All-New Land Rover Defender notches up 1.2 million kilometres of testing
To celebrate World Land Rover Day (30th April) Land Rover has announced the all-new Land Rover Defender will complete its field testing in Kenya.
The all-new Land Rover Defender is expected to be revealed towards the end of this year (although the main pic gives us the best idea yet of what to expect) and Land Rover has used World Land Rover Day (30th April – marking the anniversary of the first Land Rover’s presentation at the Amsterdam Motor Show on April 30 in 1948) to announce the vehicle is embarking on its final field test. The all-new Defender will join the Tusk Trust in Kenya for the final confirmation phase of its testing.
During evaluation, Defender has notched up 1.2 million kilometres of driving, from “the 50-degree heat of the desert, the sub 40-degree cold of the Arctic, as well as up to 10,000ft altitude of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to ensure the new Defender will take everyday life in its stride, for even its most adventurous customers”.
On-location in Kenya, the new Defender prototype will “tow heavy loads, wade through rivers and carry supplies across unforgiving terrain in a series of real-world trials at the 14,000-hectare reserve,” Land Rover said.
Nick Rogers, Executive Director Product Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover, said: “In addition to the extensive simulation and rig testing, we’ve driven new Defender 1.2 million kilometres across all terrains and in extreme climates to ensure that it is the toughest and most capable Land Rover ever made. The incredible opportunity to put it to the test in the field, supporting operations at the Borana Conservancy in Kenya, with Tusk, will allow our engineers to verify that we are meeting this target as we enter the final phase of our development programme.”
Beyond just being able to clamber across rocks and through rivers, the new Defender is likely to be the best-ever on-road too with its ride and handling tuned at the Nurburgring in Germany. The new Defender will be built at Land Rover’s recently opened manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia.
There is a far cry from the old battle hardened Defender and what looks like the next version of the Discovery. The old Defender was a no nonsense bolt anything anywhere piece of hardware. Whilst this may be capable it doesn’t look like it’s going to be the type of car that you would feel happy flooding with mud then using a fire hose to wash out inside and out. It looks like we are left with the 70 series Toyota if you want something that you aren’t going to be worried about scratching the paint on.