An overview of Land Rover Defender XS

Reinventing an automotive icon like the Land Rover Defender isn’t an easy mission. It involves taking special care to pay respect to the original car without upsetting existing fans by producing a parody of it.

It’s something Land Rover thought long and hard about before reviving the Defender name tag. After all, how do you create a product that proudly follows up on a vehicle beloved by everyone from mountain rescue teams to urban hipsters?

Well, the British brand decided the right approach was to leave no room for criticism, so it made the latest Defender more practical, more refined, and more capable off-road than its legendary predecessor.

The model

Land Rover Defender P400 XS Edition is a rugged SUV that fuses fantastic off-road ability (especially if you add the optional locking rear differential) with decent on-road manners.

If that’s the blend of abilities you’re after, it’s effectively in a class of one, but the Jeep Wrangler is even better in the rough stuff, while premium SUVs including the Audi Q5 and Q7, are more comfortable.

With its bigger boot, the Land Rover Defender P400 X Edition will make the most sense for many, but the 90 is usefully more compact and better off-road.

The Trim

Opting for XS Edition gets you matrix adaptive LED headlights, adaptive dynamics, a front center console refrigerator compartment, 12-way electronically adjustable seats with memory function, heating and cooling, rear collision monitoring, wireless phone charging, a Clear Sight rear view mirror, and an XS Edition styling pack.

Performance, Engine, and Transmission

Land Rover Defender P400 XS Edition is a 3.0-liter six-cylinder mild-hybrid petrol with 396bhp, and it is hot hatch-bating fast – put your foot down away from the lights and you’ll hit 62mph in as little as 6.0 sec.  However, with an official claimed fuel economy of around 25mpg, it won’t be cheap to run.