[imagesource: Nick Dimbleby]

In May last year, the highly anticipated new Land Rover Defender was already causing a bit of a buzz as the carmaker announced that it wouldn’t be produced in its traditional home of Solihull.

Instead, said Jaguar, it would be built at one of the automaker’s new plants in Nitra, Slovakia.

All of that fell to the wayside, however, when it was revealed, with its aluminium monocoque frame called D7X (X for extreme), powerful engine, and near-perfect navigation of tough terrain.

The Telegraph’s Andrew English took the Land Rover Defender 90 for a spin, and couldn’t stop raving about it.

Before we get to his review, let’s take a look under the hood.

The new models are a tribute to the old-school Land Rover look that we associate with offroad excellence.

You’ll have the option of a 2,0-litre, four-cylinder turbodiesel with 197bhp or 236bhp, a 296bhp 2,0-litre turbo petrol also with four cylinders, called P300, and a 394bhp, 3,0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo petrol with a mild hybrid system, called P400.

All of this controls a perfectly balanced, permanent four-wheel drive with the only transmission being a ZF eight-speed automatic and a set of low-ratio crawler gears.

This baby sails over all manner of challenges both on and off the road.

Close the lid and pop inside the vehicle and you’re looking at magnesium-alloy twin spars running across the dashboard with its rectangular setup and switch panels, and a clear, easy to navigate digital instrument display.

The aesthetic speaks for itself and can be summed up in two words – space and comfort:

Over to that review from The Telegraph:

We already knew that the new Defender was pretty good in long-wheelbase 110 form but the shorter 90 version is, if anything, even better.

With better dynamics, off-road agility and the same lovely interior, it is a complete star – and it looks terrific, too.

Time and Land Rover’s reliability will determine how it goes down with the company’s traditional commercial markets, but on this evidence it should be out there doing the tough jobs for years to come.

That’s coupled with a five-star rating.

If you’re keen to get your hands on one of these beasts, you can check out a detailed breakdown of the specs and pricing for South Africa, for all three models, here.

If you’re keen on something a little more environmentally friendly, Seth can’t stop going on about the all-electric version of the classic Land Rover Defender.

[source:telegraph]