Land Rover Defender 2021 Tow Test

The 2021 Land Rover Defender 110 is a luxury SUV that accordingly starts at a premium price and is offered with many options – for which you also pay a premium.

No surprises there, and in the context of large luxury 3500kg tow wagons, the Defender is not exorbitantly priced.

Mind you, the new Land Rover Defender must be about the only ‘luxury’ 4WD wagon that comes with vinyl floor coverings, and at close to $100K you’d hope for active cruise control in the standard features bundle.

Our test vehicle is the 3.0-litre P400 S petrol model that in MY20 guise starts at $95,335 plus on-road costs, and will this year be updated for MY21 that will improve the spec (adding active cruise and other safety tech, for example) and actually send the price down to about $92K. Ideally, we would tow test the new MY21 3.0-litre diesel D250 (from $90,490 in equivalent S trim), but these are also not yet available on Land Rover’s test fleet.

Highlight features on the P400 S include air suspension, dual-range transmission, auto high beam assist, LED lights front and rear, heated power-folding side mirrors, push-button start, leather/textile seats and two-zone climate control.

The test vehicle was laced with a strong cocktail of options, including the $2740 Comfort and Convenience Pack (premium cabin lighting, centre console fridge compartment, Meridian sound system, wireless device charging) and the $2086 Driver Assist Pack (blind spot assist, clear exit mirror, adaptive cruise control, rear collision monitor, rear traffic monitor).

It also carried the $2000 black contrast roof, $1950 Indus silver metallic paint, $1822 bright side tubes, $1423 exterior side accessory box, $1274 ClearSight interior rear-vision mirror, $949 hitch-receiver, $845 privacy glass, $806 electronic active diff with torque vectoring by braking, $520 19-inch gloss black alloy wheels, $403 fog lights and $280 matte black bonnet decal.

All up the test vehicle with options was $113,392, not including on-road costs or the Redarc electric brake controller, which will cost around $800 (fitted).

The Defender has a three-year/100,000km warranty and maintenance costs are capped at $2650 for five years’ servicing.

The 2021 Land Rover Defender 110 is one of only a handful of models that have been tested under the tough new ANCAP crash-testing regime introduced last year, and it achieved the maximum five-star safety rating.

This immediately places the SUV as one of the safest in its class.

The standard driver assist systems included on the P400 S are an indicator of its strong safety credentials. There’s lane keeping assist, a driver condition monitor, 360-degree parking aid, traffic sign recognition and tyre pressure monitoring, plus roll stability control and trailer stability assist in the stability control suite.

The Defender’s in-car tech is simple to use, with the 10.0-inch infotainment system incorporating DAB digital radio and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, and offering straight-forward, glitch-free menus.

The LCD instrument cluster needs some familiarisation of the various menus, but once you’ve done that there are no issues here.

The 3.0-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder petrol engine (294kW/550Nm) on the 2021 Land Rover Defender 110 P400 S is a bit of a technical marvel with twin-scroll turbochargers and 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, which uses a permanent-magnet electric motor that draws power from a separate lithium-ion battery.

The engine also features an idle-stop system for around-town fuel savings.

This all translates into a smooth, quiet and flexible engine, with Land Rover claiming a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.1 seconds.

No wonder the 2400kg Defender feels quick once you shove the accelerator to the floor, and that straight-six sounds awesome when revved. The eight-speed auto does its thing without any odd or clunky shifts.

With the caravan behind it, the Defender 110 P400 is also impressive. Climbing the 90km/h test hill saw a drop to third gear and a lungful of revs but just barely one-third throttle input to maintain speed.

There won’t be any issue keeping up with the traffic on hills or overtaking when towing. The Defender is very good at pegging speed on a steep descent, holding to the 70km/h speed when held in second gear – although the engine was revving at 5500rpm to keep the rig’s momentum in check.

That said, the P400 might be a mild hybrid, but the Defender’s fuel consumption isn’t exactly mild. We saw average fuel consumption recede to as low as 9.7L/100km on a very easy 100km/h freeway run, but throw in anything more demanding and the consumption figure rises dramatically – although in reality, no more than you’d expect from any typical large-displacement petrol 4WD wagon.

The automatic engine idle-stop didn’t arrest a solid thirst around town, with high teens showing on the trip computer.

Towing a 3000kg caravan saw an average of 20.4L/100km, which is actually not bad for towing such a bluff and heavy trailer.

In our experience, a diesel Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series or Jeep Grand Cherokee towing a similar van size/weight won’t achieve much better than this.

With the Defender’s 90-litre fuel tank capacity (and using our fuel average achieved), you’d get 391km (with a 50km safety margin) before needing to refuel. A bit more fuel capacity would have been nice to avoid range anxiety when towing in the back blocks.

Driving the 2021 Land Rover Defender solo around town, it feels very wide at first (it’s 2022mm wide, excluding the side mirrors) and the turning circle is not exactly tight at 12.84m.

Like almost every recent retro retake of ‘military-style’ 4WD wagons (the Toyota FJ Cruiser, for example), the Defender is hard to see out of to the rear and rear three-quarters. The large side mirrors and cameras get a workout.

The cabin is a comfortable and spacious place to occupy though, with its more-than-typical seating space for five adults.

Hitching up the 3000kg caravan (as towed, with full water tanks and with a 250kg tow ball download) we picked up from RV Connection at St Marys was made easier thanks to the three selectable camera views on the Land Rover Defender 110 when reversing – on-road, off-road and towing.

With the towing view selected you get a close-up view over the tow ball, with a red circle representing the ball. When it’s under the coupling you have a representation of the tow ball position to help accurately line it up.

There’s also a bird’s-eye view of the vehicle, which helps when you’re backing up with some lock and have nearby obstacles to worry about.

Even with a 250kg tow ball download, with the self-levelling air suspension there was no suspension droop/rise.

The Defender was rock-solid at highway speeds, it’s substantial 2400kg-plus kerb weight and 3000mm-plus wheelbase (and short rear overhang) no doubt helping the cause.

Even with large trucks passing or being passed and some crosswinds to contend with, the Defender didn’t flinch.

While the independent air suspension provides a lush, supple ride unladen, it gets a bit soft and wallowy with a heavy van behind on some rougher secondary roads.

The 2021 Land Rover Defender 110 P400 S is an excellent heavy-duty tow vehicle, with a very stable and smooth towing ride on smoother roads and plenty of performance from its petrol six.

However, better fuel range is needed to take on remote tow touring and more resolved suspension damping when towing on undulating surfaces.

While you’d hope not to encounter problems in the middle of nowhere, the fact is that the Defender doesn’t have the regional spare parts or service back-up of other, more popular brands.

How much does the 2021 Land Rover Defender P400 S cost?
Price: $95,335 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 294kW/550Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 220g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2020)