Besides, the Defender has found its feet as a luxury car. And the most expensive ones now get a petrol V8. Goody gumdrops.
Anyway, back to this one: it’s settling into my routine very easily. I will take it off road, or at least onto green lanes, but during its initial miles, I’ve been using it as a daily wagon.
I know it’s big and tall and heavy, but it’s such a good motorway car, with great visibility, big comfortable seats, a relaxed driving position and exceptional stability and isolation, even in bad conditions.
And sure, it’s a 4×4, but ease off and relax and it can return 40mpg on a long cruise. Not many years ago, a 1.4-litre petrol supermini wouldn’t have done that.
Like the Raptor that went before it, it’s not the simplest thing to park, but I can be in a Suzuki Swift and I will still head to a quiet car park bay right at the end of a row and then scooch up against the wall or kerb, so it doesn’t make much difference.
And there’s a really good reversing camera that shows how much room the spare wheel requires, plus the space needed if you want to still open the rear door. There are lots of little niche features like that around the Defender. More on them in the weeks to come.
Second Opinion
We’ve all seen a lot of new Defenders, yet never one as well specced as the 90 we ran a few years ago (well done, Matt). It was memorable and is still missed; a bigger, more accessible boot was its only real weakness. The 130 takes a sledgehammer (or is that a shipping container?) to that problem, so I’m intrigued to see if it retains the 90’s charm.
Mark Tisshaw
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Land Rover Defender 130 D300 Outbound specification
Specs: Price New £80,390 Price as tested £96,745 Options Satin film £4000, Premium Interior Pack £2275, paint £1800, Towing Pack £1415, Driver Assist Pack £1175, head-up display £1080, rear e-diff £1020, leather upgrade £920, Comfort and Convenience Pack £800, matrix headlights £760, tracker £530, Cold Climate Pack £260, laminated UVproof windscreen £220, domestic plug socket £100
