Malaysian Preview Of The Land Rover Defender 90

Jaguar Land Rover Malaysia previews the new age Defender 90 - a shorter wheelbase three-door version of the Defender 110.

The L663 Land Rover Defender arrived in Malaysia late last year solely in a Defender 110 five-door guise. Building on that success, Jaguar Land Rover Malaysia (JLRM) has decided to preview the three-door version of the new age Landie, called the Defender 90.

Featuring a more compact version of Land Rover's all-aluminium monocoque body, this preview of the Defender 90 shows us that it is no softy as the new D7x architecture on the 90 is one of the stiffest body structures that the brand has ever produced – three times stiffer than the best body-on-frame designs in the market. 

178mm shorter than the 110, the Defender 90 has better off-road capabilities, with excellent approach/ breakover and departure angles, while its 900mm wading depth is enough to cross small rivers. 

Despite being the shorter version of the new Defender range, the 90 has large enough rear seats to fit a few adults comfortably, probably as much as the Evoque can.

When the Defender 110 arrived, it was available in either a petrol 2.0L 300PS/400Nm (P300 model) and a petrol-hybrid 3.0L 400PS/550Nm (P400 model) MHEV powertrain, it's too early for us to tell from this preview what the powertrain of the Defender 90 will be or in how many variants though we expect it to mirror its larger sibling, the Defender 110. 

Just like its bigger brother the Defender 90 should come with a host of up to date driver assistance features including:

• Clear Exit Monitor
• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Lane Keep Assist
• 360-degree Parking Aid
• Rear Collision Monitor
• Rear Traffic Monitor
• Wade Sensing
• Trailer Stability Assist

The Defender 90 is expected to make landfall in Malaysia in Q2, 2022.