Bowler Defender review: Land Rover's icon becomes an offroad rally weapon

If you were to picture a modern-day rally car, it would probably be a feral, unhinged version of some modest family hatchback, such as the Ford Fiesta or Toyota Yaris – something small and nimble, perfectly suited to dancing around the hills above Monte Carlo or deep in a Scandinavian forest. The exact opposite, then, of a towering two-tonne-plus Land Rover Defender. 

The team at Bowler clearly have much more active imaginations than the rest of us, and have chiselled the highly capable and very fashionable roadgoing Defender into a competition-worthy rallying weapon. And they’ve done so using the lowest-spec Defender 90 in the range, with the minimal amount of modifications and bespoke parts necessary.

Of course, Bowler has all the engineering skill and know-how to pull this off. The British firm has nearly 40 years’ experience of turning Land Rovers into Rally Raid racers, and was bought by Jaguar Land Rover in 2019 to become part of its Special Vehicle Operations division.

The standard Defender isn’t fragile, but Bowler has beefed it up by adding underbody protection, made from 6mm-thick aluminium, that stretches all the way from the front bumper to the rear differential. The car’s doors have been shortened by 70mm, also to accommodate reinforcement, but retain the stock door seals. Potentially vulnerable areas on the rear suspension have been strengthened and protected, too, while new coil springs provide a 20-25mm lift and are paired with Fox Racing variable-rate dampers.

Chunky BFGoodrich all-terrain tyres are wrapped around a set of Bowler’s own 18-inch cast-aluminium wheels that are 25 per cent stronger than the stock rims. Deep bucket seats, five-point harnesses and an FIA-approved roll cage are also fitted as part of the transformation, but the powertrain hasn’t received any special treatment.

It might have an angrier exhaust note, but the base Defender’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder P300 Ingenium petrol engine produces the same 296bhp and 400Nm of torque as the road car. The eight-speed torque-converter auto gearbox and four-wheel drive system are unchanged, too. 

Similarly, while much of the Land Rover’s interior has been stripped out, many of the creature comforts have stuck around, including the air-conditioning, reversing camera and central touchscreen. Even the Apple CarPlay still works, to help on much longer rally events.

Very thoughtful, although I wasn’t thinking about putting on a Spotify playlist after being strapped into the driver’s seat and making my way onto the very wet, very muddy test circuit at Walters Arena in Wales. All the while, the weather cycled indecisively between rain, hail, sleet, snow and thunder. Yet I wasn’t concerned, because it seems no matter what form it takes, the Defender inspires a level of confidence that makes you feel like you’re Jack Reacher – not that he’s famed for any kind of rallying expertise, admittedly. 

The high driving position has the added bonus of providing an excellent view of the terrain ahead. I very much appreciated this as a first timer at the wheel of a rally car, and having only just received a crash course on how to read the tyre grooves and ruts in the mud to guess-timate where the grip will be. Or perhaps more importantly, where it definitely will not be.

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I was also glad not to be wrestling to keep a fire-breathing V8 at bay, because I quickly realised the four-cylinder engine delivers more than enough power to have the two-tonne-plus Defender flying along the straights. This isn’t an engine you have to work hard though, because power delivery low down in the rev range is great – ideal for when you’re not trying to set lap records, but are navigating back-to-back corners and tight turns as smoothly as possible. You appreciate the eight-speed auto for the same reasons, because it can be left to its own devices to deliver seamless gearchanges and select the optimal ratio when power is required.

Besides, I could have been doing 20mph for all I cared, as the loud-mouthed engine and endless sound of debris hitting the underside of the car contributed to a sensory overload. Yet the Defender’s suspension does a remarkable job of softening the impacts from everything the terrain throws at it, so by the end of each lap you’re not worn down and are ready to go again. 

The Bowler Defender is no featherweight on paper, but its heft proves to be irrelevant, and in fact plays to our advantage on more than one occasion. Matt Jackson, our instructor and one of Bowler’s professional drivers, teaches us that the weight of the car allows it to carry speed through the more flowing corners, and tackle deep waters head on. The key to this, according to Jackson, is understanding the weight as well as the height of the vehicle, and adapting to suit it.

The driving experience is completely raw, dangerously addictive and, frankly, I’m hooked within metres. But just as impressive is how predictable and consistent the Bowler Defender is to drive. Those might not sound like the most thrilling attributes, but you know almost immediately how the powertrain likes to behave, how the car wants to approach corners and even what it will do when it loses grip. For such an aggressive and intimidating machine on the surface, the Bowler Defender is remarkably approachable from a driver’s point of view. 

That’s why it could be a perfect partner for anyone beginning their journey into the world of rallying, which Bowler knows full well, because its car is the bedrock of the Defender Rally Series: a one-make off-road championship where novice and experienced drivers compete against each other. But rather than an out-and-out tournament, the series also serves as a training programme that’s designed to build confident rally drivers out of successful executives and adventure seekers. 

Now in its fourth season, the Defender Rally Series has up to 16 pairs of drivers and co-drivers competing in seven rounds across the UK, plus international events in locations such as Iceland and the Balkans if they’re up for it (and have earned the proper racing licences).

Each stage is carefully selected by Bowler’s head of motorsport, Dave Marsh, for drivers to develop or refine a specific skill. “The event selection is really, really important, because it’s about making sure that it’s the right event at the right time,” he explains.

“The first event gives them the confidence with the terrain-reading skills to move into the next event. So we then go to a rally which is smoother, because the next element is the navigation part and the timekeeping, which for a rally is really important.

“So they get that part but without the complication of the terrain, because they’ve already done that,” Marsh adds. “Then we go to a hill rally, which is a combination of the two things, and so they’re progressing into different elements without sort of noticing that that’s happening.”

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Every driver is looking for something different from the series and has individual goals, but one potential endgame is the legendary Dakar rally. Marsh says: “There are lots of guys on our team that have Dakar experience and if you really wanted to do it, this is a really good way of getting the experience in a structured format that’s going to get you there. So if you did the whole three seasons, it would spit you out in a place where you’re in a fit state to consider doing the Dakar, and that really was my target.”

Bowler can use these goals to build highly tailored plans for drivers, based around the fundamental structure of the series. But the training goes beyond mastering the ‘Scandi flick’. Before anyone gets behind the wheel of the rally car they receive some off-road tutelage at Land Rover’s own driving course, followed throughout the series by training on what to do in the event of a crash, types of navigation provided at certain events, the different licences required and regulatory bodies involved in this sport. 

The focus is creating well formed rally drivers, as Calum McKechnie, general manager of Bowler, explains: “We’re not just selling you a car, going to book a circuit, then you turn up, get thrown the keys and we say, right, just go and play. We offer a pipeline of training, mentoring and support.”

According to Jackson, it simply comes down to, “if people are willing to listen and learn and try things that’s when you find they get the most out of it, while the people with other experience who go ‘no, this is how I’m doing it’ might find it works, but it might not, so usually they’re the ones who progress slower.”

Bowler can also train the co-drivers if they’re a partner or friend, as with some in this year’s field, or can pair people with experienced professionals, and assemble a support crew for each team consisting entirely of JLR engineers, all of whom are volunteers. Who better to have on hand if anything goes wrong? 

The company even handles the logistics of entering the teams and their cars into the various events in the series, and any others that might take their fancy. 

But Bowler knows its customers often have businesses to run in their daily lives, so offers to remove as much stress as possible with its optional ‘Ride and Drive’ package. This lets Bowler handle the storage and transportation of the cars, as well as preparing them for each race. McKechnie says around 70 to 80 per cent of owners buy the package at the start of each season, but by the second round, that figure becomes roughly 90 per cent, once people learn about the extra convenience. 

Throughout our day with the Bowler team and this year’s Defender Rally Series entrants, value for money comes up more than once. That is perhaps the biggest surprise, other than seeing a Defender blitzing a rally stage.

It’s understandable, because the idea of value for money in regards to a £130,000 Defender rally car doesn’t quite compute. And yet this machine offers an epic driving experience that alone could justify the price tag.

But add to that its ability to compete in a wide variety of events on different terrains, and the fact that the cost includes the first year’s entry into the Defender Rally Series, and you get all of Bowler’s guidance and support. Frankly, it would be a bargain at double the price.

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