The original Land Rover was a late 1940s creation in the mold of the Jeep: light, cheap to make and unstoppable off-road. It has been developed and improved and grown in size and versatility over the decades but, like the Bronco, has not kept pace with the world around it. By the time production ended in early 2016, it was too labor intensive to build, too thirsty to run, and too dangerous to crash. And as with the Bronco, it’s reborn for the 2020s as a very different machine.
They don’t quite do the same thing, these two cars, not least because the Land Rover Defender we’re running is short – editorial director Jim Holder’s current everyday wheelset, a 245bhp 3.0-litre diesel. The Bronco is a 2.3-liter turbocharged petrol engine with 270 hp.
But the ranges overlap on price (the Defender starts at £45,675, but you can spend six figures) and capability. Both are 4x4s at heart. The Land Rover however does not have an RAF Rudloe Manor color option (reputedly the British equivalent of Area 51).
They’re both true off-roaders, guv’nor: four-wheel drive (permanent in the Defender, switchable in the Bronco), low gears, variable drive-mode systems, the works.
The mode system is called Terrain Response in the Land Rover, GOAT (Goes Over Any Type of Terrain) in the Ford. Manual Broncos get a nifty track ratio that this 10-speed automatic dispenses with, while the Defender is an eight-speed.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-04-16 05:01:25
