Ok, long post. This is my impressions of my first long term trip with my Defender 110.

First up, the Defender. I have a MY 2022 X-Dynamic HSE P400 MHEV. It's Habuka Silver. Added: Towing Pack; Expedition Roof Rack; HUD; came with air suspension, Hood sticker; classic mud flaps; 5 seater; Khaki/Ebony Leather & Robustec; console center; ebony headliner; 10" PiviPro; and the rest is standard (at the time which was before they started monkey f'ing all the options). Almost immediately, I switched to Light Weight mode and aired down the tires. I've run it that way since the first week.

What they F'd up in the order: I ordered a 2021 and when they changed it to a 2022 I lost a few thing. I blame JLR as they likely whacked a lot of customers and Dealers were clueless/ignorant about how things were going. No Activity Key, dropped the standard ClearView (I would have paid), and dropped the Optional added e-Diff (again, I would have paid).

My timeline of the order:

• Contacted the Dealer with on-line build specs & deposited $2k - 2/21/2021
• 3/19 Dealer Confirmed the Build
• 3/29 I got into their build queue with an ETA of 7/3
• 4/30 Pinged the Salesperson and found out they no longer worked there so called the Dealer and got another. The switch likely resulted in the lack of "Give a Shat" and why the order missed details & didn't get confirmed.
• 5/29 Found out they ordered the 2022 and changed specs. Too late to change without pushing build date. At that time I knew the supply chain was screwed so bad that it likely wouldn't happen, so went with it.
• 6/9 Arrived at Dealer and needed to add (and mark up all the prices) of the things I ordered not installed at Port or Manufacturer. I let the wheel arches go as I knew I would add myself later.
• 6/15 Picked up after waiting 4 days or the Off-Road tires (Wranger Adventure AT's, not Duratacs).

Ok, so after having the Defender for less than two months I only had 849 miles on it when we left for our week long trip. We drove about 1,500 miles over most of a week. We went from the Hill Country west of Austin to West Texas. Actually Marathon/Alpine before going to Terlingua, Big Bend National Park, Big Bend River State Park, up to the Davis Mountains and then back. 75% of the trip was on hard top and ~25% on gravel roads from pretty good to significantly washboarded to terribly rutted out/rocky/narrow to monsoon rains & roads slick as cat shat. The max climb/descent was 17% so not crazy, but it was in the middle of a hard west Texas rain trying to get to a creek crossing before the water made it impassable.

Roads: Wonderful!! Quiet and luxurious. Plenty of room, cubbies and plenty of room in the cockpit area to store stuff as we practically lived in the thing between hotels/lodges. There is NOT much storage room in the back. The two of us had packed the back. 2d row seats put down flat but the area was packed with a large Yeti cooler packed with two cases of water & ices, a cooler for food, 3 FrontRunner Wolf packs (food, utensils, cooking, etc), EMT bag, two duffles of clothes/etc, tarp, tent and two camp chairs. I swear next time I'm finding a way to put our Thule pod up top. Moving gear to the top is a MUST if you have more than 2 rides Overlanding/Camping. I have the PowerfulUK Molle plates. They were find until we went >75 mph. Then they significantly added wind noise. Highways out in West Texas are frequently 80 mph, so it was a bit loud. Since the Rotopax haven't arrived, I should have pulled them. PRO-TIP 1: The beast is thirsty at high speeds! I think we were getting 17mpg when cruising at 80mph. Those who say the new Defender isn't blocky enough need to take some hydrodynamic classes with an emphasis on the statistical analysis of fuel consumption. Or, just simply drive it! Twice in west Texas I was cursing that we didn't have the spare fuel but we made it well.

Gravel Roads: Wonderful!! The air suspension just soaked up the roads. Lots of miles on VERY washboarded roads. You could feel it, but it road a lot better than any of my other 4x4's thru them. I have seen a lot of pinheads lose traction on washboards. I followed some friends at times and they were slipping out at times, we NEVER had an issue at any speed. Fastest was about 55mph though.

Rocky BLM roads: Wonderful!! Not like Moab or anything serious that I wouldn't take any other 4x4 on, but it handled them flawlessly. Up, down, huge ruts, loose rocks, arroyo's with loose sand, all of it brilliant. I will mention that it doesn't take Kentucky Pinstripes well. Ok, my brother is in Kentucky and I was raised in the Appalachians (I identify as Hillbilly redneck) so I can say that. Whenever the brush on a trail grows too close and brushes the sides of your vehicle, we call those lines: Kentucky Pinstripes. Anyway, in several areas it was unavoidable. Yucca, cholla, mesquite, small brush growing too close to the road. The paint had no trouble. Looks beautiful now. The Molle plates, fine. Unfortunately, the rear pillar is not painted but just gloss plastic. That didn't handle the greenery too well.

Water Crossing: No idea. We only went across ~10 streams and all of them were less than a foot deep. So, can't attest to the skills, but I had confidence in it. WARNING: there's a difference between water and "moving" water. If you ever go across a newly formed stream, water, river - BEWARE. I have no confidence in any vehicle not getting swept away.

Muddy/Slick roads: Brilliant!! We went through a lot of these. The truck was a mud ball a few days. Fortunately later rain on the roads washed a lot off. The classic mud flaps held most down but not the mud thrown too high.

Road, gravel, rocks, mud, rain: Tires performed wonderfully. But the entire time I was on pins & needles thinking they would bail me. But, they worked well. None of the off-roading was anything I wouldn't have taken any other 4x4 I've ever owned onto so none of it truly pushed this Defender.

Heads Up Display: Loved it! I have glasses & polarized sunglasses and never had an issue. I have them as low as they will go and as dim as they can go. Wish they would go lower/dimmer. During normal driving it would show current posted speed (spot on camera logging the changes), current speed, distance bars when on Adaptive Cruise, and Adaptive Cruise set speed. I discovered it also had a "tactical" display when going thru the Terrain controls. REALLY liked that. Not for "Auto", "Comfort" or "Grass", but all others had it. Wish I could select which version I got whenever I wanted. It showed Incline, camber (side to side) and path of wheels as well as speed. Very helpful.

Adaptive Cruise: Loved it! It would HOLD a speed. Steep up/steep down - nailed it. Easy adjusting up/down. Took a while to figure out how to recall when I slowed down (push the toggle) but it quickly became 2nd nature. The only thing is during highway driving I would set it to the shortest interval because the occasional "Johnson" sucker cuts close when overtaking you and it would suddenly dump speed if it is adjusted too far out. More the A-hole drivers than the Defenders problems.

Tech problems: In the first 2,300 miles only had one. But in all credit, not sure I call it a true bug/problem. We were cruising at 80 mph (it was the speed limit) in a VERY heavy rain. Ok, not smart, but neither am I. I was passing an 18 Wheeler on a gentle highway turn. It was dumping water and the truck was blowing a lot more. I totally could see where I was going and the Defender was handling the trip BRILLIANTLY. Anyway, all of the sudden the entire system started screaming at me, threw an alert on the dash and turned off the Adaptive Cruise. At that speed and rain it was like slamming on a brake and high pucker factor. After resetting everything I didn't have a chance to read the alert details or pic it. I turned it off to get the dash working again and the Adaptive Cruise was shut down for the next 24 hours no matter how often I would stop & turn it off. Whatever tripped it was a PAIN at a very bad point.

It wasn't a tech problem, but a couple times when we were DEEP off road that I got really nervous. We would stop to take pics, go on hikes, look at things and we would shut off the Defender. Take keys and when we returned it took a LONG time to start up. All the other keyless ignition, you touch the button and it fires right up. This thing, I swear would take up to 5 seconds at times. And yes, my foot would press firmer on the brake every second hoping I wouldn't have to make sacrifices to Lucas. The delay to start is maddening at times.

I've added a few things. Here's what I recommend you add to yours:

1. HIGHLY recommend buying one of those $20 cubbies for the front of the arm rest area (if not the front 3 seats). This was HUGELY useful. Link of what I bought:
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VDMSKC4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08VDMSKC4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2. Really liked the PowerfulUk Reverse lights. I had issues with mine, but it was my fault. Read the comments on his video if you do this as some of what he goes over doesn't work too well. https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/...grade-kit.html
3. Loved the added boot light. Search this forum for others who added a switch. https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/...oof-light.html

Small things I loved:

• Lots of chargers for both of us.
• Easily flips into CarPlay.
• Rear door is ROCK solid. Opens/closes easily and you can tell it is heavy.
• Love satellite radio for non-urban trips. I have it in all my vehicles.
• Love the wheel path on the off-road camera in some settings.
• The auto rain sensing wipers worked perfectly at all variations of wetness
• I actually like the mirrors. Not as wide as one of my trucks and the rear seems narrow, but it all worked very well and the blind spot detector worked well with all above.

Piddly things:
1) The liner is easily "dusted" if you have sunscreen on your hands and a PIA to clean.
2) Hate the LIM. Don't really understand how it and Adaptive Cruise play well together. Need to figure that out.
3) Would have liked cardinal directions for navigation and altitude. I use altitude with maps to figure exactly where I am. With all the GPS tech I had, it wasn't an issue, but I like referring to it. You only see these two when you have the Off-Road widget on PiviPro. Wanted it on the dash or mirror like other 4x4's.
4) If you select Mud too far before you get to mud (we were on gravel soon to be in mud) it will throw a warning and shift you back. Auto is actually the best and I would have left it there if I hadn't have fallen in love with the offroad HUD other options had.
5) Lane Keeping is not a gentle nudge, it is a hard slam. It is always disconcerting so I turned it off.
6) I am SUPER paranoid about spilling fluids in the back. I am motivated to build my own under storage and improve the water/fluid protection of the MHEV.

Other sightings:
No one ever asked about the Defender or acted like it was anything. The only time I wish I had Pangea Green<g>.
One person in a group I met up with told me to move my Jeep but then did a double take and tried to apologize. I laughed.
Saw one white 90 in Big Bend go by and a Pangea 90 when east of Kerrville (aka almost home).
Saw a car carrier full of black 90's and 110's heading west at Ozona towards El Paso (and maybe west). Crossing fingers one of you is getting one soon!

Fuel: I also logged my fuel stops. Some of the gas in the boonies was not cheap for Premium. Also, you can tell which MPG was the 80mph and which was more sane.


Big Bend River State Park on the Rio Grande

Santa Elana Canyon. Mexico the left, Rio Grande thru the middle, USA on right.

BLM roads

More BLM roads

West Texas storm coming in

After driving down some sloppy roads

How not to get good gas mileage in a Defender.

Cool towns

 

Great read looks like you had a great time. Could you kindly post more pictures of the rear LED’s from powerfuluk…maybe a picture directly from behind from a further distance to show the whole rear of the car thank you

 

Try this.



If you go this route, do not remove the small back trim he shows in the video or the black mount screws have nothing to anchor to. Or use 3M trim tape. If you watch the video you’ll see the trim he removes. The tape on it only holds until it is screwed down. Trust me in this…..

 

Thanks for the heads up ill keep that in mind when I get them installed

 

Great customization. Looks awesome on your build. Did you buy your checker bumper protector on Amazon or elsewhere? Was considering but was not sure how well finish and pattern matches OEM details. Looks great and I like better than the metallic part available.

 

Not cheap? Haha, try and tour California next time, you'll be longing for dirt cheap $4.26 Premium. $100 fill-ups are about average here, you can spend a lot more in our own boonies.

 

I went with the version from PowerfulUK which is the "Genuine" Rover part as I have high confidence in their customer service/shipping/quality (Link). If you are closer to a Dealer you may be able to source them cheaper, but I'm in the boonies from one (and they mark the price up steeply anyway). So I went with Door-to-Door where I could trust. Make sure to read the installation instructions as it helps a lot. (Link) Scroll down to Step 25 to begin Part E.

Also, I don't mind buying direct from China for some cheap stuff (the organizer in front of the cupholders), but for the stuff I want more solid - I'd pass. You can get it a LOT cheaper if you go with the knock off version, but I didn't want to risk it coming off, weak tape, thin, etc. YMMV.

 

Yeah, @umbertob - I knew that comment would get some responses. I figured the European/Australian members would have a fit (they just haven't done the liter to gallon conversion yet!). But this was almost on top of some of the biggest oil fields of west Texas! Texas is known for having WIDE swings in gas prices depending on where you are, where you buy. Marathon (boonies) was cheaper than Alpine (much larger in comparison) and some was $1/gallon higher than home. It's the swings that were surprising.

 

Terrific review/impressions - thanks for sharing. You and I have had similar frustrating experiences in the ordering/dealer process, my "re-order" isn't scheduled to be delivered until January of 2022 (and that is suspect as well) so for now, I bought and am driving the "wrong" Defender until the "right" one shows up, so I'm being gentle on it so as to get as much back when I trade it in - so it is nice to read about your first big adventure with the 110.

 

Great review and congrats to an amazing car. Your experience and pictures will sooth my mind until I get mine, which is still about 6 month down the line... enjoy the car, the ride and the experiences with it.