Going for a 2022 Land Rover Defender 110 will set U.S. fans back at least $50,500. The elegant looks of the X trim are even more expensive, though, at $86k. Meanwhile, a custom appearance is probably priceless.

Shading away heritage is hard, but somehow the Land Rover Defender avoided a total backlash from the diehard aficionados when it presented itself completely new as the L663 iteration. Significant because it’s the first all-new incarnation of the Defender, the modern SUV breaks away from the engineering lineage of its predecessor.

So, we are not dealing with a direct descendant of the original Series Land Rovers that came to life in 1958, and instead, it’s an AWD icon reinvented for posh off-road driving. The starting price clearly shows that, although no one really expected the Defender to be affordable in the first place. Well, if you’re breaking the bank, might as well gun for something cool.

Someone decided the $86k Defender X is the right one for them, complete with its elegant combination of gray paintjob and lots of glossy black exterior details – from roof to hood and even the lower-body protections. But that wasn’t enough for this fancy thrill-seeking adventurer (we figured that based on the roof rack and matching side ladder).

Instead, this Defender also comes with a set of controversial Forgiato wheels. The dual-tone star-inspired looks (maybe the owner is from the Lone Star state, who knows) were certainly elegant enough to attract the attention of Forgiato’s social media account caretakers. But, unfortunately, as always, they’re being way too tight-lipped about additional information.

So, we have no idea who ordered the build, who took care of the execution, and why it’s been professionally photographed at Joshua Tree in California. Those are all mysteries that will probably remain unsolved, along with the exact model/series of the Forgiato alloys, or even the powertrain of choice.

^{Article Credit: Aurel Niculescu
Full Article: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/land-rover-defender-x-110-looks-custom-ready-for-elegant-forgiato-off-roading-171295.htm}

The car is as large as it is impressive. It’s thoroughly modern, and stubbornly attached to its roots. It’s… perfect?

Big, bold and unafraid of any terrain, that’s the new Defender

As I crept out from my basement parking, cautiously navigating the Defender past walls that seemingly were a lot closer than I remember, it dawned on me that what Land Rover’s done here is monumental. 

Forget, for a moment, the daunting task of reinventing an icon that the JLR folks had. Put aside the countless hours that must have gone into pouring over each and every detail of the new Defender. None of that is relevant at the moment. 

What matters is that this monstrosity on wheels is alive and well; ready for us to ford past anything you throw its way. You’ll find scores of articles on the internet, detailing the Defender’s glorious past, so I’ll refrain from going into that. What interests me more is diving into just what makes the Defender click, and until two days ago, I was blissfully unaware. 

Let me start with the basics. The Defender is enormous. This is especially because what you see in the pictures is the ‘110’ version, which equates to three rows of seats and five doors. There’s also a ’90’ that reduces the visual mass considerably, but has with three doors. I personally find the latter a touch more exciting to look at, but this is the confession of a person who’s not an SUV fan.

It’s all in the details. Headlamps have been exquisitely crafted

And yet, the Defender has me, right from when I clambered (quite literally) onto the driver’s seat for the first time. Thanks to the brilliant use of air suspension, you have three levels you can set the car to, with regards to ground clearance. The middle setting is for driving on regular roads, while the maximum height you can toggle is with the Defender giving you 290 mm of ground clearance. The third, and most approachable, is what they call ‘Access Mode’ but that is still quite high up for most. 

Thereafter, however, I’m struggling to pinpoint faults with the car. The dashboard is an elegant mix of hardy, rugged materials coalesced with a thoroughly modern, minimalist outlook. There are umpteen storage spaces, charging ports, and even a wireless charging pad or two thrown in to make your drive experience pleasant and convenient. 

Make no mistake, the Defender is every bit of a luxury SUV as it is an off-road legend, and for the Land Rover to pull it off so seemingly easily is, like I said earlier, monumental. Absolutely nothing in this car feels built to a cost. A true hat-tip here must be given to Gerry McGovern—Land Rover’s legendary designer—and his team, because I don’t know if anyone else could have made what’s essentially a ‘box on wheels’ look as appealing. 

Part of its appeal is the vastness of its glass area

A stat that really caught my eye is that of the amount of space you can liberate in the Defender 110. Keep all seats up, and the boot space is a paltry—but not unusable—160 litres. Drop the last row—which you should be doing anyway because they’re too cramped to be considered actual seats—and you’ll have a massive 743 litres. Not happy still? Well, if all you’re doing is travelling two-up with a load of luggage, you can also drop both the second and third row of seats, opening up 1,826 litres of space. What can’t be fit in that much space is beyond me. 

But the Defender doesn’t just have space, practicality and rugged looks in its arsenal. Far from it, in fact. It’s bristling with tech. Why would a car be studded with tech, making it more prone to failing, the traditionalists might argue. This is the new Defender, and tech has come a long way, so its fallibility isn’t as expected as it once was. This beast has the usual suite of connectivity options like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, but you also get a wireless charging pad for your phone, lots of connected car tech, a heads-up display, and a nicely integrated touchscreen right in the middle of the centre console that can highlight most of what was just mentioned. The party piece, as is usual in a Land Rover, is the Terrain Response 2 system, which has as many as six different modes so that you can go over—and survive—any kind of road conditions. 

Where else would square lamps on a predominantly square body look this good?

What you can’t miss are the excellent 360-degree cameras, and the very cool ClearSight rear-view mirror. It’s based on the Defender’s camera tech and flips your in-cabin rear-view mirror into a screen, which relays what’s going on behind the car. Why would Land Rover even bother? Well, have you ever crammed so much luggage into your car that you forget that you won’t be able to see out the rear glass? Fret no longer. The Defender’s got you covered.

But how does it drive? Ruddy well. Both on and off the road. This particular spec was the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol that isn’t instantly as punchy as I would have liked, but it’s got more than enough grunt to keep the Defender in motion without a fuss. On the road, the steering is light, smooth and tells you what’s going on under you without being intrusive. The gearbox is spot on and, yes, even though the car does roll a bit around corners, it won’t alarm you. It’s to be expected for a car this tall. Top pick? The insulation. It’s just so silent in here on the move, and this is despite running on all-terrain tyres whose primary motive is hardly to run smoothly on tarmac.

And while the rest of this story will not shock you in the least, it needs to be said: The Defender is tremendous off the road. You throw anything its way and it will oblige. The low-range option helps you get out of sticky positions, the 38-degree approach angle lets you approach sticky positions, and the 900mm water-wading capacity makes this the vehicle to have when going through wet situations (Mumbai’s monsoon-hit roads, I’m looking at you). 

Timeless classic in the making? The Land Rover Defender seemingly does it all

For a car to be as adept as the Defender at any and every condition it’s presented with is astonishing. Did I expect it? Yes, sure. But it’s still eye-opening when you experience it first-hand. If you can get it, I implore you to walk into a Land Rover showroom, spot a Defender, whip out your cheque book and thwack it on the car’s bonnet (for dramatic effect). The car will be yours, and believe you me, you are not going to regret it one bit.

Land Rover Defender Specifications:

Power: 300hp

Torque: 400Nm

Transmission: 8-speed, automatic

Dimensions: LxWxH (in mm): 5018x2105x1967

Price: Rs 1.06 crore (on-road, Mumbai)

^{Article Credit: Raunak Ajinkya
Full Article: https://www.forbesindia.com/article/auto/the-land-rover-defender-110-combines-the-beauty-with-the-beast/70929}

Heritage Customs has just unveiled its latest Land Rover Defender-based project that it dubs the Valiance Tuxedo Black.

Adorning the exterior of the off-roader is a shade of Tuxedo Black (hence the name…). While the new coat of paint alone isn’t enough to distinguish the Valiance from a regular Defender, Heritage Customs has made some more obvious visual changes, including the fitment of a large roof rack with a small ladder on the side of the Land Rover.

Elsewhere, the Valiance features a side-mounted gear carrier and sits on a set of 22-inch forged alloy wheels. These wheels have the same Tuxedo Black finish as the rest of the off-roader but customers can order them with a diamond-cut finish or a matte black finish. Smaller 20-inch wheels are also available.

Heritage Customs has made some changes to the Defender’s interior as well. For example, it is now equipped with new metal pedals while the spokes of the steering wheel, lower part of the center console, dashboard, speaker covers, and door handles are all painted Tuxedo Black.

“This covert Heritage Customs Valiance Tuxedo Black was designed for a client who believed the world is not enough,” Heritage Customs co-owner Jan-Pieter Kroezen said in a statement. “It features our newest forged wheel design. They are 22-inch Supersonic wheels and were color coded to the exterior Tuxedo Black paint. The interior of this Valiance was worked on too: the car features the same consistent Tuxedo Black design theme throughout this sanctuary.”

PHOTO GALLERY

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^{Article Credit: Brad Anderson
Full Article: https://www.carscoops.com/2021/10/heritage-customs-dresses-the-land-rover-defender-in-all-black-tuxedo/}

The new Land Rover Defender can get you almost anywhere… and now they’ve even provided somewhere to sleep when you arrive…

If you are lucky enough to own a new Defender, you’ll probably want to live in it or maybe, well, on top of it… and now you can. The big wigs at Land Rover have teamed up with Italian based adventure-gear specialist Autohome to create a roof tent that’s just as comfortable when you are outside as the driving seat is on the inside. 

Before we get to the all-important tent talk, let’s delve into the Defender. I had a long drive from the sunny Kent coast up to Land Rover’s Yorkshire HQ to get fully accustomed to its domineering nature. 

In all honesty, the only word to describe this machine is: tank. Or maybe two words: luxury tank. Its road presence and driving position are like nothing else. It makes you feel like a king whether you’re wafting up the M1 or parading through the Yorkshire Dales.

My luxury tank was the D300, with its punchy straight-six and 296bhp. Up until the V8 was released earlier this year, the D300 had been the most powerful diesel engine within the Defender. Still, it’s certainly no slouch, 0-60mph in seven seconds in a car this size feels pretty surreal. 

We took it off-road with the Land Rover experience team and it was just as impressive. The car’s tech makes it feel like a routine drive to your local Sainsbury’s petrol station (when they have fuel). The heads-up display shows wheel positioning and balance, making it a breeze to get through deep waters, down rocky heights or when navigating the most difficult terrain. 

It actually looks just as good as it performs, which is obviously saying something. Land Rover has really nailed this one. It’s the perfect combination of Defender ruggedness and Range Rover luxe that we all know and love. Even putting it into one of its many off-road settings is a doddle. Couple this with its new hotel (roof-tent) option, and you are ready for any oncoming doomsday or apocalypse scenario you can think of.

The tent itself is seriously impressive and is housed within a stylish, lightweight fibreglass shell, which is aerodynamically designed to not create a drag on the Defender and reduce the 4×4’s fuel efficiency (handy on the motorway). 

The Defender’s hotel can be erected single-handedly, within seconds, by unclipping the rear fastening and allowing the internal gas struts to release the tent. When erected, it measures 2.3 metres long, 1.3 metres wide and 1.5 metres high, giving you ample space. The tent sleeps two adults on a full-size luxury cotton mattress and comes with pillows, an interior LED light and a stowage net, meaning all you need is a comfy sleeping bag to complete the set up.

Access to the tent can be from either side of the car, via its lightweight aluminium ladder, which can be stored easily. Now, all of this doesn’t come cheap, with prices starting at around £45,000 for the 110 Defender – couple that with the £2,500 for the roof tent and you’ve got a large bill. But is it worth it? The answer is a colossal yes. If you can afford it, it’s worth every penny. 

The new Defender lets you go anywhere – “Above and Beyond” to the most remote, staggering, off-road locations that no other car will. And now you can set up camp and spend the night there. 

I now refuse to go camping unless it’s on top of a 110 Defender.

^{Article Credit: Oliver Hazelwood
Full Article: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/land-rover-defender-roof-tent-camping-cool}

KUALA LUMPUR: The classic Land Rover Defender has a huge fanbase, and targeting those is a new off-road SUV created by US-based Black Bridge Motors. The company under its Function brand unveiled a custom-made SUV that features the iconic Defender bodywork teamed up with the Jeep Wrangler frame. 

Let’s first discuss a brief on Function by Black Bridge Motors. Based in Connecticut, United States, the brand is known for creating vehicles with the ageless design combined with vintage looks and modern technologies. The company develops “machines that no one’s ever made so you can drive like no one ever has.” It builds its vehicles entirely by hand.

Coming back to the SUV, it has a six-inch longer wheelbase as compared to the Defender that translates into more space for rear-seat passengers. It can also be fitted with an optional roll cage and a canvas top. Inside, the automaker has augmented the ambiance with premium leather seats; sport seats are also available as an option. Also part of the kit is a hi-tech central interface that handles everything from the audio system to the air-conditioning. 

Well, that’s not all as the company offers a long list of exterior and interior customization options. 

On the mechanical front, there are two engine choices – a 6.2-litre port-injected LS3 V8 and the supercharged LT4. The former generates a maximum power output of 430 hp while the latter one is good for making 650 hp. Gearbox choices include – a six-speed manual for either mill, a six-speed AT for the LS3, and an eight-speed AT for the LT4.

As for suspension, the Defender-inspired SU gets independent suspension at the front and a triangulated trailing arm-style system at the rear. The braking power comes from the Brembo calipers and rotors.

The price for the customized Function SUV starts at $145,00 (approximately equal to RM 60,683).

What are your thoughts on this Land Rover Defender look-alike Function SUV? Do let us know in the comments.

^{Article Credit: Sippi Vig
Full Article: https://www.zigwheels.my/car-news/meet-the-land-rover-defender-inspired-function-suv}