Jaguar Debuts 2020 Land Rover Defender at Frankfurt Motor Show
The icon is back! The Defender will be available with a host of options to fine tune and personalize this rugged rig.
The Land Rover Defender has always been a symbol of off-road durability. And now, the company promises that the new model might just be the toughest and most capable Land Rover vehicle yet, combining a new body structure with all-new technologies. The new model made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It has been updated, but retains its original style. It has decidedly tough looks and capability. “But the 2020 Defender can be personalized to allow owners to make the most of their ride,” says the company.
Land Rover has seen seven decades of pioneering innovation. Alongside the peerless luxury and refinement of the Range Rover family and the highly capable and versatile Discovery SUVs, the new Defender completes the Land Rover dynasty. The Defender 110 is just the start for this family of the most capable and durable 4x4s in the world.
It will be swiftly followed by a short wheelbase Defender 90 later in 2020.
With minimal front and rear overhangs, the new Defender is instantly recognizable and provides excellent approach and departure angles. The Land Rover design team re-envisioned familiar Defender elements, giving the new 4×4 a purposeful upright stance and Alpine light windows in the roof, while retaining the side-hinged rear tailgate and externally-mounted spare wheel that make the original so identifiable.
“The new Defender is respectful of its past but is not harnessed by it,” said Gerry McGovern, Chief Design Officer, Land Rover. “This is a new Defender for a New Age. Its unique personality is accentuated by its distinctive silhouette and optimum proportions, which make it both highly desirable and seriously capable – a visually compelling 4×4 that wears its design and engineering integrity with uncompromised commitment.”
The high sills, short overhangs, and externally-mounted rear wheel of the new Defender facilitate the vehicle’s off-road capability, while its elemental yet sophisticated surfaces combine with a strong horizontal emphasis to communicate the vehicle’s tough and purposeful character.
The new Defender is available in perfectly proportioned ‘90’ and ‘110’ body styles, which share the same short overhangs, with six models available; Defender, Defender S, Defender SE, Defender HSE, Defender X and Defender First Edition.
Customers can also select from the widest range of accessories ever produced by the Land Rover brand, including a choice of four Accessory Packs: Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban.
“This is our vision of a modern Defender,” said Gerry McGovern, Chief Design Officer, Land Rover. “The clean body side contrasts dramatically against the sheer verticality of its front and particularly its rear to create a reassuringly purposeful stance. The overall impression is of an elemental design, yet this clean reductive approach is underpinned by sophisticated surfacing of the highest quality.”
Land Rover has developed a curated exterior palette with unique colors exclusive to the new Defender. A lot of body work is exposed in the interior – so the color palettes are modular between interior and exterior. The new Defender is the first Land Rover vehicle available with an optional factory-fitted Satin Protective Film which delivers enhanced design and durability. The PU-based wrap is applied to external bodywork and gives the standard metallic paint a rich and contemporary satin finish, showing the sophisticated surfacing of the exterior design in the best possible light.
A choice of 12 wheel designs are available, ranging from 18-inch white-painted pressed steel rims to 22-inch Luna alloys.
Body color options include three new metallic shades unique to the Defender with Tasman Blue, Pangea Green and Gondwana Stone joining Fuji White, Eiger Grey, Santorini Black and Indus Silver in the exterior color palette.
The Defender model’s interior communicates its highly functional nature–underpinned by its practical layout and reductive design. This approach is most evident by the exposed, powder-coated magnesium cross car beam which is integral to the overall strength of the body architecture.
The main controls, including the central touchscreen, are ergonomically clustered within the magnesium frame to enable the installation of an innovative optional front row center jump seat while also allowing for movement across the front of the cabin. Practicality is a hallmark of Land Rover interior design and the new Defender comes with an abundance of storage opportunities including a choice of center consoles.
User-friendly features include practical touches and advanced technological innovations. Durable rubberized flooring, a full-length Folding Fabric Roof are perfect off-roading touches.
The Front Row Center Seat (otherwise known as a jump seat) standard on the First Edition Defender 90 and optional on the Defender 110, allows three people to travel in the front row. Conceived and designed as an occasional seat, the practical addition means the Defender 110 can be specified with five, six or 5+2 seating while the short-wheelbase Defender 90 can accommodate six occupants in a compact family hatchback length body. When not in use, the seatback folds down to provide a front armrest and additional storage, including a pair of additional cupholders.
“Within, we strived to harness the Defender model’s profound spirit of boundless adventure,” said Alan Sheppard, Director, Interior Design, Land Rover. “A comfortable interior which is at once impeccably handsome for the discerning, shrewd in functionality and prudently qualified in anticipation of any adversity.”
“Essentially a tool – obtaining this balance of tactility, softness and durability was key to create a modern premium aesthetic for both the interior and exterior materials,” said Amy Frascella, Director, Color and Materials, Land Rover. “We have enabled innovation of materials by creating new approaches to development, challenging conventions of traditional methods of make and modifying existing technologies.”
To retain the famous Defender silhouette, accommodate a family of body styles and support the latest range of powertrains, the Land Rover brand has developed the new all-aluminum D7x platform. It has the unique combination of practicality, flexibility and capability expected from a 4×4 wearing the Defender name and doesn’t share a single body-in-white panel with another Land Rover model.
Raising the position of the vehicle’s body structure by 0.8-inches, compared to the existing range of large SUVs within the Land Rover line-up and relocating elements including the battery and cooling circuits, has enabled vehicle engineers to deliver ultra-short front and rear overhangs and a wheelbase of 119-inches on the Defender 110 –3.9-inches longer than a Land Rover Discovery.
This new body architecture provides more ground clearance, exceptional off-road geometry, giving the Defender 110 approach, breakover and departure angles of 38, 28 and 40 degrees (in Off-Road height with tow eye cover removed) respectively.
Configurable Terrain Response makes its debut in the new Defender (standard on X derivatives and optional on others), allowing drivers to fine-tune the set-up of the vehicle to suit the precise off-road conditions like never before.
The strong body architecture of the Land Rover Defender vehicle helps customers tow heavy loads or carry them, and features a maximum towing capacity of 8,201-lbs. Advanced driver assistance technologies include Advanced Tow Assist, which is designed to assist with difficult reversing maneuvers by letting drivers steer trailers using a rotary controller on the center console.
U.S. customers will be able to choose between a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, badged P300, and a six-cylinder Mild-Hybrid Electric Vehicle (MHEV) powertrain, badged P400. The P300 powertrain, which produces 296 hp, uses an advanced twin-scroll turbocharger for smooth performance and efficient power delivery, accelerating from 0-60 mph in 7.7 seconds.
The P400 MHEV powertrain harvests energy normally lost during deceleration and redeploys it to optimize performance. The inline six-cylinder Ingenium gasoline engine features both a conventional twin-scroll turbocharger and an advanced 48-volt electric supercharger. A belt-integrated starter motor replaces the alternator to assist the gasoline engine under acceleration, while the 48-volt lithium-ion battery stores energy captured as the vehicle slows down. In combination, these advanced technologies provide 395 hp, 406 lb-ft of torque and acceleration from 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds.
There are a number of technologically advanced features infotainment system. This next-generation touchscreen-based system is intuitive and user-friendly, requiring fewer inputs to perform frequently used tasks.
Customers will be able to personalize their vehicle further through the fitment of four optional Accessory Packs. The Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban Packs each give the Defender a distinct character with a specially selected range of accessories, while a new Land Rover Above and Beyond Collection of outdoor performance apparel and equipment delivers the same durability and toughness as the new Defender.
Check out the intuitive online configurator to personalize your dream Defender.
Photos: Jaguar Land Rover