2021 Land Rover Defender 90 Gravel Driving (P400)

Performance is spectacularly good. While the combination of turbo-and-super-charging means that there's a little bit more mechanical gnash and thrash than you might be expecting from a big, high-tech, new six-cylinder engine, there's compensation to be had in the inherent smoothness of that layout, and in the frankly bonkers performance. Here is a big, tall, six-seat 4x4 that can beat a Golf GTI to 100km/h. It was bizarre in the extreme to take the Defender 90 X onto Land Rover's high-speed test track at its vehicle development site in rural England, and keep the accelerator pedal planted until we saw an indicated 200km/h on the big, digital, speedo. You'd have had to have pushed an old Defender off a tall cliff to get it to that kind of speed, and yet the new Defender X sat there with imperious stability until we had to slow for the long, arcing left-hand corner at the end of the track.

It's actually surprisingly efficient too. Well, relatively so, or at least it demonstrates the value of mild-hybrid systems. While its outright emissions and fuel economy figures will look pretty terrifying to most, the odd fact is that it actually performs better in most metrics than the smaller-engined, non-hybrid, P300 turbocharged four-cylinder petrol model doe. Needless to say, most Defender buyers will stick with a more sensible, more frugal, diesel engine, but I guess at least it's nice to know that there are other options.

All-but needless to say, it's brilliant off-road too, although doubtless cognisant of those big alloys and their road-biased tyres, Land Rover only let us loose on some relatively tame gravel tracks. Still, we were on a loose-enough leash that over one hump we could accelerate hard enough to get air under all four tyres, and to get the rear end fishtailing around, rally-style, through some fast, loose-surfaced corners.

While all that is fun, arguably the new Defender's best aspect is its cruising ability. Backed up by excellent seats, and with those big 20-inch rims affecting the ride quality of the adjustable air suspension only slightly, this is a hugely refined and comfortable way to cross a country or even a continent. The cabin, styled to slot just about perfectly into the gap between utilitarian-chic and genuinely luxurious, works really well, as does the combo of Land Rover's new 'Pivi Pro' infotainment system and its related digital instrument panel. It's not bad through the corners, actually. There is body lean, but it's well-contained and controlled, and actually works as a form of communication between car and driver to let you know how hard the Defender's chassis is working. The steering is light and accurate, if slightly slow-geared, and working with the excellent visibility you can easily hustle the Defender across country with no little vim. It would be stretch to call it a driver's car, but it's not short on entertainment, nor on decent chassis responses.

Land Rover Defender 90 Specifications:
▪ Length/width/height/wheelbase – 4,323/1,996/1,969*(1,974**)/2,587 mm
▪ Ground clearance – 216-291* (225-226**) mm
▪ Approach/breakover/departure angle* – 30.1-37.5/24.2-31.0/37.6-40.0 degrees
▪ Approach/breakover/departure angle** – 31.0-31.5/25.0-25.5/37.9-35.5 degrees
▪ Wading depth – 900* (850**) mm
▪ Kerb weight – 2,140-2,303 kg
▪ Cargo volume – 397 litre

P300 ▪ Engine – 2.0-litre (1,997 cc), 4-cylinder in-line, turbo petrol
▪ Max output – 300 PS (221 kW) at 5,500 rpm
▪ Max torque – 400 Nm at 1,500-4,000 rpm
▪ Transmission – 8-speed automatic, AWD
▪ 0-100 km/h – 7.1 seconds
▪ Top speed – 191 km/h
▪ Fuel consumption – 11.5-12.5 l/100km combined

P400 ▪ Engine – 3.0-litre (2,995 cc), 6-cylinder in-line, turbo petrol
▪ Max output – 400 PS (294 kW) at 5,500-6,500 rpm
▪ Max torque – 550 Nm at 2,000-5,000 rpm
▪ Transmission – 8-speed automatic, AWD
▪ 0-100 km/h – 6.0 seconds
▪ Top speed – 191 (209***) km/h
▪ Fuel consumption – 11.0-12.0 l/100km combined

▪ Exterior colour – Gondwana Stone
▪ Footage location – Eastnor, Herefordshire, England