The New Land Rover Defender Has Been Named Top Gear's 'Car of the Year'
The all-new Land Rover Defender has been celebrated this month with two more globally-recognised awards.
The reborn icon has been crowned overall Car of the Year, whilst also securing the Unstoppable Force award at this year’s coveted TopGear.com Awards.
The new Land Rover Defender has already been recognised as one of the toughest SUVs on the modern market, whilst also remaining completely comfortable and practical.
Judges at Top Gear commended the 2020 Defender for being incredibly durable and resilient, and a brilliant successor to the original Land Rover Defender. They praised it as a hard-working and tough SUV, ready for 21st century adventures.
Jack Rix, Editor of Top Gear Magazine, commented: ‘Car of the Year is an accolade won by only the very best of the best. We recognise that replacing an icon is an unenviable task, and one Land Rover rightly took its time to get right.
‘We've now driven one across the Namibian desert - and in properly harsh environments, like the M25 - in both 110 and 90 forms, with every engine under the bonnet and it just performs brilliantly everywhere.
‘There's an argument that because it costs a bit more it won't be used properly by the farming and rural community, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be... It's the toughest, most capable off-roader we've ever tested, but one that's a refined, well-equipped family car around town.
‘Congratulations to everyone at Land Rover.’
Nick Rogers, JLR’s Executive Director of Product Engineering, declared: ‘It's an absolute honour for us to receive Top Gear's Car of the Year award for our New Defender.
‘Right from the start of creating this vehicle with the blank sheet of paper, we were obsessed about respecting its heritage and keeping its true authenticity, as well as ensuring it is completely fitting for today’s ever-evolving world.
‘We have worked tirelessly to deliver a vehicle that has incredible off-road capability, as well as on-road poise and driveability. Additionally, we have ensured that the New Defender is completely connected, with our new Electrical Vehicle Architecture (EVA2), Pivi Pro infotainment system and Software Over the Air (SOTA) updates to continually enhance the Defender operating system.
‘We are especially proud of this recognition from Top Gear, which is a testament to the dedication of our JLR Family who have created a vehicle that we believe is truly worthy of the Defender name.’
To commemorate the recent wins, Land Rover have teamed up with Top Gear magazine to prove the new Defender is completely worthy of the 'Unstoppable Force' title.
An ultimate strength test was created to prove the structural toughness of the Defender’s D7x aluminium platform, by suspending three un-modified 110s from a crane solely through their towing eyes.
The test took place at the Gaydon proving ground in Warwickshire.
It subjected the first Defender 110 to over eight tonnes through the structure with each Defender featuring the optional Adventure Pack and additional optional equipment.
Top Gear's Tom Ford commented: ‘We wanted to prove that Land Rover's new Defender really does live up to the hype and had to test it in typical Top Gear fashion.
‘What better way to let me loose with a 150 tonne crane, three Defenders and a rope?’
The Defender really has proven itself to be in a league of its own. The reborn model now has over 30 global accolades to date.
The all-new Defender has been through more than 62,000 Land Rover tests to achieve engineering sign-off.
The chassis and body architecture have been built to withstand the brand’s Extreme Event Test procedure – repeated and sustained impacts, above and beyond the normal standard for SUV and passenger cars.
Well done Team Land Rover - here’s to more wins in the new year!
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