2014 Land Rover Twisted 110 Utility 3.2 Ultimate

Big five-pot diesel gives this tuned Land Rover Defender real punch — at a price

Twisted 110 Utility 3.2 Ultimate

As production of Land Rover’s venerable Defender draws to a close, Yorkshire-based tuner Twisted is anticipating a run of customers intent on building a new version of the car to last them a lifetime.

Providing the most attractive engine line-up for these customers is now the challenge. Hence the decision to offer the bigger 3.2 TDCi diesel from the Ford Ranger (and Transit) as an option for 2014.

The benefits are obvious enough. Once Twisted has finished fitting its own exhaust and intercooler and remapping the ECU, the five-cylinder engine’s power peaks beyond 230bhp. More importantly, this provides the Defender with 528lb ft of low-down torque. In the 110 prototype driven here, the result cleaves the very modest standard 0-62mph time roughly in two and turns an already very dogged towing machine into a nonchalantly brisk one.

The increased burliness is evident from the off. Although an evolution of the four-cylinder 2.2 TDCi of the regular Defender, the bigger engine feels heavier, noisier, keener and manifestly tougher. Predictably, given its provenance, first and second gears feel short enough to get a concrete horsebox under way.

Third and fourth are hardly what you’d call long, either, although both are rambunctiously propulsive. But as the Defender will pull cleanly from 30-70mph in the next ratio, it’s fifth and sixth where you’ll spend the most time – and where the car announces itself as something different.

Instead of easing to 60mph like it’s been winded by the effort, the 3.2-engined vehicle uses its almighty torque to surge well beyond the familiar chug. Outright quick it probably isn’t by modern standards, but it feels extremely enthusiastic beyond 70mph. Overtaking, instead of being limited to rounding cyclists, is now credible even on a fast A-road.

Twisted 110 Utility 3.2 Ultimate Interior Seats

Compromises manifest themselves just as quickly, mind. Twisted’s preferred progressive springs need to be re-engineered before they can handle the five-pot’s extra weight, making the prototype’s conventional set-up a more insistent (albeit rather fun) prospect than its stablemates.

The gear change on the modified six-speed manual is also resolutely stiff-necked, and although its Transit-like ratios may yet be lengthened for better usability, its creators are keen not to rob the model of its towing prowess at motorway speeds.

Even with these issues resolved, there’s the premium to consider. Twisted is asking $ 30,267.59 for the work, making the 3.2 version of either the high-spec 90 or 110 startlingly pricey.

Twisted 110 Utility 3.2 Ultimate Rear

However, like most niche tuners, Twisted is in the business of catering to the few, and given that what it has produced here feels like the brawniest Defender imaginable, it isn’t hard to imagine deep-pocketed final-run fans investing in haste and blasé towing ability for the long haul.