Bowler’s Fast Road Defender Turns This Land Rover up to 11

As I begin my third donut, wheels locked and clutch popped, I begin questioning at what level this large hunk of metallic’s going to tip over. Nevertheless it by no means does. It merely squats into its custom-tuned Bilstein suspension and sits there, kicking up copious quantities of limestone quarry mud that regularly waft into the cockpit, as a result of I used to be dumb sufficient to depart the window open.

Very quickly, this monstrous 4×4 has gone from all-black to a number of shades of dusty brown, however I am having an excessive amount of enjoyable to care—in any case, it was constructed for shenanigans of the wildest sort. Welcome to the Bowler expertise.

Bowler Fast Road Defender custom-built Land Rover review

Should you’re new to Bowler, we’ll educate you. Again in 1985, the late Drew Bowler began constructing aggressive off-road racing vehicles from his house in Derbyshire, within the East Midlands. He quickly began taking orders, and earlier than lengthy, Bowler Motorsports was a respectable enterprise with a deal with Land Rover Defenders. The corporate remains to be based mostly in Derbyshire at this time, however they’ve lined a whole lot of floor—and stacked up a formidable assortment of accolades—for the reason that 80s.

In 1991, Drew gained the British ARC Nationwide Comp Safari. 9 years later, Bowler entered the Dakar Rally for the primary time; by 2005, they have been the second largest manufacturing facility Dakar staff, with the very best ending charge. Since then, Bowler Land Rovers have claimed victory within the British Hill Climb Championship, the British Baja Nationwide Championship, the French Baja, and the Tuareg Rallye. Little marvel then that Bowler Motorsports was ultimately acquired by Jaguar Land Rover*, and now varieties a part of their Particular Car Operations.

Bowler is aware of the Defender inside out—and so they know how you can make it go sooner, flip tougher, and cease higher. Their race-spec vehicles are constructed to cross deserts, take knocks, and even get airborne when the event requires it. However the Defender I am driving right here treads a special path. Referred to as the Bowler Quick Highway Defender, it shoves all of Bowler’s rally racing know-how right into a burly package deal that is optimized for street use. And that makes it excellent for our wants on this journey.

We’re headed from London to Lincolnshire to attend the Malle Mile bike pageant at Grimsthorpe Fortress. Loaned to us by the nice people at Bowler, our Quick Highway cuts a menacing profile on the A1 freeway out of London. Constructed utilizing a 2014-model Land Rover Defender 110 Utility, it is unapologetic and utilitarian; murdered out from head to toe, with a blacked-out Bowler brand the one clue to its provenance.

The look is every part you’re keen on about Land Rovers, distilled. A Bowler grill does responsibility up entrance, with a set of LED lights embedded into matching headlight surrounds. There’s additionally a Bowler bumper, together with a particular guard to guard the steering arms and linkages, and a pair of crimson towing eyes.

The cockpit’s surrounded by an exterior cage, whereas high-grade aluminum facet rails and upgraded step treads run under the doorways. Proprietary alloy rims, bonnet vents, aluminum door hinges, and a full set of chrome steel bolts; in case you can dream of it, the Quick Highway Defender in all probability has it fitted. The Malle Mile may be about bikes, however our automobile drew its justifiable share of admirers.

It is simply as well-specced inside. We sit in Recaro SVX seats, as fitted within the sixtieth anniversary Land Rover Defender SVX. They embrace heated bases and backs, and are mounted on particular risers to permit extra room for adjustment. Nonetheless, the Quick Highway is not too plush inside, and nonetheless feels decidedly Land Rover-esque. The Alcantara-lined Momo steering wheel is all enterprise, as are the fantastically crafted gear selectors, which not solely look good, however really feel good too.

The cavernous load space does not complain after we indiscriminately toss baggage, cameras, and provides into it. It is kitted with a modified Defender 90 rubber mat and MudStuff facet panels for storage. All the inside is soundproofed, too.

Lurking underneath the Quick Highway’s hood is a stage two engine tune an identical to Bowler’s desert racers, plus a modified ECU and a race spec intercooler—so it has the go to match its present. Miserable the accelerator is a tactile expertise; the Quick Highway growls and surges ahead, pissed off on the prospect of getting to stick to hurry limits.

On the Malle Mile’s ‘Scramble’ course, which runs across the Grimsthorpe property, the Quick Highway makes quick work of large open gravel roads, sandy twin tracks, and rocky inclines. It is nonetheless a 4×4, in any case, and one which boasts a formidable suspension setup too. Working with Bilstein, Bowler has developed a equipment that matches custom-tuned Bilstein dampers to Bowler’s personal springs. The setup additionally makes use of upgraded anti-roll bars and bushes, and a steering damper. Bowler’s ‘large brake package deal,’ developed in collaboration with Alcon, consists of four-piston calipers and greater brake discs all spherical, and works with the usual Land Rover ABS.

Barreling down the Malle course, with my passenger mildly suggesting I decelerate, lest we have to cough up for an insurance coverage extra, all of it begins to make sense. The Bowler heritage is tangible in each press of the accelerator, each gear shift, and each flip of the steering wheel. It may be tweaked for the street, nevertheless it was born of mud.

“Go psychological, it is a rental,” I quip again. In spite of everything, the Quick Highway can take it.