2022 Land Rover Defender 90 P400
Price: $103,200 CAD
Colour: Eiger Grey
I’m feeling a little spoiled these days. I recently drove the 2022 Range Rover and found that to be in a class of its own. I then had a go in its smaller cousin, the Land Rover Defender 90. I must say, it is a chip off the old block. In a car culture where it’s so important to tick as many boxes as possible to justify the construction of a particular vehicle it’s rare to see any vehicle built to such a specific purpose with little thought to concerns of practicality or suitability to the market. They made a 2-door Defender many years ago and that’s good enough reason to make a new one now. What a monument this vehicle is to the good old days when things didn’t make sense and that’s the way we liked them.
power & performance
The 2022 Defender 90 P400 come with a 3.0L Turbocharged gas engine that spits out 400 of the laziest horsepowers I’ve seen in a long time. Land Rover say this thing will pull 0-60mph in 6 seconds. If this is true, I don’t want to be there when they prove it. With the way this vehicle is designed I would come to rest upside down in a ditch trying to match those numbers. There is plenty of power on offer, but the vehicle isn’t designed for straight line speed. It’s designed to climb over stuff and slosh around all over the place. That’s also the way I prefer it.
As is fashionable these days the Defender 90 X comes with a wonderful air suspension system that makes the already tall vehicle pitch and wallow like wheat in a windstorm. That’s not a criticism as it gives the 90 a very old school kind of ride we don’t see much of anymore. It’s completely without pretense regarding sportiness and instead leans into being able to absorb the bumps in the daily climb up the mountain its designers envisioned it would make once unleashed on the real world.
exterior
I’m going to disregard the unending criticism thrown at the Defender 90 for being so hopelessly impractical with its 2 door setup. I don’t care about any of that. It is beautiful. The hood, middle and rear are perfectly sectioned thirds, and the vehicle has perfect optical balance as a result. Not since the immortal Suzuki Samurai have we seen a production vehicle this squat and effectively tiny. The 90 is remarkably narrow for a modern SUV and this adds to its smallness. It takes all the handsome bits from its bigger siblings and squeezes it into this little shape. I am absolutely smitten with this vehicle.
interior
First thing I noticed about the interior of the Defender 90 was that it had no carpet. Hard plastic floors with carpet mats to keep your feet from sliding all over the place during your adventures. This speaks to the concept under which this vehicle was designed. It really is, cost aside, built for the bush. You can pull those floor mats out, hit them with the pressure washer, wipe down the floor and you’re ready for the next trip up a mountain. Absolutely perfect.
Many rear-view mirrors now double as rear facing cameras. The Defender 90 comes with this setup, aptly named “Clearsight”, and it is one of the more unique offerings I’ve ever seen. The camera is mounted on the roof at the back of the vehicle and the angle looks directly at the cab of whoever is behind you. The image is so clear you can see their nose hairs poking out. It actually began to be a problem as the show going on in the rear of the vehicle distracted me from what was happening in front of me.
The 11.4” infotainment screen on the Defender is the perfect size and gives you all the functionality you need without distracting you from the moose you’re driving past while scaling mountains. The touch screen is tactile and responsive and it’s easy to switch from CarPlay to the native system as needed.
A premium “Meridian Sound System” is fitted to the Defender and does a good job of drowning out the road noise which is more than I expected. This was mostly at highway speeds and in truth it would quiet as a mouse doing 13kph up a mountain road, so highway comfort isn’t a priority.
The 2 doors that come with the Defender 90 are sparse affairs and feature about 50% painted steel. I haven’t seen this since the last time I drove a VW Beetle. It adds to the charm and styling of the vehicle, and I know it will take a beating and get all scratched up, a Land Rover should have a few beauty marks. It’s all part of the charm.
Given how SUV obsessed we are as a driving culture it’s easy to forget how big the doors are on any coupé styled vehicle. The 90 has very large doors that require real effort to close. The windows are equally large and that’s a good thing as they provide excellent visibility in what might otherwise have been a vehicle with tough visibility. If you opt for the storage case on the one side like this test vehicle, you will lose some of that visibility.
Seat belts aren’t something I spend much time thinking about during my car reviews. Who can blame me? They’re boring. However, on the Defender 90 they are so hard to access when you’re trying to strap yourself in I figured they were worth a mention. The gap between the seat and door is so narrow and the belt sits so far back in the rear that it can be very hard to get a hold of. Slim hands and a thin figure would help in this regard but my infatuation with the Wendy’s drive thru has left me ill-suited to the task.
This review wouldn’t be complete without talking about the back seats and cargo space. Both useless. The cargo area is easily accessible but is only big enough for a bagel and small cup of coffee. The rear seats are fine once you’re back there but squeezing into the rear passenger area is no small task. None of this matters of course because the targe audience for this vehicle doesn’t acknowledge the existence of anything but the two front seats. That’s where the driver and their dog sit.
quality
The Defender 90 is a well-made vehicle. It feels solid and ready to tackle all the shopping mall and Home Depot parking lots most of its owners will throw at it. That’s a shame because it really is engineered to tackle everything from the Australian Outback to various war-torn regions of Africa with absolute ease. Perhaps when these work their way into the used market and carry a lower price tag we’ll see it fulfill its destiny.
CQI – N/A – There is no carpet.
value
The Defender 90 costs a touch over 100k in this spec. Sold. Take my money. This is a singular and unique vehicle with an equally singular and unique driving experience. There are no real competitors and as such, it’s a bargain. When you’re the only one that makes a looney tunes, completely hopeless two-seater mountain climber with endless charm and charisma, name your price.
final thoughts
I fully understand that I have forgone all considerations of practicality and common sense in my assessment of this car. Thank god for that because if I hadn’t I might have completely missed the whole point of this thing like so many others. This is a machine built to put a smile on your face. Few vehicles can make this claim and truly back it up. The Land Rover Defender 90 can do so in spades.
