Land Rover Defender 90

It was in zimbabwe that I first drove a Land Rover. It was the model that came just before the rebranded Defender 110. Being used to driving a Landcruiser for months beforehand, I was depressed at the thought of having to drive it. The engine was not very powerful and my less than complimentary boast was that the fastest it could go was 100km/hr up a hill…or down it! The dreaded loss of power became less of an issue after about two weeks of constantly driving it. Immediately the stiffness in my back went. Before that, I used to get out of the Landcruiser and ache all over. In the Land Rover, with its leaf springs, my pain went and it was a lesson well learned. The differences in suspension setup between the Land Rover and Landcruiser made me realise that power and speed weren't everything. The Land Rover was a better thought-out vehicle and its 4WD pedigree stood to it. That pedigree is 60-years-old this year and the very fi rst Land Rover was tracked down and fully restored. It drives as well as ever and it was demonstrated at a recent dinner in its honour in Dublin recently.

The new Defender 90 would definitely confirm to you that the car has a 60-year-old pedigree. There have been improvements, but the ride is as I remember it from my time in Zimbabwe. Agricultural. Period.

Granted, the engine will now get you to 140km/hr, but if it doesn't feel comfortable at this speed. The six-speed gearbox is very happy getting you to 100km/hr, but the moaning starts at speeds above that. The design has only really morphed, glacier like, in the intervening six decades. How can you improve an iconic design?

The kids diss-ed the Subaru Legacy recently, much to my disappointment, but collecting them recently they were so impressed by the Defencer. 'Cool' was the chosen word and, I suppose, it is a very cool vehicle (note, car wasn't the chosen noun!)

Driving the Defender won't get you the aggressive stares of the anti-SUV lobby. The Defender has real cred and those who buy them, generally, have a need for off-road driving that is its speciality, thereby, making it acceptable in the way the other Land Rovers and 4WDs can only dream of.

All said, this is a vehicle that you buy for its 4wd capability. It is probably the best at it and feels rugged enough to last forever with proven longevity. If I had no city driving on a frequent basis and needed a 4wd for more than 50% of my driving, I'd buy one unreservedly. The kids would like the coolness and I'd avoid the carbon haters wrath. At over €40k, you have other vehicle choices but for the money there are few, if any, vehicles that can match its capability.

The Defender is probably one of those rare vehicles where the purchase price can be justified by the heart, as well as the head.

www.LandRover.ie

RRP = from €€32,795
St. Patrick’s CU monthly loan
Repayment per €1,000.
Rate = 6.5%
Tel: 01 632 5100 or 01 632 5125
3 Years = €30.64
4 Years = €23.71
5 Years = €19.56

Manufacturers fuel consumption figs.:
Urban 12.5l/100km
Extra Urban 8.6l/100km
CO2266/km, Tax band G, €2,000 PA

New Car Assessment Programme
Rating: TBA