2019 Land Rover Defender Revealed, Priced From $70,000
Land Rover will offer the new Defender with four accessory packages, each designed to deliver a slightly different look and feel. Although they're factory options, dealers will also be able to fit the packages. The Explorer Pack brings a 26kg roof rack and side-mounted gear carrier, classic mud flaps, wheel arch protection, and a spare wheel cover. You also a matte black bonnet decal. The Adventure Pack gets you a 6.5L pressurised water reservoir, a boot-mounted air compressor and side-mounted gear carrier, along with mud flaps, a spare wheel cover, a rear scuff plate, and a 20L backpack that matches the car's cabin design. The Country Pack offers wheel arch protection, a bright rear scuff plate at the rear, and 'classic' mud flaps. It also brings a portable rinse system and full-height load partition. Finally, the Urban Pack gets a bright rear scuff plate, spare wheel cover and front bash plate, along with a range of alloy wheels up to 22-inches in diameter. All these options packs can be coupled with side steps or 'bars', and the side-mounted gear carrier is available as as standalone option. It's lockable, holds up to 24L/17kg of equipment, and has been shaped with aerodynamics in mind. Nick Rogers, executive director of product engineering at Jaguar Land Rover. 70,000 before on-road costs. Land Rover has gone all-out with the images, as you'd expect. Defender in the comments below.
The redesigned Defender was originally due in 2015 but frequent design changes led to delays. The changes included a decision to base the SUV on a new platform known as the Modular Longitudinal Architecture (MLA), which will be shared with next-generation versions of the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Discovery. This means fully independent suspension front and rear, with the new rear design in clear view in the spy shots. A low-range transfer case and multiple differential locks should still be present for superior performance when going off-road. Powertrains should include a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 as the base option and the same engine working with an electric motor in plug-in hybrid guise. Such a setup features in plug-in hybrid versions of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport where it delivers 398 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque. A turbocharged 6-cylinder is also likely, as is an electric option. Though it's yet to be confirmed, there are rumors Land Rover will handle production at its new plant in Slovakia instead of in the United Kingdom to reduce costs. The plant already builds the Discovery. That way Land Rover can free up capacity at its main plant in the U.K. It's possible the redesigned Defender will be previewed this year to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the original Land Rover's arrival.
I click my seatbelt and remember Paul Newman鈥檚 famous line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 鈥淭he fall鈥檒l probably kill ya,鈥?the legendary actor and racer, playing equally legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy, tells co-star Robert Redford鈥檚 aquaphobic Sundance Kid before they prepare to jump off a cliff into a rampaging river. In this case there鈥檚 no 鈥減robably鈥?necessary: the 300-foot fall will very much kill me, seatbelt be damned. I鈥檓 preparing to cross the Corinth Canal, an 81-foot-wide gash in the limestone of the Isthmus of Corinth, 60-miles west of Athens. This was Land Rover鈥檚 idea of a 鈥渟urprise.鈥?Thankfully, it was the only one on my two-day trek through Greece, from Athens in the south to the holiday village of Kranidi, in the Argolis region of the Peloponnese. Entering its sophomore lifecycle, the latest Evoque generally improves upon the best parts of its predecessor, although in the process of redesigning its smallest Range Rover, Land Rover introduced some new problems.
Since the rear seats are elevated, that means their headroom goes down. But, Land Rover has solved this problem by elevating the roof from the rear seats back by a few inches. You can clearly see the raised roof from the outside of the vehicle. The back seats in the Discovery II are probably some of the most comfortable rear SUV seats you鈥檒l ever sit in. The optional Harman/Kardon sound system is truly amazing for any automobile at that time. It includes no less than 12 speakers, which are scattered about to provide optimal sound for all passengers. The 12 speakers are powered by a 320 watt amplifier, along with an amplified subwoofer. All of this put together adds up to a near jaw dropping factory sound system. Seriously, the optional sound system in the Discovery II is amazing, especially for a vehicle of its age. Say you own a family of 7, well Land Rover has you covered. The SE7 optioned Discovery II has rear jumper seats, which fold up to give full trunk room. They鈥檙e actually big enough to fit a full grown adult.
