The all-new 2018 Land Rover Defender will represent the next generation of free-range utility vehicles. It will include a whole series of body configurations, such as convertibles, pickup trucks and even wagons.
We have used to seeing the Defender in its source form, as it hasn’t been redesigned (drastically at least) in well over 30 years.
Although the current Land Rover is more than capable of conquering any terrain, it is expected from the new model to be even better and be the best-performing off-road vehicle ever produced.
This is a bold claim and ditching the old cardboard-style body certainly won’t be enough. However, this project started off boldly, as the company plans on selling 100,000 units annually world-wide.
Engine, Platform and Performance of Land Rover Defender
The new Defender is expected to fix one of the major drawbacks of the current model – its weight.
Although the old model makes the sufficient use of light-weight materials such as aluminum for the body, the chassis and framework is made of steel, which is durable, but heavy, giving the car unnecessary weight of over 2 tons.
Fixing that will give the new Defender the advantage in terms of fuel consumption, as well as overall performance and handling, especially when going uphill. The new Defender will offer several engine options.
The most powerful will likely be a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine of unknown power nor torque output and the slightly less powerful will be a 3.0-liter V6 unit, outputting around 380 horsepower.
Couple of the more fuel consumption friendly engines developed for the Jaguar XE might be implemented in the new Defender, as well and those are the 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter inline 4-cylinder engines.
Fuel consumption will be vastly reduced, but how much will depend on the engine and the fuel being used.
Land Rover Defender Exterior and Design
The new Land Rover Defender will ditch the old rugged design of the current Defender and will feature a more modern and fun look, almost like a buggy.
The front will feature large round headlights and a slim grille. There are no front air intake openings, so the vast majority of the space is taken up by the front bumper.
The back will feature a spare tire compartment with a side-opening gate and dual pair of round-shaped headlights, positioned vertically. Unfortunately, the spare tire will greatly reduce the visibility through the rear window.
Interior of 2018 Land Rover Defender
The new vehicle will feature a plethora of new technology and features, that will make the drive much easier than the current Defender.
The interior, like the exterior will feature vibrant colors and a fun, modern and minimalistic design. The cabin will be spacious and comfortable, with enough cargo space to fit everything you need.
The new model might feature the latest version of the Terrain Response system, that will easily setup the vehicle for different road conditions.
2018 Land Rover Defender Price and Release Date
The all-new Land Rover Defender is expected to arrive sometime in 2017 and sold as a 2018-year model. The starting price for the base model will be around $55,000.