Land Rover Defender 2021 review: 110 off-road test!

The Land Rover Defender has always been synonymous with off-road adventure. All of us have a Defender memory or experience – or perhaps many memories and many experiences – and all of us have, at least, one friend or relative who is a mad-keen, die-hard Defender-lover.

Even those people with little knowledge or experience of the outdoors know the name and recognise the vehicle.

The Defender has always been a vehicle full of appeal; very capable off-road but rather ordinary on-road with few concessions to safety, comfort or actual drivability. Well, none if I’m being honest. But it remained much-loved.

So, in 2016, when Land Rover called time on the then current Defender after 68 2021s of production, there was collective groan of despair and disbelief around the world – even from those who take pleasure in disparaging the Defender as merely a puddle of leaking oil looking for a place to park.

Well, taking on what was really was an impossible task – creating a new Defender that easily slots into a modern SUV/4WD market and yet still embodies the spirit of the old Defender – Land Rover revealed the new Defender in September 2019 and recently staged its Aussie launch in regional NSW.
What’s it like? Watch on.

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[henkstols]

This looks more like the successor to the Disco 4.

[yenchang]

PROS: Shear depth of capability on and off road, design if you forget that it's a Defender. CONS: Shear complexity and resulting remote area anxiety that comes with it if something goes wrong. IMO, LR should not have thrown out the baby with the bath water. They already have a full lineup of 'lifestyle' SUVs in their catalog, it would have been good to retain one truly utilitarian model. One that's simple, modern, capable and easy to fix without specialist knowledge and equipment if something goes wrong. As many have said, the Ineos Grenadier seems to be the spiritual successor of the Defender, though I have two concerns about it: the BMW engine and the lack of service network in rural/remote areas.

[philipc]

Marcus is one of my favorite off road guru! 💪💪
Love watching his reviews 👍👍

[tammmacdonald]

First sensible review of the new defender I’ve seen. Describes mine perfectly. Well done that man.

[kevinevans]

Excellent honest run through of the defender. It’s a excellent vehicle and a well designed and constructed vehicle using all the modern technologies.

[beaviccoon]

The reviewer: the new defender is better than previous generations but that's not a big achievement.

The old defender behind him: hay I can hear you. 😂😂😂

[AK-vkwg]

Never thought I'd say it but I love it !! I want one, , maybe a second hand one in a couple of years 👍

[Leon-lpfl]

Have seen you testing many 4x4, s and I trust your verdict. Would love to drive one as you seem impressed!

[johngriffiths]

high scoring and everyone can see why, , big for my needs can't wait for the 90. I have a 13 yr old Freelander with 133, 000 miles on the clock still excellent, but ready for a change

[vindieter]

So I’ll provide an opinion from a person that actually owns a Defender 110 and a Cruiser 79 Single Cab...

Both of my current vehicles offer something that new designed vehicles can’t offer...reliability, customization, etc.

I use my vehicles to overland in Africa and none of the two have ever given me any issues. I, like many people, like my “old school” vehicles. The problem is that there is not enough of us to sustain production of these “old school” vehicles. Not even when the old Defender was still production did the sales figures support its continuation.

So if “we” don’t purchase new vehicles like the old Defender, Land Cruiser 76/79 instead of Fortuners, Prados, etc. how can we expect manufacturers to give us modern overlanders?

A new top of the range Hilux/Prado is more or less the same price as a LC 76/79 series....

So my question is: why would Land Rover even consider building a new Defender to be something nicer (better) than a LC 76/79 or (old) Defender if new car sales figures show that majority of consumers don’t want to buy it?

I would love feedback from people that would actually purchase a new vehicle to use it for what it’s built for...not wait for the second hand market to buy that ideal tourer after another person drove it to the mall and back

[Cooliemasteroz]

Even if it were engineered, designed and built by one of the best Japanese manufacturers it is still too complex to expect it to be trouble free after a few years. I think I’d prefer my 2019 ISUZU ute any day unless I could afford to replace it every two years.

[carfans]

Is the Defender 90 available in Australia?

[mateverest]

Does the new defender have a speed limit to its suspension height like the disco? Being off road suspension height limited to 45kph? Pain on beaches

[littleredridingdog]

Hat's off the landrover - The best update with the new defender is in the rust proofing... they've replaced all the steel with plastic ;-)

[stanboxa]

i can't get my head around the engine options, why wouldnt it share the TDV6 from the Disco?

[cybermatstrikes]

will wait for the Ineos Grenadier...could be waiting a while.

[HammerRocks]

The fan of the old Defender will be all up in arms on what LR has done to it. But I for one like it a lot. Though shocked to find how much more it has increased in price. I knew it will cost more than than the old Defender, but I didn't realise it is almost double the price. What the!?

[feisum]

I m a new user to off-road. Any suggestion do I need to pay the upgrade from terrain response to terrain response system 2?

[timglascock]

I didn't feel like I got to see it put through its paces nor compared to the old version - we just had to take his word that it was good offroad. Would have loved to see it compared to the old defender in the background.

[davidleatherbarrow]

To call this a Defender is like calling the new cars by L.D.V. an MG. You can put lipstick on a pig and call it Molly but the name does not make it a Defender.

The 4 W D system is controlled by a computer, damn will go well where the Defender used to live.

Take it to the tip of Cape York and see if it even gets up there.

Call it a Series what ever Discovery and it would be less of an insult to Defender owners.

David.