• Lots of space for people and clutter
• Access to rear seats is tricky
• Tiny boot with all seats in place

How much space is there?

The three-door Defender 90 is inevitably less practical than the five-door 110, but compromises are limited to rear passenger access and cargo space.

Up front, it’s equally spacious as those in its larger twin, the fuss-free dashboard and door pockets offering a degree of storage space that these days is more commonly found in carefully considered commercial vehicles.

All bar the entry-level model have a roomy centre storage area between the front seats with cupholders, but this can be optionally swapped for a fridge, a narrower sixth seat (a jump seat in Land Rover speak) or simply nothing at all to aid access to the rear.

The biggest compromise the three-door layout brings is access to the rear seats. Although the front doors are longer, and the seats tilt forward to help make getting in easier, it’s still far more of a faff than the five door 110. Models with adaptive air suspension can be lowered closer to the ground so you’re not dealing with a climb as well as a squeeze, but it’s still tricky.

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Space in the back is impressive with enough head and leg room for tall adults. You can also add heavy duty rubber matting, which is easier to keep clean than carpets when everyone’s climbed on board with muddy boots  – even if it’s not going to be a hose-out interior.

Further outdoorsy options include exterior panniers – that block out much of the rear side windows – plus roof-mounted carriers and tents. On a similar note, all Defender 90s can tow up to 3,500kg of braked trailer weight, the maximum permissible by law, losing nothing to the larger 110 in the haulage stakes.

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Boot space and storage

Given how roomy the rear seats are, inevitably that means that boot space has been sacrificed – don’t forget that the 90 is some 435mm shorter than the Defender 110 at 4,583mm.

Usefully, the seats split 40:20:40 allowing longer loads to be slotted down the middle while still allowing the outer seats to be used, but none of the sections fold completely flat with the boot floor, and there’s a stepped metal brace section dividing the two.

With the rear seats in place there’s up to 397 litres of space available, which is 166 litres more than a seven-seater 110 model with all of the seats occupied, extending to 1563mm with them folded forwards.

Mounting the spare wheel on the side-hinged rear door means it’s easy to access and doesn’t eat into the boot space further still, but that stylistic nod to Defenders of old makes the opening narrower than it would be with a more conventional top-hinged tailgate. It also makes it far trickier to access your stuff when someone’s parked close behind you.

Is it easy to park?

As capable as the Defender 90 is off-road, many will never venture further off the black stuff than the grass at an antiques fair carpark, being destined for city life. It’s incongruous, but it’s also reality.

That the 90 is appreciably shorter than the 110 at a similar length to a Ford Kuga, even with the spare wheel stuck on the back, means it’s going to be far easier to find a parking space for. Unfortunately, even with the air suspension at its lowest setting, it will be too tall for entry in many multi-storey car parks at 1,934mm.

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The driver may also wish to tilt the rear headrests down when they are not in use, as they block most of the rear view out. Thankfully, the ClearSight rear-view mirror on higher spec models can display a feed from a rear-facing camera, which is fine for occasional use, but takes a while for your eyes to focus on. Even better, all versions get a 360deg camera system to help you squeeze into the tightest of spaces.

Safety

• No crash-test rating from Euro NCAP
• Raft of standard safety kit
• Few safety-related optional extras

Euro NCAP has awarded the Land Rover Defender 110 a full five-star rating, and we expect the shorter 90 will perform almost identically in this most rigorous of tests. However, if this model is tested, then we’ll update the results accordingly.

Standard levels of safety kit are very impressive with every Defender 90 featuring:

• 3D surround-view exterior cameras
• 360-degree parking sensors
• Wade Sensing technology for driving through deep water
• Cruise control and speed limiter
• Lane-keep assist
• Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)
• Traffic Sign Recognition and Adaptive Speed Limiter
• Four-wheel drive

Move up to the SE trim and you’ll benefit from blind-spot assist and traffic monitors at both the nose and tail to warn against pulling out unsighted into the path of oncoming vehicles.

HSE versions also have the Driver Assist Pack. This comprises of the above features, together with Rear Collision Monitor to prepare the car’s systems if it expects a rear impact and adaptive cruise control.

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Finally, the flagship Defender 90 X also features an Electronic Active Differential – very useful for hardcore off-road driving – along with Terrain Response 2 that makes it even better off-road.

You can add the safety kit fitted to high spec models to lower trims at a cost. If you’re planning on driving mainly on road we’d stick to the standard tyres as the optional off-road items don’t have a great deal of grip on asphalt.

Watch the Euro NCAP crash test video