Comparison of 2022 P400 SE to 2023 P300 30th Anniversary Edition



Background and Intro

I have a 2022 Defender P400 SE, custom ordered in March 2021 and delivered in June 2021. I was fortunate to get every option I spec’d, including HUD, interactive gauge display, 11-inch screen, Clearsight, adaptive cruise control, activity key, etc.

We recently replaced my wife’s 2020 Range Rover HSE P400 with a 2023 Defender P300 30th Anniversary Edition. This version does not have HUD, has the combo analog/digital dash, has the smaller 10-inch display, regular cruise control, and a simpler interior (including partial powered front seats).

These are my early-days thoughts on the two cars, in case anyone is interested in the comparison.



Powertrain

The P400 inline-6 is very nice. I have 8,500 miles on my 2022 Defender, and it is smooth, sounds good, and always has enough power. Kind of cliche, but it feels silky (our 2020 Range Rover had 20,000 miles and it felt the same way).

It does have a quirk, which I don’t think I’m alone in having. It will not auto start/stop if the AC is on and the ambient temperature is too far off from the interior temperature. In Fall, Spring, and Winter it worked great. Last Summer and this Summer, it never shuts off at a stop. This may be a plus, but our Range Rover P400 with the same engine was a lot more aggressive about shutting down its motor. So, something is definitely different in the application of this powertrain between the Ranger Rover and Defender.

The P300 power train has plenty of power. I occasionally hear the 4-cylinder sound (i.e., a little thin and raspy), but other than that it seems to have more than enough grunt for the 2023 Defender. Its auto stop/start system behaves like the Range Rover’s, i.e., it shuts down at almost every stop no matter what the AC is doing.

All in all, I do prefer the seamless, smooth power of the P400, but the P300 is very nice. If I didn’t intimately know the P400, I would be completely satisfied with the P300.



HUD

We’ve had HUDs in all of our Land Rovers (couple of Range Rovers, a Discovery, and the 2022 Defender). I like them, but feel no loss in the 2023 Defender without it. At least I acclimate very easily to not having it, and I often wear polarized sunglasses which makes the HUD pretty useless anyway.



Dashboard

I was worried the full interactive dash vs the combo analog/digital dash was going to be a dealbreaker. It is not.

The full interactive display is bright and very configurable. But the analog dash has a “media/driver assistance” mode that is pretty great. I tried to replicate it in the 2022 Defender, but nothing is as info-packed or concise.

From a “look” and information perspective, the analog dash is just as good. It does seem a bit dimmer, though.



Smaller screen

I specifically ordered the larger 11-inch screen in our 2022 Defender. It is bright and easy to use. Love it. I know some say the 10-inch fits the interior design better, but starting with the 11-inch I think it actually looks more graceful “hovering” over the dash than embedded in it.

The 30th Anniversary Edition comes with the 10-inch display. I was worried about this, but it is the same size as the top screen in our previous Range Rover so I didn’t think my wife would mind.

The smaller screen works fine and, in fact, some of the important screens work exactly the same because the information does not maximize for the 11-inch screen, e.g., the rear camera view is exactly the same; on the 11-inch screen, it just takes up half the screen with a lot of grey space below.

My only problem with the 10-inch screen is that it is also a bit dimmer than the 11-inch screen. I have adjusted the brightness of the screen and the dash instrument brightness ****, and I cannot get the dash display or the infotainment screen to match the brightness of the 2022 interactive display or 11-inch screen.



Clearsight

I have this in the 2022 Defender, and it’s not in the 2023. Clearsight is a very cool option and is useful in certain situations for me (e.g., the back seat full of tall people). I don’t like the split-second adjustment my eyes have to do when I glance at it, so I use the regular mirror most of the time. That said, it would have been nice to have in the new Defender, too.



Adaptive Cruise Control

Regular cruise control is fine by me. Our other Land Rovers/Range Rovers have had adaptive cruise control. With the 3.2 Pivi release (I think), the adaptive cruise control started behaving differently. Instead of an occasional random, sudden slowdown with the previous version of the Pivi in the 2022 Defender, it now is really herky-jerky all the time. It’s like someone is pressing the gas and then letting off every other second (if behind any traffic). The 2023 with regular cruise control works as expected.



Ride quality

The 2022 Defender has 20-inch 5098 wheels, and the 2023 Anniversary Edition has 18-inch “steelies.” Both have the same Goodyear Wrangler off-road tires. The ride is pretty much identical between the two. I’ve read on these forums that the “The Insider” prefers the 18-inch wheels because of improved ride quality, but I can’t feel a difference.

Our Range Rover with 22-inch wheels had an amazingly smooth ride, honestly like gliding over the road. Our previous 2019 Discovery with 22-inch wheels was the opposite and jarring over anything but smooth road. The Defenders—both 20 and 18-inch—feel somewhat in the middle, but closer to the Range Rover. I’m not sure why this is because I thought the cars were basically very similar “under-the-covers,” but that’s at least my experience.



30th Anniversary Edition Notes

The Expedition rack and ladder on the 2023 Defender are not noisier than the “naked” 2022 Defender, at least up to 70mph. Over 70 I can start to hear more wind roar from the ceiling area.

The A-Frame, rack, and ladder do look cool. I hadn’t considered them when I ordered the 2022, but I’m glad we now have them on the 2023. The rack does make the Defender very tall, though. We MUST put the car into access height to get into our garage, and we still only have about an inch of clearance.

The partial powered seats are fine in the 2023 except you cannot set the seat heat to only heat the backrest. I like that feature in the 2022 SE with full powered seats.

I don’t understand why Land Rover skimped on the USB ports in the back of the front seats. The 2023 has the ports in the rear console, but the 2022 has the console ports and click-it accessory and USB built into the back of the front seats

Likewise, I can’t believe we only have one key fob and need to wait “three-to-six months” for the second (although we have the mechanical “shank” for the second key). In my line of work we also manufacture consumer electronic devices, and this is clearly poor supply chain management by Land Rover. The parts are available, so they must be prioritizing something else.

My 2022 Defender took weeks to show a software version; it just kept saying software was up-to-date. It eventually started downloading updates and is now current. The 2023 said the same thing for one day, but then showed the current Pivi version of 3.2.1. Maybe the downloads come faster now?



Conclusion

I love both of these Defenders. They’re different with their own pluses and minuses, but they’re both great. We replaced a relatively current Range Rover with a Defender, and it’s not the same. The Range Rover is understandably in another class. But the Defender is comfortable, capable, and unique, i.e., it stands out in the crowd of Mercedes, BMWs, Lexus, etc.

 

Nice write up. Thanks. We have a 2020 110s that we bought used 6 months ago as a hedge against a multi year delay, before our order for a 2022 was accepted as a 2023 110s. The one on order (two months before delivery now, hopefully) has fewer options than the one we own, and most of the items that were lost in your write up, so it’s comforting to know that we should be happy with the new one as delivered.

 

Concerning the Auto Start/Stop feature and your question of it not activating at certain times, I believe the manual states that it will not activate an Auto Start when the climate control system requires the engine to be running to satisfy that condition, i.e. the A/C compressor running.

 

Great write up/comparison! I appreciate the time to share your insights.

Re: the "supply chain" problems - I'm starting to lose my confidence in the message coming out of JLR. I haven't heard of other manufacturers having continued component issues as bad as Land Rover is. That means that they are either having their own/worse supply problems than other OEMs (maybe) or they are digging in to make more margin (perhaps). I suspect the former but the later wouldn't surprise me.

 

Supply problems are everywhere. When ordering our X5 I had to upgrade to an M50i just to get the middle HK sound system. The only sound system currently available on the 40i is a base 200 watt HK system that sounds like a clock radio. The top of the line B&W audio system isn't available in any X5 model. No air suspension available, no wireless phone charger, no heated/cooled cup holders, no fog lights, no laser headlights, no HUD, power lower tailgate just disappeared as did the tow hitch.

 

@pllr - You should be able to turn on the seat back heat only. It is a LOT of digging and may not be as convenient. Certainly the most difficult of all of my vehicles. If you go into the "Apps" of PiviPro, you can see one for the seats. If you open up the app, you will see two images of the seats. You can +/- both of them. Also, (not intuitive) you can press the seat or back to turn them on/off independently. I have an old back that's been poorly treated. As a result, I keep that app as one of my "favorites" on the left of the PiviPro.

Hope you got that, if not - ask for more details.

EDIT: It's #4 on the image.

 

I'm somewhat interested in the OTHER P300 motor that is an inline 6 in the Defender 130. It makes very little marketing or technical sense to me that LR would call both motors P300, when the P300 one in the 90 & 110 is a 4 cylinder, and the new P300 in the new 130 is a detuned inline 6 cylinder. Talk about confusing to the consumer !

 

Thanks, and that's how I do it in our 2022 P400 SE with full-power heated/cooled seats. In the 2023 with the partial power seats, going into that app doesn't let me tap just the backrest or seat. It's all or nothing.

 

Uh oh! Sorry about that. Must be another result of "not enough chips" or JLR's continued supply dysfunction. I wasn't aware that the partial power seats don't have it. Then again, I don't know what features they do/don't have.

 

It's apparently unique to each individual build depending on what chips are in the basket.