Land Rover Defender 110 test drive since 2007 SUV

All photos Land Rover Defender 110 since 2007

The king of nature

Land Rover Defender long -lived car world. Its story began almost 60 years ago, back in 1948. What causes such stable popularity all these years? To find out, we conducted a test drive of the updated model of 2007. Moreover, they chose for this the most extremal-final version.

Like it or not, but not in vain they say there is no thin without good. And our hero is a vivid example of this. After all, the legendary Land Rover owes his birth to the Second World War, namely the post -war situation in the UK. After the war, Rover had a problem: the destroyed production was transferred from Coventry to the Aviation Plant in Solikhal, which had huge capacities. But to load them only by those cars that were produced at that time was not possible. Something new was needed.

The Maurice and Spencer Wilksy brothers, who at that time at the head of the Rover board, offered a certain utilitarian all -wheel drive vehicle with a cheap and simple design, requiring a minimum of sheet steel for manufacture (unlike aluminum, steel was in short supply). According to legend, the brothers talked about the fate of Jeep Willys, on which the elder worked on his estate on Englesey Island. What will happen when it will finally fall apart? Spencer asked. I will buy the same, Maurice answered.

It is believed that it was at that moment that they came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating what later became the first Land Rover. They decided to make the body from aluminum, light and stable material for corrosion, which was in abundance after the war. Savings played a big role in the design of the chassis. It was decided not to stamp its elements, but to cook from steel stripes. The received spaces and crosses, then, in turn, were welded into a single staircase frame, which has become a business card of the Land Rover SUV for many years.

Until the end of 1948, a trial series of 48 copies with engines, gearboxes and modernized bridges from Rover models was released. And on April 30, 1948, Land Rover was introduced to the public at the Motor Show in Amsterdam. It was an open car with flat panels of the body, only with the front row of seats and painfully with familiar headlights on the radiator grille (a version with a whole -metal body Station Wagon appeared only in 1951, and the Defender name after 1990). A real, uncompromising all -wheel drive hard worker! Such a Def remains to this day. Having lived such a long life, having undergone a number of modernizations, but, it should be noted that he has not changed a lot, he is still in the ranks and is still in demand. And the figure of almost 2 million buyers speaks about this eloquently!

Today's Defender 2007 model year is the last in the history of Land Rover. They say that another model will be replaced. Fans are mourn, and is not unreasonable. And with them, farmers, communal services workers, various non -governmental organizations (UN, Red Cross, etc.) and the armed forces of a number of states. This is not surprising, because legends go about the incredible cross -country ability and irresponsibility.

So far, we will try to figure out that the new Defender has appeared in this generation compared to the past, which was made without serious changes from 1990 to 2006. And did he lose his famous qualities? Land Rover is visible from afar. Still, almost 2 meters tall! Yes, and such flat-cubic forms in the automobile world cannot be found now. I go to the car, holding in my hand a key of simple plastic with the same controlled controller of the central lock. There is some kind of thrill in the soul. Still, Defender has a strong charisma! With all his appearance, he seems to declare: I am a story! I can do everything! The male!

I'm trying to find at least some external differences from the previous one. Long surveys lead me to the inscription

Land Rover on a hopped hood, to a slightly modified radiator grill and to the absence of windows for windshield ventilation. Conservatism is one of the characteristic features of Def. Let's see what is inside. I open a thin and absolutely flat door and, with the help of a step, I can hardly climb into the top of the seat. Immediately I notice the new thing from behind instead of benches, two full -fledged chairs appeared. The passage to them is unique through the back door, for which a special bandwell is provided.

We have to sit in a foller, because there are wheel arches under them. But they can be deftly folded, increasing the luggage compartment. The front seats are new, with heated. They are fixed, as before, on high angular catwalks. Their profile is not bad, but nothing more. There are only two adjustments, in addition, the ranges are clearly not enough with an increase of above 180 cm. And the whole point is that the seats simply rest against the steel pipe across the salon, very similar to the safety frame. The steering column is not adjusted at all, and the pedal node is very shifted to the left, the clutch pedal is located near the wall. Not only is there a catastrophically lacking space, you also have to bend your legs in a widest way to get on the desired pedals.

You sit, bending down in three deaths. There is nowhere to put your left hand, literally with your shoulder, propagates the door. You can recall that there is a gearing version of the elbow in the window, and at the same time, having a little sticking out the head, observe both the wheels of the car and the extreme overall dots on one side. To overcome obstacles, this is very convenient, I do not argue, I myself was convinced later, but you can’t travel with an open window in cold weather. With the closed, it is necessary to use a completely new system of heating and air conditioning (therefore, it turns out, the famous slots under the windshield have disappeared).

The air conditioner was never useful in November, but the stove ... This is still a little thing! The fan even at the first speed fills the salon with serious noise. It is impossible to achieve optimal temperature either cold or hot. Those who drove on various cars of their native auto industry, such as classics, will understand me well. Defender, while on the right side of the salon, blew significantly colder air than in the driver's. Anyway, in order to warm up the insides, it takes time.

It is not surprising that the aluminum body is still almost deprived of sound and thermal insulation. It’s better to bask on the go. The temperature of the motor drops in idle, and with it the intensity of heating decreases. Living car! Real! Yes, God with him comfortably, it is time to understand why people buy this damn inconvenient car? I manually regulate the mirrors, I hardly stick my hand with the key in the gap between the steering wheel, the door and the steering wheel lever of turning on the light (the ignition lock on the left, the machine is initially right-handed), pull the floor handbrake, put the long gearbox in the neutral and, finally, I conquer motor.

By the way, new. The 2.4-liter, 122-horsepower Common Rail turbodiesel is for nothing to be placed on Ford Transit, in response to the turn of the key wakes up with the sound of a truck. Especially with cold start. Vibrations are generously transferred to the body, steering wheel, gearbox lever and handout. I warm up the engine for a long time. Well, the shooter of the temperature sensor barely moved, the pairs are almost never going on the mouth, it's time to move off. I squeeze the heavy clutch, stick the first gear again with a new reinforced 6-speed checkpoint, add gas. Defender briskly bursts from the place, but this abuse is imaginary. It is due to a very short first step. A jerk, and it's time to turn on the second. So I continue to pump the muscles of the left leg with a clutch, and find transmission in the checkpoint with my right hand.

This, I will tell you, work. Distrofors are not on the shoulder. On Moscow traffic jams, existing torment. Later, having gotten getting in, I realized that it was necessary to start with the second (the first exclusively for heavy off -road or in the case of towing the trailer), and then you can turn on the fourth, or even fifth at once. The traction (360 nm) and the elastic diesel calmly digest, and this almost does not affect the dynamics.

Defender does not shine with dynamics. It accelerates slowly, with the dignity of the English aristocrat. If you try, you can get it, after eternity, and up to 140 km/h under the hill, but why? Bridges, rubber with profile 85, a high center of masses and a worm steering mechanism are not the best seasonings for fast driving. The car of the goat on bumps, swims on a straight line. At the same time, the motor yells displeasedly, from everywhere the noise of the wind, the stove howls, the pendant rumbles. The sound system can only offer a naughty sound, and is not able to shout this cacophony. Having decided to brake, you will once again feel like a man.

The force on the pedals is cargo, is there a vacuum at all there? Slow down, despite the disc brakes in a circle, leaves much to be desired, the 2-ton colossus scribes even more, the steering wheel has to be tightly compressed. This is some kind of gym on wheels! You ask: well, what is the joke? Why is this clumsy slow fabric? We went to find out for the Land Rover Experience SUV, and then to one of the military training grounds of the Taman division in the Moscow Region.

The off -road is not parquet, like a road to a summer residence, but the present, seeming impenetrable, off -road. This is where Defender manifests itself in all its glory! This is where he demonstrates his most extreme qualities by cross -country ability, reliability, indestructibility, tenacity and amazing stability.

A simple but rigid design, invented by the Wilksa brothers back in 1948, remains unsurpassed so far. Short overhangs and a base, a powerful frame, huge strokes of pendants and, of course, a constant all -wheel drive crazy off -road cocktail. All vital units are well worn.

The lower points of the bridges, the steps and the frame, this is not scary. What does Land Rover do in those places where it is problematic to move even on foot, you have to see. Do not even see, but feel. Sitting in the cabin on a monstrous longitudinal slope, my unprepared vestibular apparatus categorically refused to adequately perceive what was happening. The brain said that this was impossible, the car should have already turned over for a long time, but he only calmly continued to move forward. On the terrible bumps of the landfill, sometimes alternating in a checkerboard pattern, Defender showed a huge angle of crossing the axes.

It is very difficult to hang it diagonally, some of the axes and catch. Sometimes the front wheel hung in the air in height meter above the ground. No problem. We turn on the center lock, and go. Yes, and the Traction Control will make up, if that. The angle of entry and congress (47) is almost equal to the maximum angle of rise (45). What does it mean? And the fact that if, having arrived at the slope, you did not rest on it with a bumper, you can climb him. Provided, of course, that the clutch will be sufficient. Do you imagine what it is to rise in a 45-degree mountain? It looks from the cab, as if you are climbing a steep wall.

The same applies to the congresses as if you were falling into the abyss! Very acute sensations, not for the faint of heart. The passenger was always sitting with a stone face to the right of me, clutching at everything that was possible. But after overcoming the next obstacle on his face appeared an idiotic smile, he went around an obstacle, and in his eyes it was possible to read: it was impossible! By the way, Defender did all this on an ordinary high row of checkpoints. For some reason, the low turned on poorly, he was constantly knocked out. However, it is difficult to even imagine those places in which a lowering row would need!

Of course, the Land Rover Defender should ideally be not the only car in the family. Even, perhaps, not the second, but the third. A kind of toy. But a toy for adults, for men. Defender car for strong in spirit. For those who are ready to sacrifice comfort, dynamics and controllability for the sake of amazing off -road qualities. For jeepers in the first place. For those who love hunting and fishing. For those who have to operate the car in difficult conditions, for example for farmers. For those who just like to climb by car, the devil knows where. It delays this, you know, to feel like the king of nature in a car.

Prices and configuration

In Russia, in addition to short -term modification of 90 SW, two long -drawn 110 SW and 110 Crew Cab Pick Up are also available. In the database, they are equipped only with the necessary: \u200b\u200bconstant all -wheel drive, a handout with a locking of the center differential, gur and seat belts. The mechanical hatch, ABS + Antibuxation system ETC, air conditioning, a rim, a radio, alloy wheels with Grabber tires, heating the front seats and windshields, front electric windows, tinting of glasses and centers are optionally possible. Prices from 820,000 rubles for Land Rover Defender 90SW TD5 BASE up to 1 020 000 rubles for the version110SW TD5 Crew Cab Pick Up SE.

Dmitry Krotov