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By Jonathan Crouch

Land Rover's Defender Hard Top claims to be the ultimate 4x4 van. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 31

For a Land Rover Defender closest to the utilitarian origins of this iconic model line, you've to turn to this Hard Top LCV commercial version. It'll take your cargo almost anywhere.

Backgroundword count: 133

Here's is a little-known fact; around a quarter of all the Land Rover Defenders sold in the UK aren't built primarily to carry passengers. This significant slice of sales is accounted for by the Hard Top van variant we look at here. The name is slightly misleading, implying that there's also a variant of this working vehicle with a soft top removable roof - as there was when this moniker was first introduced on early versions of the original Defender. It's been retained to distinguish this LCV variant from passenger-carrying Defenders and, as with those models, there's a choice of short wheelbase 90 or long wheelbase 110 body shapes. Development of this van derivative was completed by Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations division and is been done properly, as we're about to see.

Driving Experienceword count: 221

There's a choice of two versions of Land Rover's usual 3.0-litre six cylinder turbo diesel mild hybrid unit for Hard Top customers, both paired with 8-speed auto transmission. Most will stay with the 249hp D250, which makes 62mph in 8.1s en route to 117mph. The alternative 350hp D350 model improves those figures to 6.9s and 119mph. The short wheelbase 90 models only come with conventional coil-sprung suspension, but if you choose the long wheelbase 110, there's the option of adding electronic air suspension, which comes with 'Adaptive Dynamics' self-adjusting shock absorbers. Either way, the ride is quite soft, aiding the excellent off-road capability. Towing weight across the range is 3.5 tonnes It's this model's off-road prowess that will probably really sell it to you. Standard as you'd expect is four-wheel drive with a twin-speed transfer box and Land Rover's Terrain Response system that enables you to set the Defender up for various kinds of surfaces and obstacles. For really gnarly stuff, you can set the twin-speed transfer box into low-range mode and on slopes, you can activate Hill descent control. Through standing water, you'll be glad of the Wade Sensing feature, which enables this Defender to ford 900mm of water without modification. If you want to go further, you can add more sophisticated 'Terrain Response 2' and configurable 'Terrain Response' systems.

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