MANY THINK Land Rover Defenders are still in the dark ages. Even if you ignore those so out of touch they think they still have leaf springs, there are plenty who assume nothing has changed because Defenders past and present look alike.
To see how different they are we compared my ten-year old Defender 90 Tdi with the latest spec 90 Td5 County Stationwagon from Land Rover (don't be fooled by the S-plate). Mine was registered as a hard top in 1991 and was later converted to a stationwagon. In the year that saw the Gulf War and the end of apartheid, its 200 Tdi engine was quite an advanced turbo-diesel. It had been the first direct injection diesel in a passenger car when it debuted in the Discovery the year before, though here it develops 108bhp against the Discovery Tdi's 111bhp.
The Defender Td5 went on sale in January 1999 with the advanced electronically injected, five-cylinder turbodiesel which was launched in the 1998 Discovery Series II. Again, power is down from Discovery's 136bhp to 122, but that's still almost 13 per cent up on 1991, while torque leaps 17.5 per cent from 188lb ft to 221.
But improved engine performance is only part of the story and you don't even have to drive them to feel the difference. Start a Tdi engine and you know you're sitting behind a diesel as it clatters away with enough vibration passing into the body to feel like sitting on a washing machine. Start the Td5 and there's a distinctive diesel noise at tickover but it couldn't be called clatter. This disappears as soon as the pedal is touched and is not accompanied by any vibration.
Incidentally, this 22,000 mile old Td5 was a lot smoother and quieter than the 2000 mile old 110 Double Cab we tested recently.

the open road
On the open road the Tdi and Td5 are chalk and cheddar. The 200 Tdi can still show some more recent Japanese and American offerings how it should be done, but the Td5 is so much better it's difficult to decide where to start. Refinement is something everyone notices straight away: when cruising this turbodiesel is petrol smooth – certainly comparable to Land Rover's V8. Right up to high motorway speeds the 90 Td5 is easy on the ears and when it starts getting loud at over 80mph, it's due to road and wind noise. A couple of hours motorway cruising in a 200 Tdi, without breaking the speed limit, numbs your ears.
In fact, Td5 is one of the few pleasant sounding diesels. On acceleration it has pleasantly smooth, offbeat note reminiscent of the original Audi Quattro's five-cylinder, only deeper and more mellow.
Performance is great. The Td5 is so flexible it will pull cleanly in fifth from 25mph while our 200 Tdi is uncomfortable much below 35mph. This is not surprising because while the Td5's torque peaks 150rpm higher than the Tdi's, at 1950rpm, it is already developing more torque than the old engine by 1500rpm. Acceleration between 40 and 70mph is impressive even in fifth and the vehicle effortlessly picks up speed in a way that eclipses the still flexible Tdi.

Not everyone likes the Td5's electronic throttle, especially the mainstream car magazines whose testers seem to think pedals only have two positions. To them, drive by wire takes the edge off throttle response, but that is because the system is reducing transmission shocks. Back off suddenly in the Tdi and you hear the transmission shunting below you, but do the same in a Td5 and there's no transmission reaction, making for a smoother drive and less wear on all that expensive metalwork.
We can't compare official fuel figures because they were calculated differently in 1991 but both generally stay on the healthy side of 25mpg, edging 30mpg if not thrashed. At the pumps, you can now pull up on either side because the 90's 5.5 litres bigger tank has moved from under the driver's seat to the back so the filler is behind the offside rear wheel arch. If fuel costs are similar, service costs are lower because the Td5 only visits the garage every 12,000 miles against the Tdi's 6000, thanks partly to the centrifugal oil filter, heard spinning down from 15,000rpm when you switch off.
Defender gear changes improved drastically when the R380 box was adopted in 1994, with reverse opposite fifth instead of alongside first. At the same time clutch pedal pressure was reduced by 30 per cent. For Td5 the R380 was beefed up and given a quieter gear train while the new LT230Q transfer box received a better cable selector. The result is much easier gear changing, though still with a beefy feel, and a transfer box that no longer argues.

off-road
Off-road the difference between Tdi and Td5 is less marked. I think the Tdi handles very low speed work better and is easier to drive smoothly on rough ground, especially in high ratio first. When low ratio is selected the Td5's throttle characteristics change for longer pedal travel to help make driving smoother, but there still seem to be speeds where the electronics struggle to cope with subtle demands. However, this Td5 had less trouble with that than the Double Cab which hunted between engine speeds.
But let the Td5 trickle along in a low gear on tickover and it does extremely well, even with a trailer in tow. In low second our Tdi will pull a 750kg trailer at tickover in a straight line, but the Td5 will do it while you make full-lock turns and use the brakes to slow it down! The electronics smooth everything out which makes manoeuvring trailers very easy.
Electronics also give Td5 an advantage in another way, but only if you fork out £1250 for the worthwhile ABS and electronic traction control package.

ETC uses the ABS sensors to detect wheel spin then applies the brake on the spinning wheel. On Defender, because it is a working vehicle, Land Rover feels it proper to combine ETC with a centre diff lock instead of having Discovery's all electronic ETC and Hill Descender combination. Back in the early '90s Land Rover thought ETC was not up to off-roading but that manual axle diff locks were too easily abused. It even tested the Torsen mechanical torque sensing diff as used by Audi. Now Land Rover feels electronics are up to it.
It certainly works. ETC can be over enthusiastic, tripping in when a wheel hits a ridge on the road, but off-road it gives early warning of difficulties while sorting them out. Even if you think you're stuck you get out to find no sign of digging in. However, there are times when it needs the diff lock’s help – cross axleing a small ditch defeated it without the diff locked. The Tdi manages without electronic help, but ETC gives you extra assistance when you most need it. ABS means you can use the brakes on muddy descents, have a better chance of avoiding road accidents and when towing it can halve stopping distances

But with all these mechanical improvements it's easy to overlook the more subtle changes. Some can't even be seen. Land Rover has tightened up considerably on tolerances and production methods; panel fits do look better and Defenders seem less leaky, though the test car had an odd drip from the corner of the roof lining only at motorway speeds in heavy rain. The chassis obviously has a thicker paint treatment and apparently has wax injection. The doors on our Tdi have suffered badly from electrolytic reaction between the steel frame and aluminium skin but Land Rover says it now has a more effective frame coating with a barrier between the two metals.
There is a greater use of modern materials, too. The tatty under bonnet felt soundproofing has gone in favour of a foam-filled acoustic shield over the engine and high density foam under the carpets. The fuel tank is plastic, which is said to be tougher than a steel tank, though, like the old metal tank, it is protected by steel sheeting. The steel girder bumper is still there but with rubber ends for pedestrian safety, though they might also save it from the damage inflicted by some owners' gate opening tactics.

legal requirements
Some changes are to meet legal requirements, like the high level brake light and lap belts for the sideways facing rear seats. Others have been to meet customer demands: in 1991 sculpted steel wheels were as flashy as the factory got, but now you choose from three alloy styles. Like many, our Tdi's first owner didn't like its body roll but the only handling improvement she could get then was an after-market anti-roll bar kit. It makes a big difference but is not as substantial or as well tuned to the car as Land Rover’s £960 Freestyle anti-roll bar and alloys pack for the 90. Dealers can fit the bars alone for a lot less.
When you first step inside, it looks much as before, but improvements take you by surprise. Some make you wonder why it wasn’t always done that way, like the lower door seals being moved from the opening where they get scuffed to the bottom of the door where they can’t. There's even a pocket in the back of the driver's seat for the handbook and the rotary sunroof opener is easier to use than the old over centre catch.
The instrument pack is clearer, especially at night when it's back lit, but it seems pointless to have illuminated the symbols for the heater controls but not the sliders. The warning lights are smaller but very clear and, unlike the 1991 beam headlamp warning, don't cause glare. The easily knocked rear foglamp stalk has gone in favour of a, not ideally located, switch that turns itself off automatically with the headlights. The headlamps are now brighter bulb units, instead of sealed beams, and have electric levelling.
Security has been taken more seriously, even if door locks still look as if you could pull them with a Christmas cracker corkscrew. An alarm immobiliser is standard on stationwagons, though you have to arm and disarm it with a remote sender separate from locking the doors with a key (2002 models will be available with central locking). The digital odometer is tamper resistant and alloy wheels have locking nuts.
The test Td5 also had the £995 air conditioning which wasn't available in 1991 and is effective but looks crude, takes a big chunk out of the passenger footwell and creates a Barbara Striesand kink in the nose for an electric fan. In 1991 a Defender in metallic paint was undreamt of but now it's a £375 option and you don't even have to have a white roof!
Prices have risen, though only in proportion. Ten years ago a CSW would have cost less than today's 90 pickup and the £20,780 list price of our Td5 CSW would have bought a five-door Discovery. But Defenders now get a three year warranty which would have bankrupted Land Rover with 1991 build quality!
Solihull has preserved the look of “the original” Land Rover for good reasons: it is so much part of our country and military scene it would be stupid not to build on its familiarity. But this sometimes backfires because people feel they know Defenders from vehicles they loved or loathed many years ago. Defender has changed, far more than I realised before comparing these two and in spite of following the marque’s development for 20 years. There is nothing in those changes that I felt detrimental. In fact, I have only one problem with Td5 against Tdi: will Land Rover notice if I return the wrong one