Land Rover Defender 110 SE D300 2021 UK review

Torque is cheap, or so they say. At least, I think that’s what they’re saying. Anyway, it’s not true in the case of the Land Rover Defender’s new Ingenium D300 six-cylinder diesel engine, which puts out a healthy 479lb ft of the stuff, but asks for at least £61,955 of your hard-earned in return.

For that money, you get a 3.0-litre motor that kicks out 296bhp, making it the most powerful diesel engine in the Defender line-up. There's a loopy supercharged V8 on the way, which brings roughly a 40% increase in both potency and price, which knocks this (and the more potent P400 petrol unit) out of the park, but the performance stats are still promising here. We’ve tried the Ingenium diesel six, which replaces the Defender’s short-lived four-cylinder diesel options, in mid-rung 250 guise already and been impressed by its accessible power delivery and punchiness.

That was in the shorter-wheelbase Defender 90, but now it’s time to find out how the most powerful version of this engine copes with the larger 110. 

Our SE-trim test car put on quite a show with its LED headlights, keyless entry, 12-way electrically adjustable front seats, top-link Meridian sound system and grained leather seats, and - much to the delight of passengers and driver alike - also got Land Rover’s much-acclaimed digital rear-view mirror and Ground View transparent bonnet trickery. 

So, one of the most fashionable cars currently available, fitted with the least fashionable powerplant conceivable? Nearly: hybridisation of the very mildest kind is a feature and helps to kick the D300’s MPG and CO2 figures onto the edge of the playing field. This being a diesel, of course, it sips most frugally at a cruise (we saw 36mpg over the course of a 50-mile motorway journey) and is much thirstier in town. CO2 emissions, meanwhile, are put at (whisper it) 230-249g/km, landing this in the top VED and benefit in kind brackets. 

Many see the Defender - contrary to what its badging or marketing may suggest - as the unofficial successor to the much-lauded and visually comparable Discovery 3 and 4, and that notion is harder to ignore here than in any other variant of Land Rover’s reborn 4x4. If you’ve ever experienced the older cars’ 2.7- or 3.0-litre turbo V6, you’ll no doubt detect a hint of that familiar hum at idle, followed by a roar under heavy load that serves as suitable accompaniment for the sense of sheer brute force emanating from the front end.