We all know Defenders don’t do facelifts, so the question is, do they do upgrades? Nadine Thomson looks at whether or not the new Defender is still just a capable icon stuck in the past, or if it has finally taken a reluctant step into modernity.

It was a simple two-fold plan: 1. Go to Lesotho and review a new trail. 2. At the same time test drive the new Land Rover Defender.

Plans have a tendency, however, of not always working out quite the way you intend. Firstly, I had to drive the 3 000 km from Cape Town to Lesotho and back in four days, and secondly the trail (and I use the term “trail” somewhat reluctantly) turned out to be more of a trial by fire. 

The 3 000 km there and back was still fine (relatively speaking of course), but the “trail” … Well, the trail was supposed to be a straightforward, 17.5 km scenic route to the “edge of the world”, the top of Mont-aux-Sources and back.

A grade 2 at most, no technical stuff, no complications, no sweat. But the inviter neglected to mention one minor detail: it had rained – a lot!

Think mud. Wet, sticky, sucking, knee-deep, chocolate mousse-like mud. Think snow, rain, hail and falling darkness. Think no track! Think 3 050 m above sea level, cold and wet, oxygen deprived, all on top of the infamously unforgiving Lesotho mountains.

And this was only the beginning. It took our convoy of ten vehicles nine-and-a-half hours to complete the usually five-hour long trail from the Afri-Ski resort and back.

And then there was the more than 40 triple-snatch and winch-type recoveries for every you-name-it-I-got-it vehicle in the convoy (including a Toyota Land Cruiser).

Every vehicle in the convoy, that is, except (drum roll please) for the Defender!
That was my conversion experience.

But is it a real upgrade? 
Let’s face it, a Defender upgrade is a contradiction in terms. Much like every Defender upgrade before it, it would go unnoticed if you didn’t know specifically
what you were looking for – externally speaking.

In this case, for the die-hard Defender lovers, the changes are reassuringly subtle, a revised bonnet profile the only clue.

The interior, on the other hand, has received a lot of attention. Never synonymous with luxury, the Defender has taken a step towards relative comfort, boasting an entirely new fascia and dramatically improved instrumentation.

This equates to an entirely new interior, with forward-facing rear seats no less, a revised air conditioning system that seriously works, and a sound system you can actually listen to at 120 km/h.

What’s that bulge for?
The real reason for the new power bulge on the bonnet is not attitude; it’s the new 2.4 Ford Transit DuraTorque engine.

Power is identical to the Td5’s at 90 kW, but it is delivered at 3 500 rpm instead of the 4 200 rpm of old. And, it is claimed, more than 90% of its peak power is now available from a mere 2 200 rpm.

The torque output is also up from 300 Nm to 360 Nm at 2 000 rpm, of which 315 Nm is available between 1 500 rpm and 2 700 rpm. That’s two-and-a-half times more torque available at lower revs than the Td5 engine of old.

An engine with that much low-down torque requires a new gearbox. Out with the old Td5 five-speed, in with the new six-speed. With a 32% increase to top- and bottom-end gear ratios, the new gearbox allows for better off-road control in
first and vastly improved tar performance in sixth.

And it does so whilst reducing engine stress, which means for the first time you can’t hear the Defender’s engine whine.

The good with the bad
Ergonomically the new Defender still has most of the same old quirks and ticks as before. The brutish “to hell with conformity” shape still remains, and with it come the same old complaints.

The cab is still too narrow, with not enough legroom. You are still required to drive head tilted, squashed up against the doorframe, with one arm
casually draped out the window.

It still seals like a sinking ship, it’s still full of rattle-and-crunch sound effects (granted, it’s 30% less noisy than before, but it’s still noisy), and yes, believe it or not, the handbrake, and who knows why, is still right alongside your left knee.

Sixty years of evolution and you would have expected they could solve that rather simple little problem.

The good news however is that the Defender does at last boast a very effective air con-ditioning system, the efficiency of which is complemented by the addition of electric windows that actually seal.

In the end, for all its internal refinements, it’s still a 1948 Defender at heart: robust comes standard, comfort an accessory.

When all is said and done
You either love the Defender or hate it, so it makes no difference what I tell you here. You either want one or you don’t.

A Defender is not built for comfort. It will never compete with the Range Rovers and the Discoverys of the world. If you want that level of comfort, buy one of them.

A Defender is for those who want a powerful, reliable, no-frills vehicle they can trust to get them where they want to go – and back.

When all is said and done, if I ever have to get stuck on top of a mountain again, I still want to do it in a Defender. For all its refinements, this new Defender is still the same beast: tough, indestructible and reliable. And besides – it grows on you.

Drive Out says: Love it or hate it, you have to respect it. But if you’re buying it just to look cool – forget it.