I dont think most people are all that concerned with things like departure angle or much else that is off-road related.
Just look at the current builds of 110s. 22" rims, this much more horsepower, bling this, bling that.
I think LRJ is trying to cut into the Escalade market with the 130.

 

I leased a defender for myself and and the 21 Yukon for my wife. My wife had come out of a FFRR but needed space because we have three kids now. We’re actually very happy with the Yukon and really wish LR would make something yukon, GLS sized or land cruiser sized. The disco 5 is fugly and lacks cargo space with the third row in use.

I am seriously disappointed that they’ve made the decision not to make the 130 wheel base longer. This is something I’ll have to sit in and car seat test when they arrive. They could split the size increase between the wheel base and adding it behind the rear wheels because the trunk is small in the defender.

 

I'm more interested to see the rumored Defender 80 vs the 130.

 

Fugly.

 

Gerry McGovern has already stated that the Discovery 5 no longer needs to serve "dual-purpose" now that the Defender is here and that it can now be "re-imagined." So, after this current life-cycle of the D5 I would expect a fairly substancial overhaul of the design, especially considering it's been a so-so seller overall.

 

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/06/21/...#slide-2328450

 

It's amazing how well the LR4 has held it's value and is still in demand. However, the 130 will certainly change that as it is a true LR4 replacement. I better sell our gray LR4 before the 130 comes out.

 

I'm likely to be burned as a heretic on this thread, but I don't get the 130 as a 7 passenger vehicle. What I LOVED about the original Defender 130 is that it is a 110 cab with the pickup bed. It was the Crew Cab before the crew cab craze hit American pickups. THAT's the 130 design I want to see. Perhaps it will come out on the commercial side of things. If so, I'll really start to be interested.

 

I'm very excited about the possibility of the 130. The rear space of our 110 is significantly smaller than our LR4 was and it would be nice to have a usable 3rd row again. By keeping the same wheel base, the break over angle and turning radius aren't compromised. Just from the pictures the departure angle will still be much better than something like a Gladiator. If they put the tire underneath, I won't have to worry about the tire hitting the tongue jack when backing into a tight spot. This looks to be a better vehicle all the way around for our needs.

 

I thought I read a few years ago that a pickup version was in the pipeline. It would make sense to do it on the 130 rather than the 110. Honda has a unibody Ridgeline(???), so a pickup Defender seems plausible. not sure they have the money for investment though.