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The Defender now competes with traditional Wranglers and Broncos
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Defender’s charms include build quality, functionality and powerful powertrain options.
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Expensive competition makes it seem almost reasonably priced
Rivals from all sides have the Land Rover Defender in their sights. However, the British car still manages to stand out on its own.
I spent a week living family life with the Land Rover Defender 110 2024. What have I learned? Dismissing this icon for the competition would be a mistake.
Why? I found the Defender to be well-tooled, and I liked the strong turbo-6 powertrain option, and its packaging and controls. But living with those controls can be confusing, the turbo-6 has lag, and it’s a Land Rover, which means electronic gremlins are more likely than in some rivals, according to some studies.
Here are the pros and cons I’ve experienced while living with the 2024 Land Rover Defender 110.
Land Rover Defender 110 2024
Pros: Land Rover’s build quality is head and shoulders above the competition
This thing is so well screwed together that it took me back to the Mercedes-Benzes of the 90s. Out of a Mercedes-Benz G-ClassI struggle to think of another modern vehicle that feels so solid, though the Editorial Director argues that the Polestar 3 is on that level. From the way the door handles engage and don’t wobble, to the doors themselves closing with a solid thud. Nothing feels like it came out of a box labeled Flimsy. All the buttons click with a tactile quality that can be felt and heard. There’s a handle on the side of the dash to make getting in and out easier. You can shake the entire SUV with this thing and the handle itself won’t budge.
Try doing this with the same handle on Ford Bronco and you can tear the plastic off the center console. Not $90,000 Jeep Wrangler or the Ford Bronco sounds or feels like this. And a G-Class costs well over $80,000 more.
Defender 110 2024 comes with electronic gremlins as standard
Con: Electronic gremlins appear during the day… and at night
During my week with the Defender 110, the voice command button on the steering wheel was unresponsive most of the time. It controls the infotainment system’s voice commands along with Siri for iOS devices. When it worked, it worked, but not often. About half the week, the touch-to-unlock buttons on the door handles were unresponsive. I had to take the key out of my pocket to unlock the Defender with the fob, but sometimes the touch-to-unlock buttons would randomly work fine. This Defender was essentially new, with just over 7,000 miles on it.
All of this is common to Land Rover life, as demonstrated by JD Power Vehicle Reliability Survey.
The 2024 Defender 110’s turbo-6 is strong and feels underrated
Pros: Defender’s turbo-6 hits the sweet spot
The Defender can be had with a 296-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 that my colleagues found underpowered. I drove a Defender with the available supercharged 5.0-liter V-8, making 518 hp, and it pulls like a hungry dog on a leash. The truth is, the 395-hp-rated 3.0-liter turbo-6 in my tester is the sweet spot. The power is nothing short of robust and understated. It’s quick, the turbo-6 sounds great, both at idle and under acceleration, and it never gets nasal like the turbo-6 in the Lexus GX.
The 2024 Defender 110 isn’t fuel efficient, but it’s apparently in line with its real-world EPA fuel economy ratings
Con: Defender’s turbo-6 is slow and drinks
With EPA fuel economy ratings of 17 mpg city, 20 highway and 18 combined, the turbo-6 isn’t particularly efficient. Over about 270 miles of mixed suburban driving, the Defender averaged 16.4 mpg. That’s not great, but the 6-cylinder drank less fuel than the V-8.
A battery-electric powertrain in this thing would be killer, Land Rover. I say that because the turbo-6 has noticeable turbo lag and then the power comes on like a shot of adrenaline at about 2,200 rpm. The turbo-6 in a BMW or Mercedes-Benz is smoother than that. Even Stellantis’ new Hurricane turbo-6 in a Jeep Wagoneer has smoother power delivery.
The Defender has a shelf and USB plug in the dashboard to store items while on the move.
Pros: Defender combines real controls with functional design
Slip behind the Defender’s wheel and you’ll be thrilled to find knobs and buttons for essential climate and audio functions. Forward visibility is great thanks to a tall, vertical glass greenhouse and thin A-pillars. The rear-door-mounted spare tire makes rearward vision difficult, but my tester had a $570 digital rearview mirror that transmits a camera feed to solve that problem. The right side of the dashboard features a recessed shelf that can hold anything from a compass and handheld GPS to a radio or smartphone. The rear-seat occupants, who in this case were my kids and their friends, loved the high seating position and the roof-mounted Alpine windows that let in the light from the sky.
Land Rover Defender 110 2024
Cons: Defender’s controls are confusing and poorly lit
At best, all these rigid controls are confusing to use in practice. The climate control dials serve multiple functions, from heated and cooled seat controls (my tester didn’t have the latter) to off-road driving modes. Everything is layered and controlled by buttons, which then dictate what the buttons do. Press this to use it for this, or click this to have it control that. Making changes is laborious and requires thinking. Worse, the sun washes out these controls, so that the functions each button serves can’t really be seen in certain lighting conditions.
In the land of $80,000- to $90,000 Ford Broncos and Jeep Wranglers, the Defender doesn’t seem unreasonable at $62,275, including a $1,475 destination charge in the four-door 110 trim. At $82,053 as tested, thanks to options ranging from the turbo-6 and off-road driving modes for $750 to $1,600 for air suspension and adaptive dampers, the Defender’s prices seem almost fair.
After my first experience with the 2024 Lexus GX, I said the automaker painted a target on the Land Rover. I support that. But after some time virtues and annoyances have shown themselves with more time behind the wheel of the GX, passing through the wheel of a Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco of more than US$ 90,000 and then living with the Defender, it is clear that the Defender still holds its own in the segment.
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Land Rover Defender 110 Shire 2024
Base price: $58,375 including $1,475 destination charge
Price as tested: $82,053
Powertrain: 3.0-liter twin-6 with 395 hp, 8-speed automatic transmission, full-time all-wheel drive
EPA Fuel Economy: 17/20/18 mpg
The successes: Solid build quality, real buttons and knobs, functional design, strong turbo-6
The longing: Confusing, thirsty controls that disappear in the sunlight, electronic gremlins