Land Rover Defender 90 and Defender 110 Drive to Desaru : Creeping Def

Anantara Desaru Coast Resort, Malaysia - The only thing that looks better than a spotless and shiny Defender… is one that is properly muddy and mucked-up, just as Land Rover intended.

To many people, a vehicle embodies a sense of carefree freedom, but Land Rover goes one step further.

With the Defender, you don’t even need proper roads, because mud and ruts, grit, gravel, sand and snow are all fair game for Land Rover’s intrepid 4x4 adventure accessory.

From the fast and furious pace attacking the winding B-roads during the VW / Skoda Cat A drive to Desaru a month-plus ago, we embark on a slow and steady sojourn in a convoy of lumbering Defenders to the same Anantara Desaru Coast Resort end-point, but with very different waypoints in-between.

(Click HERE to read about our VW/Skoda B-road drive to Desaru)

You know, ‘same, same, but different!’, because the Defender’s ‘go everywhere’ credentials means you’ll literally experience the ‘Great Everywhere’ if you’re prepared to venture onto paths least travelled.

As a Discovery 4 owner, spending such meaningful time in the new Defender (3dr 90 and 5dr 110, if you’re interested) only served to reinforce one thing: The rough and rugged new Defender makes a convincing case for itself as a spiritual successor to the Disco 4.

With both Discovery 5 and new Defender poshing up their proceedings respectively, the former has moved closer into Range Rover territory, while the latter alienates purist owners of the original Series Defenders.

To many of us Discovery 4 stalwarts, the new Defender continues right where the Disco 4 left off.

(Click HERE to read our COTY 2020 review of the Land Rover Defender 110)

For instance, the Defender’s cabin and mod-con features intriguingly combine practical and premium touches, including hard-wearing contact points (and thoughtful grab handles) that ensure it’s up to the task of off-road forays.

Such concessions for when the reality of the real-world bites extend to its chunky styling and body-armour, as it exudes a tough-as-nails aura that doesn’t make you want to ‘baby’ it.

The Defender will gladly bush-whack and boogie with the best of them and come home muddy and mucky, complete with skinned knees and scratches… yet ultimately happy!

There’s a slow and stately pace to our overland procession as we wind our way through endless plantation trails en route to the hotel, with the family of Defenders parked loud and proud in full mud-splattered livery.

When it comes to off-roading, it’s all about strategy and sense and not necessarily about being the fastest – a great break from the hustle-bustle of the rat-race and a rare chance to stop and smell the flowers (as well as other unmentionables!).

In both town and country, there’s an effortless cool to the Land Rover that many brands try to emulate – but fail to replicate – because the Defender actually walks the talk… and often on the wild side at that!

You know what they say about the ‘best laid plans’ – like the vagaries of weather, plans often change in the blink of an eye.

However, these are just the sort of fluid conditions the Defender excels in, because paved roads or not, it’s ready to ‘go anywhere, any time’!

(Click HERE to read about the time we tackled Eastnor in a Range Rover Sport)

This is exactly the unbridled spirit of adventure we alluded to at the start – a freedom that comes with being unfettered by rigid programmes and itineraries, or worse… EV charging schedules.

Naturally, it all boils-down to the sort of traveller you happen to be.

We like to think that the Land Rovers attract a certain type – after all, folks who prefer to keep their cars blemish-free have many other posh-roader brands to go for.

Personally, we’re all for free-and-easy flexibility on road-trips, without the constraints and precise up-to-the-minute minutiae that some travellers obsess over.

After all, part of the beauty of being a stranger in a strange land is never knowing what you’re going to encounter, be it pop-up durian stalls, IYKYK seafood stops, impassable roads, inclement weather, hidden scenic vistas... or more likely, all of the above.

The Defender rumbles through the rough, beats the bush into submission and nonchalantly shrugs off the shrubbery that tries in vain to cling to its chiselled physique.

It may seem to take things slowly, but never mistake the Defender’s ‘creep’ for hesitation.

Once in motion and in true rock-and-roller fashion, this anti-establishment anti-hero becomes an implacable, indomitable force of nature that stands for nothing in its way, much less the fickle winds of fashion.

Why? Because it can. 

PHOTOS JLR Asia Pacific