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F1/Round 4: Preview & Provisional Starting Grid For 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Race starts at 3 pm in Italy/9 pm in Malaysia

Round 4 of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship returns to Europe to start in Italy at the Imola Circuit, also known as Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Initially named after Enzo Ferrari’s son Dino, when Enzo himself passed away in 1988, the decision was taken to add the father’s name to that of his son. The Ferrari founder was closely associated with the circuit and he recalled its birth in a book he wrote in 1980: “My first contact with Imola dates back to the spring of 1948. I assessed from the first moment that that hilly environment could one day become a small Nurburgring due to the natural difficulties that the construction of a road belt would summarize, thus offering a truly selective path for men and machines. From my opinion, the promoters of Imola felt comforted. In May 1950, construction began. I was present at the ceremony of the first stone, which was laid by the lawyer Onesti with the greeting of the CONI and a contribution of 40 million which I believe was the first gesture of the organization towards motor racing. A small Nurburgring – I repeated to myself that day as I looked around – a small Nurburgring, with the same technical resources, spectacular and an ideal route length.”

How the Mercedes-Benz team transported their Silver Arrows Formula 1 cars around Europe in the 1950s. The custom-built transporter was nicknamed the ‘Blue Miracle’ and ‘Blue Wonder’, and it had the same engine as the 300 SL Gullwing sportscar so it could travel at high speeds.

It’s one of the old circuits of F1 (opened in 1953) but is relatively new to the racers as this is the third year a F1 round is held there. Before the 2020 event, the last time the circuit had a F1 race was in 2006. In 2020, when F1 returned, there was no data available but now after two rounds, the teams and especially Pirelli have enough data to help in set-up and tyre selection.

The 4.9-metre long circuit is a highly technical one, with a wide range of corners. Its layout has changed over the years but it remains narrow and bumpy, as the older tracks tend to be. This makes overtaking more challenging and puts more emphasis on strategy to make up places.

*The cornering speeds and gears used by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS racing cars.*

“Imola is an old-school, challenging track, where overtaking can be tricky, also because the circuit is quite narrow in places. So the strategy is likely to centre around avoiding traffic, and effectively the teams start from scratch here in terms of tyre knowledge – as the compounds are completely different this year, and last year’s race also began on the wet-weather tyres, before being interrupted by a lengthy red flag period,” said Pirelli’s Motorsport Director, Mario Isola.

“Generally speaking, Imola is a medium severity track for the tyres, and it’s a venue that is used quite frequently. This means that we might see a little less track evolution than we’ve been accustomed to at other circuits as the track is well rubbered-in already. The first round of the Pirelli-equipped GT World Challenge took place at Imola last month, which gave us some useful data. These are just some of the factors that the teams will have to take into account when establishing the tyre strategy for the opening sprint session of the year: another first for the 2022 season,” he added.

The tyres are all-new but the track is just as it was at this time last year, and the asphalt dates from 2011, which makes the 11-year old surface reasonably abrasive. The more mature surface at Imola generates more grip and therefore more heat in the tyres, requiring a more robust softest compound.

Pirelli has therefore chosen C2, C3 and C4 tyres for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as P Zero White hard, P Zero Yellow medium and P Zero Red soft respectively. This is the same nomination as last year, although the compounds are different with the latest generation of 18-inch tyres.

With 19 turns and the reduced length of the final straight (358 metres), the circuit has fast direction changes and extremely difficult braking sections of every imaginable kind. It’s therefore a sort of mini Nurburgring, as Ferrari expected it to be.

Imola has one of the longest pit lanes of any F1 track on the 2022 calendar, measuring 549 metres. This means one of the longest pit lane times, too, with at least 24.7 seconds. This is an interesting strategic factor as you lose more time making a pit stop compared to other races.

At Imola today was the first of 3 planned Sprint events during the 2022 F1 season, the others being in Austria and Brazil. This moved Qualifying to Friday afternoon, after FP1, to determine the grid for the 100-km race today. The result of the Sprint race, when the drivers will go flat out, decides the grid for Sunday’s main race. There are also points for the top 8 finishers.

The Sprint Race
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen must have been delighted to get pole position for the Sprint race after the disappointments of the first 3 rounds which have resulted in him being 6th in the championship rankings. Rain had come down during the qualifying session which saw a number of incidents. Pushing hard even on the wet and slippery track, he beat championship leader Charles Leclerc, while McLaren’s Lando Norris was surprised to get third on the grid for today.

A slow start by the Red Bull driver allowed Leclerc to reach Turn 1 first but as the pack headed to Turn 9, GuanYu Zhou (Alfa Romeo ORLEN) collided with Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and headed into the wall. The crash was a bad one, bringing out the Safety Car.

The Safety Car left the track on lap 4 and although Verstappen was waiting to move, the new ruling did not allow him to be alongside Leclerc who was ready to rocket off the moment it was allowed. While Zhou would not get to complete his first Sprint race, Gasly was able to return to the pits and get a new wing and continue racing.

Both team mates of the leaders – Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz – had made good progress to move up a few positions. Norris meanwhile was slipping back as the two leaders pulled further ahead. As for the two Mercedes drivers, their positions were still out of the Top 10, George Russell doing better at 12^th and Lewis Hamilton at 15^th.

By the halfway point of the short 21-lap race, Perez was starting to challenge Norris. Within one lap, he was past into fourth with 9 laps to go. Just behind, Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen was steadily dropping back as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz got past him and closed in on the McLaren to try to take fourth before the race ended. He did it by lap 15 and would keep the position till the end, collecting 5 extra points this weekend.

Verstappen was waiting as the plan was to wait for the Ferrari’s tyres to degrade and then he would make his push but the number of laps was running out. Leclerc remained in control even though the Red Bull was less than a second away.

Finally, on lap 20, Verstappen powered through the final corner and although he had to take a wide line, he got past the Ferrari into the lead. Once past, he went flat out for the finish line with Leclerc and Perez following.

Brembo develops new brake systems for new 2022 F1 cars (w/VIDEO)

Bermaz Motor to import Mazda MX-30 EV for sale in Malaysia later this year

While the major carmakers have been unveiling new battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) one after another in recent months (two models within the same day sometimes), Mazda seems to have been quiet in that area. In fact, it appears that the company is not making a big push into electrification in support of the efforts to address climate change.

But that’s not really the case as Mazda, like other companies in the auto industry, is just as committed to achieving carbon-neutrality in future. However, it does not want to just develop electric vehicles and consider its commitment fulfilled but looks at the ‘bigger picture’. BEVs may be the way to quickly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide that causes global warming but if the electricity used to charge them is not produced sustainably, then the emissions are merely moved to power stations, many of which run on coal… another fossil fuel.

Multi-solution approach
This is why Mazda, like some other carmakers, is looking at a multi-solution approach which has a mix of combustion engines (made more efficient) as well as electrified powertrains. It also takes into account the different stages of development in each country as not every country on the planet will be able to switch to BEVs at a similar pace. There are issues of supporting infrastructure and even more importantly, the cost of BEVs which need to become lower before they can be easily adopted.

Nevertheless, Mazda is still developing BEVs and its first one is the MX-30 which has been developed as part of the company’s Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 vision of achieving carbon neutrality. Typically Mazda, the MX-30, while being a BEV, has been developed along different lines that are not so much performance-focussed but more towards practicality and urban usage.

2022 Mazda MX-30 EV — *Lots of space in the engine bay, enough to add a small rotary engine to use as a range-extender (an idea which Mazda is working on).*

Smaller battery capacity
The MX-30 uses e-SKYACTIV electric-drive technology with a single-motor powertrain having an output of 107 kW (143 hp)/271Nm. Powering the motor is a 35.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack which is somewhat smaller in capacity than other BEVs which have been unveiled lately. Because of its smaller capacity, the range claimed is up to 199 kms which sounds a bit on the low side.

Mazda’s explanation for installing a battery with less capacity than others is to reduce the cost, since battery packs account for a large part of the cost of a BEV. So the engineers have tried to balance cost and range and they feel that, for its intended role as urban transport, 199 kms should be adequate. The added advantage of a smaller battery pack is less weight, and keeping weight down is very important for an electric vehicle.

The charging can be done at home using a normal wall socket and can take up to 12 hours if the battery pack is totally empty. If a more powerful charger is installed, then the process will be faster and as short as 31 minutes. But from a practical point of view, the 12-hour time may not actually be the case unless the owner uses up all the energy. In practice, it could be like how you recharge your mobilephone – if you do so when the battery pack is at 50%, then it may take just a few hours. And as you might not have used up all the capacity during the day, there is definitely going to be some remainder at night, which will means less recharging time is necessary.

Different driving character
The character of the MX-30 on the move is also said to be unlike most BEVs. According to Dato’ Sri Ben Yeoh, Executive Chairman of Bermaz Auto, who has driven the car, its acceleration does not have the strong surge when moving off, which can sometimes be unpleasant. It’s a more progressive acceleration and this has been deliberate to give more enjoyable driving. “The other electric vehicles are more high performance-biased with strong torque from the motors but the idea behind the MX-30 is more towards driving pleasure and at the same time, eliminating the necessity of visiting a petrol station to refuel,” he explained.

Although it is not intended to be performance-oriented, the MX-30 has sporty looks with a distinctive appearance. It doesn’t look like other Mazda models and has a new expression for the KODO – Soul of Motion design language that is used for other models.

‘Freestyle’ doors
An interesting (but not unique) feature is the opening of the doors. The rear door is not hinged from the middle pillar (which does not exist) and is instead hinged on the body side towards the rear. When both doors are open, there is a wide entry space to the front and rear seats. This has been done before on the RX-8 and also used for some versions of Mazda pick-up trucks.

While some carmakers call them ‘freestyle doors’, such doors have been referred to as ‘suicide doors’ because, in earlier years when locking mechanisms were not so reliable or doors didn’t close properly, they could sometimes open by themselves. That would be dangerous when the car was moving fast as someone could fall out! However, with today’s stringent safety regulations and crash tests, the doors should remain properly locked and closed. After all, Rolls-Royce also has such doors on its cars.

As the exterior proportions would suggest, the MX-30’s cabin is compact. The dashboard is a clean surface with obvious minimalism as its concept. Like most other Mazda models, there is a vertical tablet-like display in the middle which provides infotainment information and management is either by touch or using the rotary knob on the centre console.

Sustainable, recyclable materials
In pursuing the sustainability approach, many of the materials used for the MX-30 are eco-friendly and can be recycled. The material for the trim panels around the floating centre console is an example. It is from cork, one of man’s oldest construction materials. The environmental footprint of the cork used for the MX-30 is reduced further by using leftovers from the production of cork stoppers for wine bottles. The inherent characteristics of cork are very useful for automotive interior applications where materials will often be in use for many years. It is virtually impermeable to liquids and gases and shows a high friction-resistance. This is due to the special honeycomb cell structure of cork, as well as a substance called suberin, which makes up about 45% of the material. Naturally hydrophobic, it acts as a sealant against water penetration and other liquids.

Besides being environmentally-sourced, cork is also historically special to Mazda because the company was known as Toyo Cork Kogyo Corporation and manufactured cork in its earlier years.

Bermaz Motor intends to offer the MX-30 for sale later in the year (from the fourth quarter) and sees it as an offering for those early adopters who like the idea of electrically-powered cars. The price is not confirmed yet although Dato’ Sri Yeoh said that it will be not more than RM200,000. He added that BEVs are currently expensive to produce and even with the full exemption of import duties and taxes, the retail price will still not be able to be below RM150,000 for a properly built BEV.

Mazda to use SKYACTIV-D engine with next-generation biofuel in endurance racing

Hennessey Mammoth 1000 6×6 TRX – bigger, badder and superfast with 1,012 bhp V8

The American state of Texas is huge and it follows that everything there is also ‘XXL’ in size. It’s also where the Mammoth 1000 6×6 TRX has been designed, engineered and built by Hennessey, the hypercar manufacturer and high-performance vehicle creator. The Mammoth is the company’s biggest ever truck with a length of 7.2 metres, width of 2.2 metres and standing almost 2.1 metres tall.

The enormous 6×6 pickup truck makes ordinary cars and trucks look small – and we’re talking about American models. It starts life as a Dodge Ram TRX pick-up and Hennessey then adds a load of off-road kit from locking rear axles and Bilstein suspension, to 20-inch wheels clad in 37-inch off-road tyres. A third axle is added, extending the truck’s length by more than 1.2 metres feet and creating a giant load-space.

Under the chest-height bonnet is a mighty 6.2-litre Dodge Hellcat V8 engine which, even in standard form, is already quite a beast. The Hennessey team then adds a high-flow 2.65-litre supercharger, fuel injectors and high-flow induction system alongside performance-boosting calibration to push output to 1,012 bhp/1,314 Nm.

“Everything we do at Hennessey Performance is turned up to 11, but the Mammoth 1000 6×6 is definitely turned up to 12! Everything on the Mammoth 6×6 is bigger, badder, and more imposing – plus, it’s still super-fast, while being a total powerhouse off-road. It’s the undisputed king of the road!” said John Hennessey, the company’s founder and CEO of the US$449,950 (about RM1.93 million) truck.

Hennessey has a track record of success when it comes to gigantic and exclusive 6×6 trucks. The company has built and delivered more than 20 VelociRaptor 6×6 and Goliath 6×6 Silverado trucks to customers around the world. And each model it builds is offered with warranty coverage of 2 years/ 24,000 miles.

To date, Hennessey has re-engineered more than 12,000 vehicles for customers all over the world. Besides modifying a diverse range of sports, and muscle cars since 1991, the company has also developed specialised trucks and SUVs as well as has its own hypercars – the Venom GT and Venom F5.

*Venom F5 hypercar has 1,817 bhp 6.6-litre engine.*

Hennessey Performance’s Project Deep Space is a 6-wheel drive Hyper GT!

March new vehicle sales rocket past 70,000-unit level

*Data source: Monthly sales reports compiled by Malaysian Automotive Association.*

With output from the plants increasing, deliveries in March rose by 62.5% from February to pass the 70,000-unit mark which is one of the highest (if not the highest) in the industry’s history.

Apart from having more stocks, some of the companies with financial years ending on March 31 also put in their final effort to close with the highest possible numbers. Additionally, March also had many business days to sell cars although for many customers, there would still be a lengthy wait, especially for the more popular models.

With the Finance Minister having indicated that the exemption for sales tax won’t be extended again, there is also a rush by customers to get their new vehicles and save money. Again, due to the large number of orders and backlog, some companies are already warning customers that they might not be able to enjoy that saving as their vehicle might not be available before the end of June when the exemption period ends.

Compared to the same month the year before, the Total Industry Volume (TIV) for March 2022 was also notably higher by 13%.

The global shortage of microchips continues to affect carmakers locally as well as in other countries. Members of the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) expect that output will still be disrupted and imported vehicles may not be coming in large numbers.

This is likely to cause April’s TIV to fall in spite of festive promotions for the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri. The big push in March may also diminish orders although many companies still have a backlog of orders to fulfill.

Castrol Auto Service celebrates 20th anniversary in Malaysia with special offer for customers

Castrol Malaysia celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the Castrol Auto Service (CAS) business concept in the country. Introduced in 2002 for independent workshop dealers, this business concept provides support through a comprehensive workshop solution that enables the dealers to offer motorists the best levels of customer service through quality, professionalism, and transparency.

CAS has been serving and thriving in Malaysia since starting off with 3 workshops. By 2008, it opened its 100^th outlet and two years later, the first CAS dealer began operations in East Malaysia. With the growing vehicle population, increased demand for workshop services saw the 300th outlet opening in 2013. This was followed by the launch of the Castrol Certified Branded Workshop.

*The early days when CAS made its appearance, starting with just 3 branded workshops.*

With their extensive length of service across the Malaysian automotive industry, CAS dealers have proven their expertise, knowledge, and prowess; with 60% among CAS workshops having been in operations for more than 5 years, and 30% serving customers for a decade. Additionally, CAS dealer coverage network is vast throughout the country, with notable presence in key regions of the Klang Valley and Johor Bahru.

The milestone of 500 outlets was reached in 2021 and with over 500 outlets today in the 20^th year, Castrol is having an exclusive promotion to celebrate. For its loyal customers who have been supporting CAS throughout the years, A complimentary CAS 20 years X English Premier League (EPL) inverted umbrella will be given with the purchase any Castrol EDGE 4-litre products from any participating CAS outlets (while stocks last).

Castrol EDGE is a fully synthetic engine oil developed to provide maximum engine protection and performance. It is ideal for today’s smaller, yet more powerful, engines that work harder than ever before. Castrol EDGE with patented Fluid Titanium transforms its structure under pressure to keep metal apart, lowering friction for maximum engine performance. This allows the engine to deliver high performance and fuel efficiency and this has been proven in many independent tests.

Over the last 20 years, CAS has outperformed its peers with an array of programmes organised for its mechanics and customers. Among them are the CAS ‘Service & Win’ campaign, Castrol Cars Super Mechanic Contest, and CAS Forum & Appreciation Dinner.

Additionally, CAS outlets are active participants of the long-running Castrol Hari Mekanik Malaysia (HMM) campaign since 2019. This campaign continues to raise awareness to the public to appreciate the mechanic community, who are an essential part of the society and its welfare.

This year, Castrol HMM partnered with EPL for a merrier celebration on a larger scale. CAS is part of the ongoing Castrol KitaCare, an initiative launched during the pandemic to provide a safe solution to car maintenance, enhanced convenience for customers to service their cars with a reduced waiting period in a safe and hygienic environment.

Castrol also introduced the Castrol Loyalty Program in 2004. The program was migrated onto a digital platform in 2012 to inspire new customer loyalty through digital communication via the Castrol Motorist App. The app was recently upgraded to allow customers to enjoy more rewards and greater convenience with various built-in features. Through the enhanced app, customers can earn and redeem Castrol products with Castrol Points at all participating CAS workshops, getting notifications for their next car service, latest events updates and promotions.

“Castrol is extremely proud of the CAS journey in the past two decades. CAS now has over 500 outlets, a long way from our humble start of only 3 outlets in 2002 – and on the right track to launching more CAS outlets in the future. We are grateful to have our mechanics alongside us celebrating Castrol Malaysia’s milestones and progress. We are committed to bringing in more initiatives and efforts to support our dealers,” said Keow Mei-Shan, Marketing Director of Castrol Malaysia & Singapore.

“Our customers are a big part of our journey, and we’d like to thank them for being with us throughout the years. With plans to further expand our CAS network, we look forward to witnessing the community grow to become more comprehensive and close-knit so we are able to continuously provide an overall great experience to our customers,” she said.

To find out more about Castrol and its products, visit www.castrol.com/my

LAND ROVER NEW DEFENDER – The Design Story

For almost 70 years, the original Land Rover Defender remained in essentially the same form, altered only slightly but the basic design was untouched. It was a functional form that would become iconic and epitomise off-road vehicles that could go just about anywhere. It came to also be the Land Rover symbol throughout the world, even in the most remote places where few motorised vehicles travelled to.

With a vehicle such as the Defender, the periodic change in appearance that customers of passenger cars expect was unnecessary. Its shape was ‘timeless’, and the longer it was retained, the happier owners were because body parts became more and more readily available, not rendered obsolete by frequent changes in design. What was more important to them were technical improvements that extended the capability of the Defender or made it even more durable than it already was.

But as Henry Ford found out, changes in the world also impact the auto industry. His Model T achieved greatness and he thought it could continue to be in demand ‘forever’, but it eventually had to end. It was the same with the original Volkswagen Beetle too. Indeed, the world had changed greatly from the time the original Defender was created in the late 1940s as a simple transporter, primarily for farmers and for military use.

The change was especially apparent towards the end of the 20^th century as off-road vehicles became popular as ‘sport utility vehicles’ or SUVs. By the time the 21^st century started, this segment of the market began to heat up and was flooded with new models. It was time for the Defender to also change.

The Defender was still much respected and in some respects, it was also superior in capability. But there was a new generation of customers who liked the idea of an off-road vehicle for its rugged image and capabilities, and they also wanted something more modern and akin to the newer range of models from Land Rover.

While the classic design had a certain appeal (and still does), it was time to consider a modernised version and this was one of the great challenges that faced Professor Gerry McGovern and his team. McGovern, the Chief Creative Officer at Jaguar Land Rover, is the ‘Guardian of Land Rover DNA’ and for something as iconic as the Defender, ensuring that a reimagined product would be immediately recognisable was very important. It had to be a worthy heir to the original and not a hastily developed successor.

Over the years, Land Rover had given thought to a successor to the Defender. The most well known was the DC 100 Concept of 2011 which signalled the company’s willingness to produce a new generation. While many think that the New Defender evolved from that concept, it actually is not so and largely served to generate discussions which McGovern paid attention to.

While the DC 100’s looks were exciting – as a showcar should be – it was too much of a departure from the original design and that was something McGovern understood and agreed with. A new design would need to be recognisable as a Defender while incorporating modernity and functionality. Needless to say, it had to still be able to live up to the ‘Best4x4ByFar’ promise – and it had to be authentic.

It was clear to the design team that respect for origins was very important, to the traditionalists as well as the modern buyers who expected a more premium product that was rather different from the original which was pure function and simplicity. There was a need to have the elements that said ‘Defender’ with a modern style that would bring it into the 21^st century, redefining the adventure vehicle.

The most significant element is the profile with the large cubic form for the cabin, and the smaller cube at the front end. There is also the characteristic line of the roof, the shoulder running along the sides, and the distinctive wheelarches. The overhangs are also short and of course, there is the elevated position from the ground. There’s even the familiar Defender trademark Alpine light windows in the roof. The rear too has a lot of ‘Defender’ to it, with the spare tyre mounted on the very vertical door that is hinged at the side rather than the top.

“The new Defender is respectful of its past but is not harnessed by it. This is a new Defender for a new age. Its unique personality is accentuated by its distinctive silhouette and optimum proportions, which make it both highly desirable and seriously capable – a visually compelling 4×4 that wears its design and engineering integrity with uncompromised commitment,” said McGovern.

Over the decades, the Defender had grown from being just a simple canvas-topped vehicle with limited space to become a larger and longer vehicle for different requirements. While there have been numerous conversions to create custom versions, there have essentially been two official sizes for the Defender – the longer 110 version and the short 90 version. These have been retained for the New Defender and the difference in length is 435 mm and two doors less for the shorter version. Each version is aimed at a different target group with the option of 5, 6 or 5+2 seating in the 110 and up to 6 seats in the 90.

The design work took some 6 years to reach finalization because of the constant reviewing and insistence on authenticity. The resultant design that is in showrooms today has an expression that is neither too aggressive nor too informal. It is not as ‘hard’ as the original and yet has a silhouette that is distinctly different enough from the many other SUVs on the road. As McGovern put it, the New Defender has been ‘inspired by the original, but not constricted by the past’.

Inside, the cabin design departs more significantly from the original Defender, though exposed structural elements and superior functionality are very much in evidence. The interior has been thoroughly modernised in the same fashion as the original Discovery of the late 1980s which marked Land Rover’s move into the premium segment (Range Rover notwithstanding). At that time, Land Rover invited Conran, a well known interior design specialist, to create an innovative new cabin that would set the standards for models that followed.

The New Defender not only has a premium look and feel with high quality materials used throughout but it also has genuine 21st century technologies with user-friendly features. The cumulative experience of designing for adventurers has been combined with providing for today’s SUV buyers who want comfort and convenience, endowing the New Defender with a cabin environment and comfort that is unmatched in its class,

Essentially, virtually all elements around the cabin have a functional role. These include the state-of-the-art Pivi Pro infotainment system with a next-generation 10-inch touchscreen. The operation is more intuitive and user-friendly, requiring fewer inputs to perform frequently used tasks. Pivi Pro has been designed to be operated like a smartphone, which almost everyone would be familiar with. It can be customised to user preference and is integrated with other displays on the magnesium dashboard.

With Pivi Pro, Land Rover has completely changed its approach to infotainment systems. Having its own back-up battery allows the system to load immediately following engine start. Two high-performance Qualcomm Snapdragon processors with individual integrated LTE modems and Blackberry QNX operating systems provide supercomputer performance and can be updated ‘over the air’ (meaning no need to go to a service centre for the job).

The modular interior architecture is underpinned by a practical layout that extends all the way to the back. Up to seven people can be accommodated by various arrangements of the seats with an abundance of storage areas. The cargo area has a volume that ranges from 231 litres when all seats are in use, to a massive 2,233 litres at maximum capacity (for the Defender 110). With the side-hinged tailgate, loading is possible even in tight spots (like against a wall) as the door can be opened slightly whereas a top-hinged door would not be able to open upwards.

While most owners of the New Defender are less likely to go off-roading in a serious way, those who do take it for an adventurous journey on muddy terrain will be able to clean the cabin easily. Apart from the tough-wearing fabrics used, the flooring is of a rubber material that can be washed while flush door sills allow easier mopping or sweeping of water and dirt out.

The original Defender has a history dating back to the late 1940s and was in continuous production for 67 years until 2016. Its successor’s story began in 2019 and as with all models from the specialist in 4×4 vehicles, the New Defender continues a legacy while offering the best of modern technology and design.