New Defender News

[ChasingOurTrunks]

Not sure if anyone listens to the Overland Journal Podcast (and if not I recommend you do as it’s quite good) but they have a good overview of the Namibia trip with the New Defender, its episode 15.

Direct link to the episode for iPhone users

 

[Carson G]

Lucky 8 is working on another winch mount.

 

[A.J.M]

man who’s a fantastic car reviewer, former magazine editor and a genuine farmer gets the 110.

says it’s brilliant.
Brilliant enough to consider changing from a Range Rover to get one.

 

[Carson G]

Not really news but a interesting read nonetheless. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/reinvented-land-rover-defender-never-was

 

[JeepColorado]

2021 GMC Yukon AT4 Wins Four Wheeler’s SUV of the Year Award

Four Wheeler, the world's leading 4x4 authority since 1962, has selected the GMC Yukon AT4 as the winner of its 48th annual SUV of the Year award. Four Wheeler'

www.fourwheeler.com

I have to admit I was a little surprised by this; good for GMC

2020 Land Rover Defender 110

We take a look at the 2021 Four Wheeler of the Year competitor 2020 Land Rover Defender 110 and see how it did after a week of testing.

www.fourwheeler.com

Apparently, the Defender was glitchy off-road

 

[Todd780]

2021 GMC Yukon AT4 Wins Four Wheeler’s SUV of the Year Award

Four Wheeler, the world's leading 4x4 authority since 1962, has selected the GMC Yukon AT4 as the winner of its 48th annual SUV of the Year award. Four Wheeler'

www.fourwheeler.com

I have to admit I was a little surprised by this; good for GMC

2020 Land Rover Defender 110

We take a look at the 2021 Four Wheeler of the Year competitor 2020 Land Rover Defender 110 and see how it did after a week of testing.

www.fourwheeler.com

Apparently, the Defender was glitchy off-road

Good for GMC. But, with 2 out of 4 entries being GM's, the odds were in their favor. Too bad there were only 4 vehicles worthy of contention.... yikes.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

2021 GMC Yukon AT4 Wins Four Wheeler’s SUV of the Year Award

Four Wheeler, the world's leading 4x4 authority since 1962, has selected the GMC Yukon AT4 as the winner of its 48th annual SUV of the Year award. Four Wheeler'

www.fourwheeler.com

I have to admit I was a little surprised by this; good for GMC

2020 Land Rover Defender 110

We take a look at the 2021 Four Wheeler of the Year competitor 2020 Land Rover Defender 110 and see how it did after a week of testing.

www.fourwheeler.com

Apparently, the Defender was glitchy off-road

Hmm....I have some questions about the ways in which FourWheeler assessed these rigs. I'm not criticizing what you shared, JeepColoardo (and thank you for posting it), but the write up itself seems to have quite a few errors and issues that make me raise an eyebrow.

The biggest gripes from our judges came from the myriad of electronic controls and nannies. Defender uses Land Rover's new Pivi Pro infotainment system to control everything from the stereo to the HVAC and even the suspension and drive modes. This is a good idea in theory, but several judges never even found how to adjust the vehicle's different drive modes, as it was a multi-step process.

Directional stability was also called out as being far too twitchy.

The vehicle came equipped with a rearview camera monitor to help with this, but some of our judges are old-school and couldn't quite get used to the view.

While the Defender was the only vehicle in the test with a locking rear differential, selecting when to use it was left up to the vehicle. We had issues of the vehicle jerking violently to one side when the locker engaged in sand washes and also found it to have issues maintaining axle lock during long hill climbs. A simple, user-selectable axle lock button would alleviate all of this.

The Defender went everywhere and did everything, but it wasn't the pleasant and relaxing wheeling we're used to from Land Rover and Range Rover. And for a vehicle wearing the Defender badge, that was a shame.

I'm not sure that this was a very good test of the Defender. The judges seemed to not know how to use it. For the first quote, can't off-road drive modes can be adjusted by the turn of a knob -- no need to go into the Pivi system in depth? For the second quote, directional stability being too twitchy is adjustable too, isn't it?. Third, Not liking the rear-view camera is all well and good, but in context of the other critiques, it feels like at least some of these judges may be of the paradigm that 4x4 technology peaked with the 70-series Land Cruiser and anything more advanced is a detriment. Most folks who are experiencing that camera seem to actually want it to be standard equipment across the industry from what I'm seeing. With regards to the locking diff, that's also user-selectable if you know how to use it and have Terrain Response 2 but they may not have had that -- still, to write it off as a problem seems a bit unfair if it was in fact user error or choice, which "selecting when to use it was left up to the vehicle" seems to suggest.

As for the last comment...."pleasant and relaxed wheeling we're used to from Land Rover" coupled with "For a vehicle wearing the Defender badge, that's a shame" is a confusing comment to me. The Defender has NEVER been a pleasant and relaxed anything. This new one is actually very good for that.

I don't own one, but the new Defender seems to be a common victim of these kinds of incomplete reviews. There have been a few claiming the seats don't fold flat (they do), a few claiming that obvious features are not available (they are), and of course the examples above. Maybe this speaks to the state of car write-ups in general though, and is not a Defender-specific concern -- buyer beware, I suppose.

 

[Todd780]

Hmm....I have some questions about the ways in which FourWheeler assessed these rigs. I'm not criticizing what you shared, JeepColoardo (and thank you for posting it), but the write up itself seems to have quite a few errors and issues that make me raise an eyebrow.

I'm not sure that this was a very good test of the Defender. The judges seemed to not know how to use it. For the first quote, can't off-road drive modes can be adjusted by the turn of a knob -- no need to go into the Pivi system in depth? For the second quote, directional stability being too twitchy is adjustable too, isn't it?. Third, Not liking the rear-view camera is all well and good, but in context of the other critiques, it feels like at least some of these judges may be of the paradigm that 4x4 technology peaked with the 70-series Land Cruiser and anything more advanced is a detriment. Most folks who are experiencing that camera seem to actually want it to be standard equipment across the industry from what I'm seeing. With regards to the locking diff, that's also user-selectable if you know how to use it and have Terrain Response 2 but they may not have had that -- still, to write it off as a problem seems a bit unfair if it was in fact user error or choice, which "selecting when to use it was left up to the vehicle" seems to suggest.

What you say may be true. But, maybe the vehicle shouldn't be so complicated to have to 'figure out' in the first place.

it feels like at least some of these judges may be of the paradigm that 4x4 technology peaked with the 70-series Land Cruiser

Gotta disagree with this too since they chose the Yukon AT4 as the winner. A vehicle with IFS/IRS and 4 corner air suspension at that. If they believed what you stated would they not have picked the Sequoia?

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

What you say may be true. But, maybe the vehicle shouldn't be so complicated to have to 'figure out' in the first place.



Gotta disagree with this too since they chose the Yukon AT4 as the winner. A vehicle with IFS/IRS and 4 corner air suspension at that. If they believed what you stated would they not have picked the Sequoia?

Totally fair critiques! I do think the vehicle is more complicated than it needs to be so I agree the vehicle should be easier to figure out and it should be more intuitive. The info in the review is suggesting that the only way to adjust off-road modes is by navigating through complex menus, which is the area I raised an eyebrow at because as far as I know, that's not true. It takes something that is a moderate problem and presents it as a big one -- and if a judge thought that the only way to switch modes was to go through the menu, I can see how the judge would think "This is a crap system". Switching drive modes CAN be a complex affair by navigating through menus, but it's also as simple as pushing a single button and turning a knob, and a quick read of the user manual would have addressed a good chunk of their critiques, I think.

As for the Yukon being the winner -- my comment about the judges' paradigm was meant a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I am surprised by how anti-tech the FourWheelNetwork article seemed to be with regards to the Defender. I went back and read the article about the Yukon, and they rave about the tech in that application. But again -- the way the tech is reported on as being problematic in the Defender seems to be more about the users than the rig. A great example of this difference is the rearview mirror they talked about -- they referred to their judges as being unable to get used to it, yet countless other reviews have spoken to the merits of the system, including folks like Scott Brady here on Expo, Doug DeMuro, the TFL guys, and more -- in other words, these are established and experienced vehicle people saying they think it's a good feature, it works super well, and there are lots of reasons articulated as to why that is: often the cargo area is full or the rear window is dirty, so the unobstructed rear view is safer. The spare tire obscures a chunk of the window so there's a bonus to that visibility too. And if you really don't like it, a flick of a switch makes it an old-school mirror again. There's literally no downside to the rearview mirror and I've heard in several reviews and from owners that the mirror should be a required feature. But, the FWN article says that it's not good because some judges were too old school and couldn't get used to it? Too old school to flick the switch and make it a regular mirror? That's not exactly a convincing counter argument to the suite of folks who have said it's fantastic.

I am surprised that the Yukon won -- good for GM -- but I'm not surprised that the Defender lost. But, there's a lot of legitimate reasons for the Defender to lose that have been reasonably consistently well documented so far. That article didn't convince me that they landed on those legitimate reasons very consistently.

 

[XJLI]

I cant believe the Yukon won after they posted videos on their IG showing how bad the traction control system is.

 

[DieselRanger]

As for the last comment...."pleasant and relaxed wheeling we're used to from Land Rover" coupled with "For a vehicle wearing the Defender badge, that's a shame" is a confusing comment to me. The Defender has NEVER been a pleasant and relaxed anything. This new one is actually very good for that.

I'm always dubious of people who claim they love something *because* it sucks so badly. The old Defender was a terrible daily because that's just how they built such things in the 1960s-80s. It definitely wasn't a comfortable off-roader, and it broke a lot. Don't see people advocating for a four-horse team and a stagecoach on leaf springs and wooden wheels for Overlanding, but that's what it used to be way before that.

You can like technology or hate it, but you can't deny the capability it brings. And if you don't want it because it's expensive, you're going to pay in other ways. And besides, I can't tell you how many Rubis I see on the trails with tens of thousands of dollars' worth of modifications...this very website has a review right now for a $5,000 (not including installation) electronically adjustable aftermarket suspension for Jeeps - that same option on the Defender is only $2,000 and comes with the ability to dynamically change ride height, throttle mapping, and differential behavior...but there will be buyers who look at that $5,000 system and think that's a great add on to their overlanding Rubicon. In other words, to make it suck less.

This just sounds like old guys who think "they just don't build em like they used to" about everything, even though the way they used to build them can't touch the way they're building them today.

 

[Todd780]

This just sounds like old guys who think "they just don't build em like they used to" about everything, even though the way they used to build them can't touch the way they're building them today.

They sure don't. I love the old iron though. But, as a weekend cruiser. Don't think I'd want to DD an old car again. Been there done that. I can't ask Siri to play 'X' playlist in an old car..

 

[DieselRanger]

They sure don't. I love the old iron though. But, as a weekend cruiser. Don't think I'd want to DD an old car again. Been there done that. I can't ask Siri to play 'X' playlist in an old car..

Sure you can, you just have to have the Lightning-to-Cassette Player adapter plugged into it... ?

I personally would love to have an old air-cooled 911 to play with on the weekends myself. And an extra $750,000 to turn it into a Singer....

 

[TOUGE]

The biggest gripes from our judges came from the myriad of electronic controls and nannies. Defender uses Land Rover's new Pivi Pro infotainment system to control everything from the stereo to the HVAC and even the suspension and drive modes. This is a good idea in theory, but several judges never even found how to adjust the vehicle's different drive modes, as it was a multi-step process.

That has been a problem with quite a few Youtube reviews as well. Land Rover Aus didn't seem to have a manual in the press cars and a few people struggled with changing the 4x4 system. And of you need a manual to change the 4x4 modes it's way to difficult.

 

[Todd780]

Sure you can, you just have to have the Lightning-to-Cassette Player adapter plugged into it... ?

I personally would love to have an old air-cooled 911 to play with on the weekends myself. And an extra $750,000 to turn it into a Singer....

Yeah, no kidding hey? Crazy nice cars. But, they should be since they are crazy expensive.