2020 Defender

[Lake_Bueller]

You might as well post a thumbnail pic. It's damn near impossible to tell much from that little thing. I found another image on the web and played around with a few filters. It gave it a little more "definition"

That looks a little better (IMHO). You can clearly see the alpine windows in the back. And front looks a little flatter than in the small pic. I'm not a fan of the fake diamond plate cladding on the hood. Throw on a better front bumper and a SD rack. Then it might start to look like a proper Defender.

 

[jymmiejamz]

I'm disappointed. I didn't have high hopes, but have remained realistically optimistic. I didn't want to hate it, but I do.

 

[mgreenspan]

Not to mention the fact that it still looks like the DC100. The ingenium diesel is nice in the Evoque my wife drives. Might be a good car in a few years when the depreciation makes up for the lack of enthusiasm that’s settling in.

 

[Blueboy]

Realize that EU regulations really impact how a winch can be mounted yet that looks very iffy for respooling the line. At least it appears a winch was considered.

Pictures may not do the final lines justice. The D5 looks better in person than in pictures.

Look forward to seeing it in person.

 

[SCSL]

Here's a chop of what this thing might look like built:

 

[SCSL]

The more I look at that rough chop, the more I kinda like it absent that horrific front-end.

 

[rover4x4]

At least the windshield wipers wont "park" evenly

 

[Eliot]

That looks both unfortunate, and remarkably generic.

 

[Blue]

Here's a chop of what this thing might look like built:
View attachment 57176

That looks incredibly gay.

 

[fishEH]

Angry eye lights!? They took one of the gayest Jeep mods possible and made it stock on the Defender. Wow.

 

[DiscoHasBeen]

The people who designed that, the closest they've come to off roading is turning into their driveway.

 

[K-rover]

The more I look at that rough chop, the more I kinda like it absent that horrific front-end.

The front end will never have that much clearance. Too much safety and other crap in the way. It wont be any different than the new D5. Basically just some steel wheels and a roof rack and snorkel with a hidden winch. I mean its basically the same car.

 

[jymmiejamz]

The ingenium diesel is nice in the Evoque my wife drives.

Funny, I don't really care for that motor. It is pretty noisy and underpowered for a modern JLR product in my opinion. The TDV6 on the other hand is awesome. Way quieter than the petrol and tons of power. It is a perfect match for a Range Rover.

 

[Blueboy]

I mean its basically the same car.

Agree that all the recent LR vehicles are looking pretty much the same, yet, would at least hope that the Defender has something for it to stand out from the lineup.

I’ve now seen a few Jeep Gladiators in our area and they are pretty nice in person. Would not buy one, yet, not a bad way to go.

 

[Blue]

It’s a turd. Just like all new vehicles.

 

[SCSL]

I just don't get how LR could walk away from the original Defender look when Wranglers are everywhere. How difficult could it have been to keep the design aesthetic and simply update the interior and safety features? Any guesses as to the price point on this thing?

 

[Tugela]

I just don't get how LR could walk away from the original Defender look when Wranglers are everywhere. How difficult could it have been to keep the design aesthetic and simply update the interior and safety features?

I would be astonished if the senior folks at LR did not have this conversation. There must have been tradeoffs, as there are with every design choice, and the decision-makers chose to go in this direction. I trust that they had their reasons. Keep in mind that LR had to design the new Defender as one vehicle for every market. Safety and emissions requirements vary widely from Zimbabwe to Japan so the new vehicle had to satisfy the highest standards in order to qualify to sell everywhere. That's often Europe, and that could have been the most limiting constraint. If they didn't want to sell in Europe they just could have continued to produce the old Defender indefinitely for the rest of the world.

 

[SCSL]

I would be astonished if the senior folks at LR did not have this conversation. There must have been tradeoffs, as there are with every design choice, and the decision-makers chose to go in this direction. I trust that they had their reasons. Keep in mind that LR had to design the new Defender as one vehicle for every market. Safety and emissions requirements vary widely from Zimbabwe to Japan so the new vehicle had to satisfy the highest standards in order to qualify to sell everywhere. That's often Europe, and that could have been the most limiting constraint. If they didn't want to sell in Europe they just could have continued to produce the old Defender indefinitely for the rest of the world.

Sure, I get that. But I'm speaking here completely of exterior design. They could have built what was visually, in terms of the exterior, 90% of the way to a Defender and completely redesigned/modernized the rest of the vehicle. Think G Wagon.

 

[DiscoHasBeen]

I would be astonished if the senior folks at LR did not have this conversation. There must have been tradeoffs, as there are with every design choice, and the decision-makers chose to go in this direction. I trust that they had their reasons. Keep in mind that LR had to design the new Defender as one vehicle for every market. Safety and emissions requirements vary widely from Zimbabwe to Japan so the new vehicle had to satisfy the highest standards in order to qualify to sell everywhere. That's often Europe, and that could have been the most limiting constraint. If they didn't want to sell in Europe they just could have continued to produce the old Defender indefinitely for the rest of the world.

If circumstances dictate you build a vehicle that is the equivalent of models already offered then why? Yes it may be a little more capable off road but as others have pointed out that's basically a Discovery 5.

 

[mgreenspan]

They’re probably envisioning axing the Discovery lineup. With a 2 door, 4 door 5 seater, and a 4 door with third row, they’re probably planning on making Land Rover distinct enough from Range Rover that they no longer overlap in the SUV market. This platform and the Defender name are all they want to have out there if I had to guess and think like a useless twit like McGovern.

They’re moving the production out of the UK. Why keep building Discoveries there at all?