2020 Land Rover Defender

Few cars have a legacy as romantic and rich as the Land Rover Defender. For a solid 68 years, it was the connective tissue throughout the brand’s evolution from supplier of the quintessential adventure vehicle to luxury SUV mainstay. Though they still maintain a high degree of capability beyond the pavement, these days Land Rovers are more likely to be spotted on a Rodeo Drive shopping safari than on an excursion across the Serengeti. That shift, plus the end of the vehicle’s marathon run in 2016, made an updated Defender all but inevitable.  

To both satisfy the contemporary Land Rover customer and its own heritage, the all new 2020 Land Rover Defender has some big boots to fill.

A redesign of the Defender’s exterior was destined to be met with harsh judgement. With the original’s iconic profile etched into our minds over several decades, no modern reinterpretation would stand a chance in the eyes of the Land Rover loyal. However, the current Defender’s stout shape and soft features manages to be charming in its own right. It retains the blocky profile of the original but with smoothed out edges that looks both modern and more in step with the rest of the vehicles in the Land Rover portfolio, for better or for worse. The result is a relentlessly appealing runabout that’s hard to hate, and even if it comes off as too sleek, there are lots of options on hand to help. The standard Defender is more of a blank slate for explorers to outfit as they see fit, with extensive accessory additions available (170 to be exact), either a la carte or part of accessory packs. These range from beefier fender flares, to cargo racks, or even a wading snorkel and power winch.

The Defender’s interior is a welcome departure from the luxury-focused cabins found in the rest of the current Land Rover lineup, mirroring the exterior’s rugged intentions while maintaining a high standard of quality. Surfaces are bulky and substantial versus delicate, and optional robust textiles lend to the cabin’s wear-resistant usefulness. Thanks to this practical design mentality, passengers are likely to find the storage compartment or hand-hold that they want no matter where they turn. All in all, the interior goes a long way to distinguish itself as the Land Rover meant to be roughed up, not one that’s too dressed up to get dirty.

Making the new Defender as capable as possible goes hand in hand with an upgrade to the technology woven into modern Land Rovers. A new more robust electronic architecture married to a new infotainment system brings several layers of convenience into the car. For starters, this system allows for over-the-air software updates that will keep Defender’s tech updated as well as implement any software improvements without the need for a trip to a service center.

The updated infotainment system operates primarily out of a 10-inch touchscreen that is home to the standard suite of phone connectivity, navigation and entertainment. In the past, infotainment has been a weaker element of Land Rover products, so this reboot is a welcome one. It works in conjunction with a digital gauge behind the wheel that frees drivers to customize what info they want displayed how it’s arranged between the two screens. In practice, the interface still prioritizes style over functionality, but remains intuitive enough to use on the go. It certainly feels more responsive than the previous iteration.

The Defender’s tech shines off the pavement. Making use of the cameras situated throughout the exterior, the Defender provides the typical birds-eye-view most luxury vehicles enable for parking assistance, but with a 3D exterior perspective. Essentially, the camera system captures the surrounding environment and places a digital Defender in the middle, allowing drivers to assess their surroundings without exiting the car. This function isn’t unique to the Defender, but in a vehicle meant to travel into the brush, this fun novelty turns into useful method of providing a bit more situational awareness. In the same vein is the “transparent hood” view which records the oncoming terrain and overlays a wireframe graphic of what the wheels and front suspension is doing–a very useful tool in planning the Defender’s next off-road maneuver.

The Defender engineering also is centered around making the off-road experience as easy as possible. Though there are different selectable modes for the terrain response system, setting it to “auto” and allowing the Defender to optimize its own settings will likely be the preferred adjustment to the dial. That and occasionally raising the suspension will set the Defender up to tackle most situations. In short, rock-scramblers are looking at a vehicle with up to 19.7 inches of articulation, a wading depth of 35 inches, and, thanks to its stout shape, a 38-degree approach angle complemented by a 40-degree departure angle. Though it still feels too genteel to take on a boney hill climb, between the automatic terrain response, the transparent hood, a permanent all-wheel drive system, hill descent and loads working in tandem, there’s almost no excuse for not making it over to the next challenge.

In-between excursions, the Defender happily falls in line with Land Rover’s current standard of comfort. Highway jaunts are smooth, both in ride and throttle response, particularly with the 3.0-liter MHEV six-cylinder engine, a mild hybrid that utilizes an electronic supercharger for extra efficiency. Visibility throughout the vehicle is exceptional, which is welcome in an SUV meant for exploring the world.