Land Rover Defender L663 (2019-2026)

The inner-city friendly Defender is easy to live with, turns heads and fun to drive anywhere – Land Rover has moved upmarket in its build quality, and that’s clearly found on the new Defender. There’s not a single panel out of place, nor is there a questionable bit of trim found both inside and out of this off-roader. Although I wish things were buttoned up a little more on the inside, as there were some squeaks and rattles found while… Read more

driving around in this particular Defender.

Pricing for the Defender 90 S P300 starts from $87,073 before on-road costs. However, if you add a folding fabric roof, digital rear view mirror, activity key and an electronic active differential, you have a final drive away price of $95,172 before on-road costs.

Land Rover offers a complementary 5 year/unlimited kilometre warranty and a servicing plan that covers 5 years or 102,000kms for $1,950.

The P300 engine option in the Defender line-up offers little cabin intrusion, and actually burbles and pops when you drive it a little harder than it has any right in being driven.

It’s a subdued cabin, offering a quiet ride and allowing you to enjoy the passing scenery or whatever is playing over the speakers. However, a distraction that I hope was an anomaly was a harsh base rattle emanating from said speakers.

The mass, size and dynamics of the Defender 90 makes it brake like a large hatchback.

This P300 motor is a 2.0L inline turbocharged petrol 4-cylinder motor producing 221kW at 5,500rpm and 400Nm from 1,500rpm to 4,500rpm.

Usually diesel would be the pick for a vehicle like this, however the P300 motor produces peak torque at a low enough figure that I’d almost pick this engine with the added benefit of extra straight line performance.

It’s reactive and moves a larger two door off-roader like this with absolute ease. You can cruise at low rpm, and swiftly move up to speed in a mere 7.1 seconds - respectable for a car not designed to win drag races.

Paired to this motor is an 8-speed automatic transmission. It’s smooth, quick to react, and feels well suited for daily driving in the city and tackling rock crawling on the weekend.

There’s a low range option in this gearbox that feeds power smoothly and predictably, offering greater capability than simply cruising on tarmac.

There are no paddle shifters to change gears, instead a sequential pattern can be found on the physical gun handle-like shifter up on the dashboard of the Defender.

Riding on coil suspension instead of the optional airbag suspension, this Defender feels fairly different in its handling.

There’s no adjustability to be had. Instead, you’re set with the one height and stiffness option unless you opt for air suspension.

The fixed height allows for ease of access into most car parks and will still allow you to cross 850mm of water. However, I did miss the ability to raise and lower the car for ease of entry for some shorter passengers and being able to clear some slightly more aggressive sections of our off-road test track.

The fuel efficiency of the P300 motor is average. This is a heavy, 2 tonne off-roader, so you can expect an average consumption figure of 10.1L per 100km. I saw figures as high as 13L per 100km during my week with the 90.

I was thoroughly impressed with the Defender’s interior when I first reviewed it last year. This year is no different; I’m still just as smitten when spending hours at a time inside this car.

Handy placements of storage cubbies, handles and large buttons make interacting with this cabin feel logical. There’s no lack of places to store loose items, and you won’t struggle to find a spot to hold your oversized metal water bottle.

The ‘floating’ centre display is easy to read and has an excellent UI known as ‘Pivi Pro’. As I experienced first hand, you receive regular over-the-air updates to keep your Land Rover packed with the latest digital features.

It’s a rugged feeling interior, with no carpet found anywhere to allow for easy cleaning, all complemented by the exposed bolts along the doors and centre console.

What I’d seriously consider opting for would be the large fabric folding roof, which would add another dimension to enjoying this interior. With it, you could either stand up in the back seats and eat your dinner from the roof of the car while enjoying an elevated view, or soak up that Sydney sun while driving.

There isn’t a whole lot of boot space compared to the Defender 110, but the Defender 90 is still a wildly practical car.

Front seats are what you’d expect for a large two door car like this, with plenty of comfort and space.

However, the rear seats, despite lacking their own entrance, are extremely spacious and roomy. There are two windows and that large fabric roof to let more than enough light into the back. It’s one of the very few two door cars where four, maybe even five adults could enjoy spending lots of time over a long drive.

Look, I’m going to be honest. The Land Rover Defender 90 is purely a product for those who are looking for the best of both worlds, those being luxury and capability.

There are cheaper alternatives out there, but with a reduction in price also comes a sacrifice in either capability or creature comforts.

It’s not for everyone, but for those who want the off-road equivalent of a weekend sports car, that’s where the Defender 90 comes in.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Land Rover's best 4X4 – The new Defender has moved away from its traditional body-on-frame design, the usual suspect off-road design of choice. Now utilising an all-new aluminium body, which is designed to provide increased rigidity and safety. The Land Rover Defender P400 SE starts from $102,736 (before on-roads). This isn’t exactly the bargain of the century,… Read more

especially if you add on the options that saw our test vehicle priced at $116,116 (before on-roads) - That’s until you compare it to its competition like the Toyota Land Cruiser Sahara, Lexus LX or even the Mercedes G Wagon.

To summarise, after placing the price of the new Defender into perspective, it certainly does represent value for money for its performance both off and on road, space, safety features, and the overall fit and finish.

This Defender you see pictured was fitted with a $6,500 satin polyurethane wrap, which plays a very important role when cleaning and maintaining your Defender. This wrap not only provides the matte finish to the Pangea green metallic paint, but it also possesses self-healing properties.

This car had off-road tires fitted, and during my week I hardly noticed them apart from the occasional roar of these tires making their presence known under sharper turns.

The speaker system in the Defender was certainly a highlight, as this vehicle was fitted with a Meridian sound system. The depth, clarity and fidelity of the sound emanating from these speakers is close to class-leading.

On-road, the Defender inspires confidence, despite weighing in at over 2 tonnes. You’ll be able to stop both smoothly and in an emergency thanks to four large disc brakes and the addition of autonomous emergency braking. Off-road, the Defender is able to come to a stop and hold on slippery surfaces, and on sharp descents that feature limited to no grip.

When you opt for a Defender fitted with the P400 motor, these are the headlines: 294kW, 550Nm and a 0-100km/h time of just 6.1 seconds. Powered by an all-new turbocharged petrol inline-six mild-hybrid motor, the P400 trim possesses what Land Rover refers to as its Ingenium motor, and it could not be further from what previously powered the old Defenders.

On-road, you can have an absolute blast on some back roads when you settle the car into its lower suspension setting. Shift the car into the sport setting, and lay into that accelerator pedal, and you’ll certainly have yourself a performance SUV. The way this Defender sprints up to speed is quite entertaining because you’ll feel as if you’re maneuvering a small studio apartment’s worth of space around the road. Off-road, the mild-hybrid system really shows itself off, it provides the necessary low-down power that traditional diesel motors offer by comparison. It allows for a further spread of torque. From 2,000rpm through to 5,000rpm, you’ll receive all 550Nm to help you out of those stickier spots. If you really crave that torque to be available lower than 2,000rpm, you’ll need to opt for the diesel engine options. From 1,400rpm to 4,000rpm, you’ll receive all 440Nm.

Over the evolution of these gearboxes, Land Rover has certainly learnt and improved, which leads us to this 8-speed automatic. I was brought to a sort-of zen moment when I began to drive the Defender and experience this gearbox. Finally- Land Rover has a gearbox that blends a higher number of gears without feeling too busy and is far more responsive than gearboxes of the past. This is the case whether it’s changing manually using the sequential shifter pattern, relying on the car to downshift to the right gear at the right time, or revving out the inline-six to redline in sport-mode. There is one main downside; the responsiveness from throttle input being translated into vehicle movement. I’m not sure if this is a manufactured lag, or something that is specific to Land Rovers but every Land Rover I’ve driven, even Range Rovers, have had this lag.

If you like air-suspension, you’ve come to the right place. This is key to the new Defender’s ability to transform from the school runner into a formidable off-roader. There are three settings for your air suspension on the P400 SE, these include: Access Height: This is the Defender’s lowest setting, which can be locked, allowing you to enter underground car parks or multi-story complexes. This reduces the Defender’s height by 20mm to 1950mm of total height. Normal Height: This is the Defender’s standard setting, and is used for all on-road applications and high speed driving scenarios. The Defender’s standard height is 1970mm. Off-road Height: This is the Defender’s highest and most impressive setting. It enables the Defender to utilise its 900mm wading depth and overall class-leading combined approach, ramp-over and departure angles. Off-road 1 setting will raise the Defender to 2020mm in total height, off-road 2 setting will raise the Defender to 2045mm in total height.

What took me by surprise was the amount of fuel you can consume when driving around congested inner-city streets. I was fully prepared to see an increase in fuel efficiency from this mild-hybrid system, but was ultimately a little disappointed in this category. On the highway, great, you see the mild-hybrid system working as it should. Revs drop to as low at 1,100rpm, while driving at speeds of up to 110km/h, returning an average consumption figure of 10L/100km. This is pretty much on target with Land Rover’s claimed 9.9L/100km figure for this P400 engine. It was day-to-day driving in the city, egged on by a few strong moments of acceleration, where this consumption figure soared. On average, over 5 days of driving, I saw figures as high as 20L/100km as an average for daily driving.

To summarise this interior: it is rugged yet plush, full of tech, has plenty of space, and most importantly, it’s safe (thanks to integrated blind spot monitoring lights in every door).

With all seats in their usual positions, you have a total of 972L of usable space! That’s enough to take four people’s worth of luggage and carry those individuals too. The rear seats fold in a 40:20:40 split, allowing you to pass through longer items, like skis or a couple of surfboards, between two rear occupants. If it’s just yourself or the two of you, you can have up to 2277L of cargo space loaded onto a relatively flat floor, without any awkward drops or lips to maneuver around. Helping with ingress and egress of items, you can lower and raise the air suspension from the rear, to allow you to customise the entry height of the rear cargo space depending on your needs.

Contextualise the price, and yes, you absolutely should. When in the market for a luxury SUV that has proper off-roading capabilities that will even impress those who spend every weekend knee deep in the mud, you’re looking at prices starting at $150,000 and above.

Sure, you can source capable, comfortable off-roaders as low as $70,000, however, we can’t kid ourselves that these are of equal status to the likes of a Defender, G-Class or the revised Lexus LX. Capability, yes. Status, interior features and power, not really.

The Defender really does represent decent value, for not only being a great go-anywhere vehicle, but also making you feel special, with unique features and luxury appeal. *Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Love these cars and would never get anything else – It’s a car with a lot of flaws but an absolutely fantastic car none the less, everyone who owns one loves them like one of their children and for good reason it will treat you well and never fail you. It’s very basic in features but is sufficient and personally I like not have it a million sensors beeping all the time. Unfortunately the handling… Read more

is rubbish and it’s extremely noisy to drive. There are a lot of problems with the car but majority of them are fixable and there is a wide range of parts both genuine and aftermarket, you can really make this car in to something amazing. The car was definitely designed to be used off road and excels in that but they didn’t focus too much on the city driving aspect of it. If you want to stand out, turn heads and feel proud driving a car this is that car and the community around the car is fantastic too, you will often have people going out of their way to have a good look at your whip and other defender drivers never fail to give you a wave when they see you on the roads mine handles the Australian outback like a dream, I use my car as a daily and go 4wding as often as possible because that’s where the defender is most as home, the car is one of if not the best farm driving cars out there and will beat almost and 4wd in their usability (except in power perhaps hard to beat a V8) if you like this car just get it you will not regret it, I took a risk on one and have never looked back even tho I’m broke now. It’s a car with a personality and is instantly recognised by all, more importantly not a basic b*tch car tho

At little tale of caution – I have gone to great lengths considering to submit this review and would have much prefered not to have needed to do so. We have followed all the correct methods, reaching out privately to the company and we feel we have gone out of our way to be polite and patient and give every benefit of the doubt where possible. However after 80 plus days… Read more

and no end in sight it's a shame its come to this.

At little tale of caution… this is in no way aimed at any local Land Rover Dealers as I feel they may well be just as in the dark… However this is squarely aimed at JLR Australia and International, who seem, in my humble opinion to think it’s better to keep building and selling new cars rather then allocate any spare parts for customer vehicles that are broken down.. This right now is certainly how it appears.

After a 12 month wait our new Defender finally arrives. A D300 X Dynamic HSE totally optioned up , it lasted a total of 3 weeks on the road intermittently showing a battery fault. Returned to dealer who charged the starter battery and sent us on our way. Within 2 days the faults begin to show again. We immediately call the dealer and book the car back in as soon as they can look at it and are told to bring it in next week, just call to let us know when you are coming. We call closer to day and are told sorry we can not possibly look at it for another 4-5 weeks. Vehicle ends up going into limp mode and is towed to another dealer. Diagnostics are run and show the vehicle has multiple faults which in the end are caused by a faulty MHEV battery… In JLR's defence, they supply a hire car. Unfortunaltey the supplied vehicle is too small for us, not set up for towing and any of our use for the car. We do mention this and it goes unaddressed. All our plans need to be put on hold for the immediate future.

We are told 4-6 weeks for a replacement battery to arrive. We can deal with that ( So we thought! ) After that time with no updates arriving, we start to chase up a status and finally are told there is no time frame for the part to arrive. I start to search for parts available internationally and JLR Australia tell me I may be able to source the replacement myself. We ask for documentation to enable us to ship the battery ( necessary for items classed as dangerous goods ) - this is never suppled so we give up attempting to source said part.

So, 80 days and counting our new vehicle is still sitting at the dealers waiting for a faulty MHEV battery to be replaced. Yes that’s right if it fails the car does not go … After repeated calls to JLR Australia, we are finally told that there are a total of 5 MHEV batteries in the world available as spare / warranty parts, none in Australia with no time frame for one to actually arrive .. We request if they can arrange for us to secure one and we could then arrange for it to be picked up wherever in the world it is and shipped to Australia. An answer to this and again any documentation required to try to do so never comes. Yet every day JLR International are building new vehicles at the factory with these very batteries. Good to see customers who have paid for and received the vehicles are being supported…. Do better Land Rover you are letting owners down …

Now, just to add perspective before the Covid shortage issues get thrown around.... As from JLR International public reporting. “Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) posted revenue of 4.8 billion pounds in the fourth quarter and retail sales of vehicles stood at 79,008 units. For FY22, JLR's revenue was 18.3 billion pounds, down 7 per cent from the prior year. Retail sales were at 3,76,381 units” Ironically they also report warranty fulfilment costs are down ..... ( I'll leave that one to the imagination ! )

Don't get me wrong, this vehicle when running was amazing... We still patiently wait in the hope that our new vehicle will be fixed, I am just not so sure about the "Above and Beyond" motto anymore.