---
title: "Report Claims the Next Land Rover Defender Will Be Packed With Off-Road Tech"
description: "The Defender may go from barebones SUV to high-tech off-roader."
date: "2016-10-31"
modified: "2016-10-31"
authors:
  - name: "Aaron Brown"
    job_title: "Staff Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/aaron-brown"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/5776/report-claims-the-next-land-rover-defender-will-be-packed-with-off-road-tech"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Defender"
  - "land rover"
  - "luxury"
  - "suv/crossover"
---

# Report Claims the Next Land Rover Defender Will Be Packed With Off-Road Tech

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/dc100snow_hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Up until it was officially [discontinued in January](<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35436741>), the Land Rover Defender was the go-to option for Landie diehards who refused to put up with all the fancy gadgetry that's come to be expected in your standard ["Chelsea Tractor](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Chelsea%20Tractor>)."But now, it's looking like lovers of the British off-roader will have to look elsewhere for basic four-by-fours. The next [Defender](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-land-rover-defender-will-be-brands-most-high-tech-car-yet>) is on-track to be the most [high-tech SUV in Land Rover's lineup](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-land-rover-defender-will-be-brands-most-high-tech-car-yet>), *Autocar* reports.

The remake of the beloved off-roader is being engineered with [more technology](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-land-rover-defender-will-be-brands-most-high-tech-car-yet>) than even the recently released [Discovery](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/5105/land-rover-releases-first-official-pictures-of-the-new-discovery>), *Autocar* reports. Though the details are sketchy as to what much of that new tech might be, Land Rover is reportedly looking to use fancy electronics to make the new Defender the ultimate off-road vehicle on the market today.

Most importantly, however, the company hopes the new car will be able to live up to its predecessor's reputation.

“It was one of the saddest moments of my career to [end production of the old Defender](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-land-rover-defender-will-be-brands-most-high-tech-car-yet>),” Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth told *Autocar* at the Paris Motor Show. “So we are working very hard to give it an authentic successor.”

The next Defender will be mostly aluminum, and will have a longitudinal, [front-mounted four-cylinder](<https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-land-rover-defender-will-be-brands-most-high-tech-car-yet>) motor as its power plant, *Autocar* reports. Its suspension will reportedly be a static setup, with steel springs instead of an adjustable air suspension. And according to the Speth, the test mules currently being tossed around by JLR engineers look "fantastic."

Though the car is still about two years away from release, *Autocar* reports that it will carry a starting price tag of about $43,000.

Whether it comes filled to its roof with tech or if it equipped with hand-cranking windows and no stereo—as long as it can off-road, we at *The Drive* will be pleased.

*Pictured: Land Rover DC100 Concept*

## Author
Aaron was previously a contributing writer with Jalopnik and has also written for Business Insider covering cars. When he's not in the office writing the news, you'll probably find him thrashing a beater car around a RallyCross.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/aaronmaxb>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/aaronmaxb>)