JLR spruces ‘Land Rover' Defender up once again inside and out
Having refreshed its line-up back in January, JLR South Africa has introduced yet more upgrades to the Defender range, this time externally and inside than mechanically.
New outside
Applicable to all three bodystyles, 90, 110 and 130, the exterior revisions consists of 22-inch diamond turned dark grey alloy wheels, a tinted finish for the restyled taillight clusters, a dark oval badge on the grille, new headlights and a gloss black finish for the grille bars across all variants.
ALSO READ: JLR approves pricing for updated Defender, including new diesel
Redesigned front and rear bumpers in Silicon Silver or Carpathian Grey, gloss black Defender wheel caps and textured bonnet and side vents round the aesthetics tweaks off, together with two new colour options; Borasco Grey and Woolstone Green.
Changes inside
Underneath, no alterations have been, however inside, all Defenders receive a slightly revised centre console, upgraded materials and a new 13.1-inch Pivi Pro infotainment system.
Biggest arrival is the new 13.1-inch Pivi Pro infotainment system. Image: JLR
On the technology front, Adaptive Off-Road Cruise becomes an option for the first time, while somewhat controversially, a new Driver Attention Alert monitor has been fitted atop the steering column similar to many current Chinese vehicles.
OCTA bespoke
Besides the regular Defender range, the hardcore OCTA has not been omitted from the changes despite having only made its world debut in July last year.
Flagship Defender OCTA has also benefitted from the same changes as its siblings despite being less than a year old. Image: JLR
Centring on its exterior as it benefits from the same interior and tech updates as its siblings, the OCTA gets textured graphite trim, Phosphor Bronze outer edging on the Defender bonnet script, bumpers and side vents, optional carbon fibre accents and four colours for the 20-inch forged alloy wheels.
The final change is a revised choice of colours with only Charente Grey and Petra Copper being carried over.
OCTA gets new bronze exterior detailing, plus four colour choice for the inside of the 20-inch alloy wheels. Image: JLR
New, therefore, is Borasco Grey, Sargasso Blue and Patagonia White Matte additionally furnished with a matte protective film.
Nothing new up front
Up front, the unchanged engine line-up consists of the 3.0-litre Ingenium straight-six turbodiesel in the D250 and D350, the mild-hybrid Ingenium 3.0-litre straight-six turbo in the P400, and the 2.0-litre Ingenium four-cylinder turbo-petrol paired to an electric motor and battery pack in the plug-in hybrid P400e.
For the former pair, outputs remain at 183kW/570Nm and 257kW/600Nm while the P400, without the electric hardware factored in, develops 294kW/550Nm.
Woolstone Green debuts as a new colour option on all models bar the Defender V8 and OCTA. Image: JLR
In combined form, the plug-in hybrid P400e outputs 297kW/640Nm and, according to JLR, will travel emissions-free for 59 km.
At the range's summit, the venerable AJ-V8 5.0-litre supercharged V8 soldieries on with outputs of 386kW/626Nm in the simply titled Defender V8.
Unique to the 130 is an integrated air compressor not available on the 90 or 110. Image: JLR
The OCTA, meanwhile, makes use of the mild-hybrid BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo producing 467kW/750Nm.
As before, all engines are mated to the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission.
Price
Price-wise, no changes have been made since the January updates. This also includes the standard five-year/100 000 km maintenance plan and eight-year/100 000 km battery warranty on the P400e.
Defender 90
D250 S – R1 639 600
D250 S County – R1 681 900
D250 X-Dynamic SE – R1 699 700
D350 X-Dynamic HSE – R1 870 700
D350 X – R2 108 600
P400 X-Dynamic HSE – R1 897 600
P400 X – R2 126 600
V8 – R2 924 300
Defender 110
D250 S – R1 669 100
D250 S County – R1 711 400
D250 X-Dynamic SE – R1 732 400
D350 X-Dynamic HSE – R1 904 600
D350 Sedona Edition – R2 060 200
D350 X – R2 179 900
P400 X-Dynamic HSE – R1 929 300
P400 X – R2 210 200
P400e X-Dynamic HSE – R2 261 200
P400e X – R2 337 500
V8 – R3 054 100
Octa – R3 449 100
Octa Edition One – R3 749 100
Defender 130
D350 Outbound – R2 029 100
D350 X-Dynamic HSE – R2 062 200
D350 X – R2 327 700
P400 Outbound – R2 032 900
P400 X-Dynamic HSE – R2 055 300
P400 X – R2 348 100
V8 – R3 165 400
NOW READ: Hardcore off-road suited Defender OCTA officially revealed
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