the looks, it's very imposing and eye-catching in a sea of Fortuners.

How is visibility in bumper-to-bumper traffic?