The 2020 Land Rover Defender is here and at the hands of chief engineer Mike Cross, can cross (pun intended…) some difficult terrain with very little fuss.
In this 3-minute long video that shows Cross behind the wheel of the all-new Defender, we’re offered the chance to see it driven along a gravel track as if it were a rally car. Even more impressively, Cross sends the Defender roaring down a narrow stretch of pavement, hitting approximately 140 km/h (87 mph) and flying over a pair of big jumps. Neither of them unsettle the off-roader in the slightest.
Land Rover unveiled the latest-generation Defender on the eve of the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in early September. It is underpinned by the company’s all-aluminum D7x platform and will initially be sold in five-door 110 guise and later offered in short-wheelbase, two-door Defender 90 guise as well.
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Customers in the United States will have two powertrains available. The first is Jaguar Land Rover’s P300 turbocharged four-cylinder delivering 296 HP while the second is a 3.0-liter inline-six petrol coupled with a 48-volt electric supercharger making for an impressive 395 HP and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of torque.
The cabin of the new Defender is a radical departure from the old one. It features a digital instrument cluster, a large central touchscreen, and a head-up display all using the latest Land Rover Electronic Vehicle Architecture that supports Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) updates.
Sales of the new Land Rover Defender will commence in early 2020.