TOWING TO THE MAX
Much has been written about Land Rover’s all-new Defender, most of it good, but how does it stack up as an all-terrain tow vehicle? That’s an important question for many people who have invested their deferred overseas holiday money in a well-equipped offroad caravan and now need a comfortable and capable vehicle to tow it to destinations unknown.
Neither of the first two Defender variants to arrive in Australia late last year really hit that elusive towing sweet spot. Now the range has been expanded with the customer’s choice of two ‘Ingenium’ modular inline six-cylinder diesel engines available for the more popular five-door Defender 110 longer wheelbase models.
While the Defender 110 P400, with its 3L twin turbocharger petrol engine, is still the real powerhouse of the engine range, most people with heavy offroad caravans cruise at 95-100km/h. So, along with its elevated price, the P400’s 294kW is perhaps a bit overkill. The more powerful and thirstier petrol engine also results in a poorer towing fuel consumption, delivering a relatively small travelling range of less than 500km from its modest 89L fuel tank.
As for the forthcoming P525, 5L V8 petrol engine
