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Your scribe drove the 2012 Land Rover Defender 110 S/W and has thoughts on its future replacement

Conqueror of strange and isolated places

Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday September 29, 2012

I have just driven my fourth Defender, a 110 station wagon. It underwent changes to engine, gearbox and trim recently. In 2009 I mentioned the writing on the wall and told you last March that its successor was, at that time, supposedly two years off.  I was wrong about the timing; my apologies. Two concept vehicles, DC 100 and DC 100 Sport, were shown last September and finalisation date is now given as 2015. The two are planned for different uses, with the Sport version being an open-topped rich person’s toy and instantly forgettable as far as I’m concerned.

Although Land Rover has been at pains to point out that nothing is set in stone and the “plain” DC 100 will be a serious off-road machine, pre-launch publicity highlights a disturbing trend. I thought an open letter to project design chief, Gerry McGovern, might be in order. Obviously, he will never see this and would probably ignore it anyway, but it makes me feel better:

Gerry my old mate! No? Very well then –

Dear Mr McGovern, Sir,
Just a few thoughts on the DC 100 from an all-road fan and all-round practical person: While I agree that the present Defender is long in the tooth and in urgent need of modernising, some of the ideas being put about need serious reconsideration.

The Sport is obviously a beach buggy for multi-millionaires and not worthy of serious thought, so I won’t.  A Land Rover, if it is to be used for its intended purposes, needs a roof. Apart from warding off ferocious sun and unpleasant weather, there are other forces of Nature to be considered. Some possess various numbers of legs; some have large teeth and terrible breath, while others even have wings. A topless toy would never do. Then there are the techno-gadgets you want to instal.

For example, it appears that automatic transmission is non-negotiable. While I acknowledge that a/t delivers power more gently, there is nothing quite as straightforward and reassuring as a good manual gearbox and selection of high and low ranges by means of a simple mechanical lever. How about making that eight-speed automatic optional?

As for Terrain Response, don’t you have three girlied-up model ranges for the raised-pinkie-and-tofu set already? Those of us who drink our tea out of enamelled mugs and eat real food need a real Land Rover. Please don’t sissify the DC 100. And air suspension? Surely you jest, Sir? From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and all points of the alphabet in between, users will find strange and isolated places in which to break machinery while doing something not yet written in the adventurer’s handbook.

Bags split, pumps break and electronic gadgets fail where the only technical help comes in the person of informal mechanics named Jean-Baptiste. Their domains are sheds behind wayside trading posts just outside Ouagadougou and Timbouctou. They can weld broken steel or jury-rig a spring from another make of vehicle into place, but bags and pumps and computer programs? Mais non, M'sieur!

How long will it take and how much will it cost to fly in those parts and a qualified technician from London or Johannesburg, or flatbed the two ton-plus paperweight to a service agent, three or four countries away? Probably be cheaper to let it rust by the roadside. Oh sorry, Land Rovers don’t rust.

It isn’t all negative. DC 100’s ground clearance and approach, departure and breakover angles are all good. The interior is being updated and shoulder room increased. Seating configurations will still be versatile and those removable cameras and navigational instruments sound useful.

In the meantime, back in the present Defender, your 2,2-litre diesel engine has had the turbo lag tuned out and the six-speed Getrag gearbox had its ratios widened for better lugging power in first and more relaxed cruising in sixth. The new Continental Conticross Contact AT tyres are much quieter on asphalt than the old Wrangler MT/R rubber too. Front doors feel more solid and sealing has been improved. Not only has maximum speed increased to 144 km/h, but you can actually hear your radio at cruising speeds.

Overseas versions have a diesel particulate filter fitted to the engine in the interest of clean living, but SA Defenders do without – dirty fuel, you know. Recommendation from Land Rover SA is that if you use diesel with sulphur contents between 300 and 700 ppm, you service at 10 000 km intervals. Fuel with sulphur levels above 700 ppm requires that you service every 5 000 km.

Finally, Gerry, my thoughts on what the DC 100 should be, when it becomes the de facto new Defender: Keep it simple, keep it as “mechanical” as possible and throw out all expensive and troublesome electronics that have nothing to do with the car’s core purpose. You already have three bells-and-whistles product ranges, after all. Defender, by whatever name, is the hairy chested conqueror of the world, helper of the helpless and bringer of hope to those who have none. You are welcome to make it better, but please don’t ruin it.

The numbers
Price: R433 900
Engine: 2184 cc Ford Duratorq ZSD-422, four-cylinder, turbodiesel
Power: 90 kW at 3500 rpm
Torque: 360 Nm at 2000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 15,8 seconds
Maximum speed: 144 km/h
Fuel Index: 13,2 l/100 km
Tank: 75 litres
Ground clearance: 314 mm under body/250 mm under axles
Wading depth: 500 mm
Approach/Departure/Traverse angles: 49/35/35 degrees
Turning circle: 12,8 metres
Warranty and maintenance: 3 years/100 000 km

For a look back at the 2011 Defender 110, click here

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

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