So yesterday I spent some time in a new Defender at my local dealer.
While I was there, they had two on the lot. One was a silver First Edition which was in the process of being sold, and the second one, which I checked out, was a Gondwana Stone /black roof SE P400 with pretty much every option ticked. The local dealer is installing DuraTracs at customer request.
Impressions:
1. Exterior. They look way better in person than online. Like light years better. Like, I was not prepared for how good they look in person. I don't know why this is, but the D5 was the same way, only I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with the Defender. I'm going to chalk it up to smartphone camera lens effects...the proportions of the 110 are so much better in person - more square, less elongated than they look on Instagram or even on the configurator. The best view is rear 3/4, but the front looks great too. It looks smaller, more taut than the D5, but it's not that much smaller on the outside. Sitting next to each other, the Defender definitely looks more purpose-built, the D5 looks more refined. I like the D5 because it is so much more capable offroad than its exterior design suggests. The Defender does not hide its capability at all, and that works from a design perspective.
2. Driving impressions - I took it for a spin all on road, on a quick around the block with a short blast down the Interstate. The inline six has a nice growl. No supercharger whine, no turbo teakettle I could hear. It's quick, but there's a noticable kick down lag in the transmission. But that's okay, it's not like the locomotive feel of a diesel where you have to plan ahead, get a head of steam up, then execute your passing maneuver. Brakes are super grabby, almost like there's some regeneration added but forgot to ask. Maybe just brand new. Felt a little more wallow and softness than the D5...you can definitely feel the tuning as a more offroad focused truck than the D5. I missed the paddles as I have gotten used to those for offroad driving and I like not having to take a hand off the wheel on tricky stuff. The shifter is from a RRS and I didn't realize how much I've got used to the knob. I wanted to no-look shift into reverse and drive but since it's not gated I couldn't without looking at it. I imagine you'd get used to it though. It drives a little smaller than the D5 - in the D5 you're conscious of the cavernous space behind you, which is not there with the Defender. The "clear sight" rearview camera/mirror was easier to get used to than I thought, but you have to manually switch back to the normal mirror in order for the reverse camera with guidelines to activate. Didn't realize that till after I got back to the dealer and was going to reverse into the spot, but the reverse camera wouldn't activate so I pulled in head first.
3. Interior. Front was nice. 2nd row didn't seem like there was as much legroom as the D5, or maybe there was only just as much - certainly not more. Felt about as wide as the D5 in the front row. This one had the white magnesium crossmember and that looked great with the Khaki interior and light wood accents. The best part was, NO PIANO BLACK. Finally, we may be ridding ourselves of this terrible design choice. Didn't realize there were body painted surfaces inside - they looked great as well. Tons of storage including elastic bands over recesses tucked into the C-pillar that would be perfect to hold a camp towel, some camp suds, and flattened half roll of TP, or a small first aid kit. The rear cargo area is not huge. Noticeably smaller than the D5. But the 2nd row seatback surfaces have the same rubber checkerboard plate as is on the hood, which is a nice touch. Driver's seat was comfortable, was the dual material and softer than my D5 Windsor Leather seats. Made the D5 feel like sport seats as the bolsters are stiffer in mine. It had the same 12-way adjustments as my D5 - didn't fiddle with them too much but I imagine they will be great for offroad driving.
4. I fiddled a little with the configurable terrain response system and it's pretty sweet. Hardly anyone will ever use it to it's full capability though, but if you are a driver and intend to use the vehicle as it was built, you'll probably like it. The cool thing was the virtual look through the hood. The cameras look ahead and record what you're driving up to, and then the system processes that and then displays that under the vehicle as you drive, with your wheels and articulation shown so you can plan your line. I wonder how accurate it will be if you're constantly making corrections on a climb or descent, but if it's ******tty outside and you didn't wear your wellies, or you're on a solo drive it should help. Pivi Pro infotainment was nice...it's made by LG using a smartphone based architecture so maybe it will be a little more reliable than the Bosch sources InControl Touch Pro. Very responsive to touch, a couple menus took a few seconds to load, but it gives you a wait wheel so you know it registered your touch, whereas other infotainment systems don't. On ICTP sometimes you find yourself jabbing the screen over and over until it does the first thing, and then immediately does other things you didn't realize you were telling it to do. But I realize this is a feature of ICTP and not a problem, so I don't pursue warranty claims to fix it.
I didn't ask what the take rate between the P400 vs P300 was on orders, but the dealer says they're taking a lot of orders. Since the first of June they've taken over 20 orders, and they had a bunch of preorders as well, but they said most people were waiting to see them in person.
Overall I'm impressed. Would definitely consider it to replace my D5. If however you have an average American family and want to haul them and all of their stuff on your overlanding adventure, the D5 is bigger and perhaps better suited for that, if perhaps a little less capable offroad.