Does the towing hitch lower the Defender's departure angle on a 2023 model?

 

It does add 2" beneath the bumper. Eyeballing the change in angle from the rear tires to the receiver, I'd say it reduces the departure angle by a degree or two. If travelling over dirt, shouldn't have any real impact since it would simply dig through. If coming off a rock ledge, it would likely hit. The JLR specs are annotated that the departure angle is 40 deg with the towing eye cover removed - whatever that means.

 

Looking at mine it seems very negligible. It appears the muffler would hit before the hitch.