Apparently, Road and Track thinks drifting and getting airborne is a staple of 4x4 activity. Holy smokes, I've been banging around in Land Rovers for over 40 years and never knew they should be driven like WRC cars. Boy, do I ever feel stoopid now! Note that R&T did say that if you want capability, buy a Jeep. I'm still waiting for them to get to the good part.
Saw a new "90" for the first time yesterday. Also read a British road test.
They say getting in/out of the back seats is a slow process that, considering the rear seat room, is hardly worth the effort. The 90 actually has a longer wheelbase than a RRC. And nothing like the slick set-up of early 2-doors that allows rear seat passengers to move the front seat forward and open the door from the inside. In this aspect, at least, the new 90 is a step back to before 1970.
The British road tester obediently repeated the company line that since the old one wasn't selling well anymore, they had no choice but to build what is for all intents and purposes, a restyled Disco 5. As if an updated Defender wasn't an option. Grenadier calls B.S. on that. The new lie is that current sales prove Rover made the right decision, since the Pretender is outselling other models. What they don't tell you is how much of Pretender sales are the result of cannibalizing the rest of their product line. The truth is that stamping anything with the moniker Land Rover Defender will guarantee a lot of sales, no matter what it is, and can hardly be considered some kind of accomplishment. There's nothing quite like taking credit for someone else's achievements. Grenadier's future success or lack thereof will prove them right or wrong. I can hardly wait.
Although it didn't look that bad to me in photos, seeing it in person is another thing. It def isn't as ugly as a Disco 5. I couldn't see inside because of tinted windows, but a friend of mine who got a ride in one said it reminded him of the interior of a Honda Element. The rear side glass is straight out of Masai's catalog, so is hard to fault, or give any props to Rover for that matter. It didn't have the pathetic design square like a new 110, so it has that going for it.
The faux checker plate on the hood was shiny, which struck me as weird. The paint lines form notches at the high point of the black wheel arches. Not sure where they are going with that. On each rear bumper corner, there are small indents, which apparently are styling touches. At first glance, they look like the start of footholds, like you see on the bumpers of some modern pickups that provide a step up even when the tailgate is down. In this case, they have no purpose other than to give the artistes working for McGovern a warm feeling.
Rover consider the rear of the Pretender to be a styling triumph, and reminiscent of the old trucks. Sadly, I don't share their enthusiasm.
All in all, the design looks contrived. Maybe it's because Rover tried to make it look like something it isn't, which isn't a good place to start when functional beauty is at the heart of a 70-year-old design tradition.
www.roadandtrack.com
