Land Rover Defender

Stretching the body gives the Defender, a much larger boot and room for up to eight. However, it's still impressive in many of the same ways.

Find out how the Land Rover Defender impressed judges to take the title as 2023 Drive Car of the Year, best Off-Road SUV

Two off-road titans from very different ends of town meet to duke it out over which is the ultimate go-anywhere icon.

An unusual combination of go-anywhere ability, and go-fast V8 performance mark the Defender V8 as something special.

The Land Rover Defender could get the brand’s ‘Sport’ treatment, with overseas reports suggesting a smaller version with electric power is on the cards.

Jaguar Land Rover – or JLR, as it would now like to be called – has revealed its new ‘corporate identity’, reducing the role of one of the automotive world's most recognisable badges.

The long-bodied, five-seat Land Rover Defender 130 Outbound comes with more storage space and heavy-duty hardware.

Posh and Becks might enjoy a luxury lifestyle, but their family car is surprisingly humble.

Need extra seats for ferrying the family? Here's every new seven-seat car available in Australia.

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More than six figures for this six-wheel drive combat machine sets a big precedent for ex-military vehicles.

OK, I get that this isn't a real car but boy it's some piece of engineering. I test drove the new Defender a few weeks back and it was fun. I kind of prefer my Disco 4 to be honest but I get the appeal of the new Defender, it's very cool. So rather than sign on the line for a new Defender I went ahead and bought a LEGO one. Sounds lame? Trust me it's not. It's cool to a whole new level. The handbook to build it is 400+ pages long. It has a working gearbox, high and low range, suspension, steering, engine...I could go on and on. I can't take credit for building it as my 16yr old son offered to help and I was quickly relegated to apprentice duties and then sent away for being "not very helpful at all". He's a LEGO demon and it still took him the better part of a day to build. So while I can't rate this car in the normal way on this review I can thoroughly recommend it it as something truly fun. Even my wife thought it was "unreal". So to be true to this site though I should offer my thoughts on driving the new Defender. I got to sample the P400 petrol turbo and it was very smooth, refined and fast. The interior is really well executed. Practical, efficient and peppered with lots of clever finishes to make it feel really innovative. It's night and day from the old Defender (I owned one back in the 90's). The new one feels solid and hunkered down. It feels like it could tackle absolutely anything and some. The exterior is very cool but perhaps a bit over the top, a bit over styled but that's being very critical. I expect it will be the darling of the trendy set and that's a shame because it deserves more than that. It really needs a stripped out base model, in manual, steelies, canvas seats etc to give it that rough'n'tough for anyone feel rather than just for the ritzy end of town. Still, hat's off to Land Rover for building it. I'll stick with our Disco 4 for now. It does "what it says on the box" and more. Plus I've now got a LEGO Defender to play with (which for all of you Landy knockers out there will agree)...will be infinitely more reliable than a real one....

You read the jurno reviews, that all tell you how uncomfortable on the road the Defender is. Have they ever driven one 14 hours a day for weeks on end? Long days of highway driving followed by days in a desert, and thousands of kilometers of secondary corrugated roads? When you do, you realise how comfortable it is. You don't sit in it and sink into a plush seat, but after all day behind the wheel, you never get out with a sore back, or find yourself trying to adjust your seat through the journey. The raised seating position is not typical or plush, but it's ergonomic when it comes to real driving, and that's a point that's always missed. Handling, get used to it, it's quite predictable, and you learn to throw the car around corners faster than most sedans dare to travel. Technology and Connectivity - why would you want that!? Anything they put in this car will be well and truly outdated before the car reaches middle age. Just carry your own choice of portable device and jack it to the basic system. Check PAYLOAD and ECONOMY figures, nothing else carries so much for so little fuel. Compare it's weight to the competition, - a fully kitted and loaded Defender, weighs as much as a bare basic of anything else. Safety - constant-4WD, large disc brakes, large tyres that don't get thrown by obstacles and a full chassis, make it one of the most survivable cars to drive.

Our mate from across the ditch, Tumm Funn, once moaned about spending six months in a leaky boat… Luxury!! Try spending a day riding shotgun in a Defender!

A Defender is a unique, very special vehicle with a brilliant history. Whilst it is unstoppable offroad, it is still pretty good on road, and many pristine examples on the road today would never see the dirt. They can be surprisingly comfortable, and we have travelled at least 7/800 klms a day in ours with absolutely no issues. Overtaking B Doubles does require a bit of planning though! A Defender is special, and the cabin, particularly the driver's seat is a good place to be,...an excellent view of the road, and all around. And, because the defender is not "fast", your driving experience changes, and especially in the country, one tends to take more interest in the scenery etc. The defender is not like most modern cars, no auto trans, no cruise control, not much "agility" etc, so you really have to "Drive" a Defender, with only 90KW, it's a good idea to take note of the tachometer to ensure you're in the correct torque band. It can be a bit of a challenge, but also most rewarding. We've had plenty of nice fast cars, including a Mercedes AMG C63, but the car we most like to be in, is our Defender, who we have named "Gracie". She is part of the family! Whilst we certainly didn't buy Gracie for the attention she would attract, We've had more adniring comments about Gracie than any car we've owned. People wander over to talk about her. People look & wave. Got pulled up in a breathalyser, & the cop just wanted to talk about the Defender! Defenders are special, VERY special.