The New Defender

Blackfellows Hand Trail. I’ll never forget that name – how could I?
We were travelling in the Wolgan Valley, north west of Sydney, and on our way to the Wollemi National Park, where we were due to camp overnight, when I saw the sign.
Up to now the roads had been good secondary tarmac and some smooth gravel – quite tight and bumpy in places, and certainly enough to get a feel for the new Land Rover Defenders in the sort of conditions most owners would meet on a daily basis.
The most remarkable thing noticed was that the ride quality seemed much better than I remember from my previous encounters with the noble British product. The seats, particularly in the back, were more comfy too – liveable even after a day’s travelling, which is more than you could say with earlier Defenders. No numb bum at all, in fact.
We had left the HQ of Land Rover Australia that morning after over-nighting at Darling Harbour, and set off in a small convoy of New Zealand and Australian journalists towards the Blue Mountains, firstly travelling on smooth, but boring motorway, then onto a secondary road which runs more or less alongside the Great Western Highway, allowing a closer look at the stunning scenery as well as passing through interesting towns such as Hartley Vale and Bell.
Apart from having a more care-worn surface than the highway, the route also took in quite a few climbs and descents which have been smoothed out for those who prefer the more direct course, and this enabled us to test the pulling power of the Defender’s new engine.
Land Rover has launched the new Defender with a raft of revisions for 2008, and each one of them is a necessary alteration to the Defender’s otherwise iconic specification.
The new engine, courtesy of the Ford Transit van, is a tried and tested unit that needed little modification to make it suitable for insertion into the Defender – mainly changing the mechanical specification to make it possible to operate the Defender at more-extreme angles than the Transit could ever be called upon to use!
The former TD5 unit, though lusty, was due for retirement for a number of reasons, all of which the new engine easily addresses.
Emissions was one of them, and the latest Defender engine is fully compliant with Euro 4 legislation as well as being able to at the same time tolerate the variable quality high-sulphur diesel fuel found in some markets.
Not that this would be an issue in most parts of New Zealand, but it means if you’re stuck in the wilds of the South Island without a filling station nearby, you can siphon a litre or two from a friendly farmer’s old Fergie tractor to get you to one!
Another issue was out-and-out performance. The old TD5 was introduced in 1998 and is now a bit long in the tooth. A more modern engine was required, and the new 2.4-litre four-cylinder is a common rail 16-valve unit which pushes out about the same power as before, at 90 kW, but with absolutely no turbo lag, and 90 percent of the peak torque of 360 Nm on tap from less than 2,200 rpm to over 4,350 rpm.
What’s more the new engine is a LOT quieter – yes, the Defender is like a modern 4WD to drive now – and it’s a lot more economical, with claimed combined fuel consumption in the 11 litres/100 km bracket.
More interesting still, the new engine is attached to a modern and very strong 6-speed manual gearbox which allows not only smooth and sophisticated cruising on main routes, but a 32 percent lower first gear, with an effective overall ratio of 62.988 to 1, giving the Landie a huge advantage in rough ground over almost all its competitors.
On top of that – and those women who use the family Defender as Mom’s taxi will appreciate this – it comes with a 20 percent reduction in clutch effort. In other words, you don’t need calves like a body builder’s to drive the Defender in traffic.
At the same time very little has been done to the outside of the vehicle. In fact it’s restricted to a big bulge on the bonnet to accommodate the taller Transit engine. At the same time the 110 station wagon is fitted with a strong but stylish Boost alloy wheel with 235 General Grabber tyres. This gives a useful footprint while resisting the trendy tendency to go too wide.
I well remember my brother-in-law’s TD5, and that had the flip-up side steps which had adorned 110s for years.
However the Defenders we had on the launch came without any assistance for passengers or driver to climb up into the cab, something I was to rue for days afterwards thanks to aching inner thigh muscles after getting in and out of the vehicle dozens of times for photography.
I found out afterwards New Zealand Defenders will get the steps as options, and will have side runners as standard.
Nothing else on the body has changed, however, another issue I was to regret when I cut my finger while trying to open the swing-out rear door.
But there are a couple of serious revisions to the drive train, which though not noticeable, make for a huge difference in off-road operation – as well as improving safety on-road, too.
One of them is the addition of electronic traction control and ABS on SE models, dramatically enhancing off-road ability.
And the other – which we also tested later – was an anti-stall feature on the engine. No matter what you do the engine won’t stall, which means you don’t have to worry about re-starting the engine in awkward places.
It also means you can even get out and walk alongside the Landie should you want to (and a lot of farmers like to do this while they’re feeding hay off the back in their paddocks, though it’s to be frowned upon) and the vehicle will continue, up hill and down dale.
We didn’t try it, but we saw a demonstration.
Inside there are lots and lots of revisions, all for the better.
The most important change is to the dashboard. Previously this was a hotchpotch of components dating back to the original 1948 model, with the signature opening front vents which let in dust and cold, an add-on air conditioner in the passenger footwell, and other controls all over the place, some of them dating back to the Austin Marina!
However, the new dashboard is thoroughly modern and based on a single, large moulding supported on a robust steel rail to help eliminate squeaks and rattles.
Instruments come from Land Rover’s Discovery 3 and provide clear, concise information to the driver, and details such as all-LED instrument illumination help ensure high standards of reliability.
Improvements to ergonomics abound – for example, a new passenger-side grab handle provides robust, two-handed support during extreme off-road driving.
The process of modernising the Defender’s fascia hasn’t sacrificed its usability either, with stowage shelves conveniently located for both the driver and passenger. The large lidded box between the front seats remains, with its impressive 14 litres of stowage.
The much quieter interior also means the in-car entertainment system can now be upgraded, and for the first time high-mounted tweeters are available to work in conjunction with a new speaker installation for significantly improved clarity and sound reproduction.
The new fascia houses an all-new heating and ventilation system.
Cabin airflow is up almost 50 percent, with new aluminium plate and fin heat exchangers helping deliver impressive performance.
In cold weather, the heater warms the cabin 40 percent quicker than before and can achieve cabin temperatures a full 12°C higher.
The air-conditioning system can cool the cabin in half the time of the old unit, and achieve cabin temperatures 7°C lower too. Side window demist vents have also been added.
As mentioned seating is comprehensively improved.
The new, taller front seats improve back support and head restraint ergonomics, and these proved extremely comfortable. Passenger legroom is hugely improved now the aircon unit has been moved.
However it’s the second row seats which are most impressive. I sat in these for quite a lot of the time as we were three-up in the vehicle and kept swapping between driver, front passenger and rear seat positions.
Except for one occasion ride comfort, even on gravel roads, was quite good, with a nice high seating position that allows one to see better than before.
That one time was when I saw that sign, Blackfellows Hand Trail, and Bruce Almighty (yes, he was a little Aussie called Bruce) turned left onto it off the fairly smooth road we had been driving on up to that point.
We had already entered the nature reserve, with huge trees stacked back to back all around us, but Bruce Almighty didn’t seem to care over-much, hitting just about every bump and tree root in his path.
I was in the back and managed to hold on pretty well until he hit a shallow ditch at speed, throwing me up into the air and hard against the seat belt, exacerbating a cracked rib that I thought was well on the mend. Words came out of my mouth that I’m not going to write here, and that’s how his name was born. You work it out!
As mentioned we were only three in the car, plus camera bags and luggage, but that left a lot of room, and both the 110 Station Wagon and 130 Crew Cab models can comfortably accommodate three occupants on a new, asymmetrically-split second row seat.
A spring-assisted mechanism helps when folding the seats for carrying large or awkward loads.
The Defender's third row occupants benefit from a pair of individual full-size forward-facing rear seats, providing significantly increased comfort and space over the outgoing model.
Accessed either through the rear door or by folding the second row seats, they can be easily folded and stowed sideways in the load space.
The seat trims on the SE models are leather, while those on the 130 Double Cab are made from durable all-vinyl and cloth. Three-point safety belts are specified for all seating positions.
Upgraded sound insulation, the common rail engine’s excellent combustion control and the significantly higher top gear all contribute to a substantial overall improvement in cabin refinement.
In fact for the first time you can converse with front AND rear passengers at all times without having to shout, which is a BIG improvement over the TD5.
And now back to Blackfellows Hand Trail.
Part of the route included a horrendous washed-away and steep hill that most of us would find a way around rather than tackle full-on.
However, the Defenders attacked it with aplomb, and that’s where we encountered the new traction control system.
By systematically applying the brakes to wheels which weren’t in contact with the ground – and therefore were spinning – the system, which is linked to the Defender’s ABS antilock brakes, puts all the torque into wheels which DO have grip.
The net result was that we were able to traverse the hill at much lower speeds than would have been necessary without traction control, thus avoiding damage to the under cart.
In fact one of the Aussie journalists driving the 130 Double Cab (which doesn’t have traction control) found he had to attack the hill at quite high speed. As a result he hit a bump very hard and punctured the oil pan! Which rather proves the point.
We also spent time in a disused quarry which harks back to the days when the Wollemi National Park was home to a thriving oil-from-shale business at Newnes. This was part-filled with water, enabling us to test wading and traction in mud.
It also gave Bruce Almighty a chance to drive flat-out into the pool, making a splash that totally obliterated the vehicle and thoroughly soaked a photographer he’d asked to take a picture of him…
Eventually we ended up at our campsite, a tall-sided canyon absolutely teeming with bird life, as well as a few kangaroos and a resident wombat.
The tents - Land Rover’s G4 model - were a wee bit small for overfed motoring journalists, but it sort of all seemed right, especially after pre-dinner drinks at the nearby remains of the town of Newnes, once a thriving metropolis but now home only to the original Newnes Hotel.
Although shifted a few hundred metres from its original site, the hotel is in grand condition following renovations, and also has a few motel-type rooms available around the back for those who want a solid roof over their heads while out in the bush.
The pub doesn’t have a licence yet, but Land Rover supplied a whole bunch of beers, so we were definitely happy campers when we crawled into our tents later.
The next day, bright and early, we were back on the road again, but this time taking a more direct route so we could catch an earlier flight.
The hoards of Aussie flies had definitely got to us, and despite the attractions of the ruined oil plant and the fantastic fauna and flora at Newnes, we were keen to get back to Auckland.
Most of the trip home was on the highway, which allowed us to really appreciate the giant strides Land Rover has made with the new Defender in terms of everyday ride, quietness, and all-round sophistication.
Although officially there are no plans for the vehicle beyond 2010 – when it falls foul of European crash test legislation – my bet is we’ll be seeing the big Landie around for quite a time beyond that, especially if Land Rover is bought out by Indian car-maker Tata, which seems on the cards at the moment. *