Your author gets the chance to help a newbie conquer the steep sand hills in the United Arab Emirates in one of the longest SUVs out there.
while I’m riding shotgun. Before us are miles of steep dunes undulating like the nearby Persian Gulf.My driving partner, let’s call her Melissa, gives me a nervous glance, but puts the big SUV in gear, takes a deep breath, and goes for it.Driving in the dunes is all about commitment, or “driving with passion” as our Land Rover guides say.
For this trip, our Defender 130 is outfitted with the P400 powertrain, which teams a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 with a mild-hybrid system to make 395 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. An 8-speed automatic puts that power down to the sand through 32-inch Goodyear Duratrac tires.As Melissa heads up the sandy slope, I can feel the traction control start to kick in a bit. “Oh crap,” I think. “We’re still in Auto mode.
This gal’s got it. She heads up the dune with plenty of speed, the turbo-6 providing more than enough grunt. Just as we crest the top she times the throttle release and we coast over the last few feet, keeping all four wheels on the ground.She does get stuck once, however, and it’s easy to do in a long vehicle like the Defender 130. The wheelbase may be the same as the Defender 110’s, but its rear overhang is much, much longer. All of the additional 13.
Of course, I can’t let my time in the three-row Defender go by without sampling that last row. It’s actually not too shabby. At 5-foot-9, my knees raise a little high and my butt sits a little low, but the 31.7 inches of legroom would be plenty on shorter trips. Hip and shoulder room are a little tight for three full-sized humans back there, but kids should be just fine.I love that the Defender is primed for long trekking with the capability to carry a veritable butt load of payload.
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