Land Rover Defender 5 door

The biggest change to the Land Rover came in late 1990, when it became the Land Rover Defender, instead of the Land Rover Ninety or One Ten. This was because in 1989 the company had introduced the Discovery model, requiring the original Land Rover to acquire a name. The Discovery also had a new turbodiesel engine. This was also loosely based on the existing 2.5-litre turbo unit, and was built on the same production line, but had a modern alloy cylinder head, improved turbocharging, intercooling and direct injection. The 200Tdi as it was called produced 107 hp (111 in the Discovery), and 188 lb·ft of torque (195 lb·ft in the Discovery), which was nearly a 25% improvement on the engine it replaced. The reason for the engine being detuned was to reduce engine stress and improve service life under prolonged periods of high engine speeds, such as when engaged in heavy towing, which the company reasoned were more likely to be encountered with a utility Land Rover than with a Discovery.

This engine finally allowed the Defender to cruise comfortably at high speeds, as well as tow heavy loads speedily on hills while still being economical. At a stroke Land Rover removed all the other engine options (now redundant in the face of such a good package in a single engine). Some enthusiasts consider the 200Tdi to be the best engine fitted to the vehicle.

1994 saw another development of the Tdi engine, the 300Tdi. This was the same capacity, and both the Defender and the Discovery had engines in the same state of tune (111 ho, 195 lb·ft), and had the same basic layout, but had over 200 changes to improve the refinement and on-road performance of the engine. However, in the process the economy of the engine was reduced slightly, as was the ability for it to be serviced by the owner.

Throughout the 1990s the vehicle climbed more and more upmarket, while remaining true to its working roots. If ordered without any optional extras, the Defender was a basic working tool. If the owner wanted, any number of accessories could transform it into a vehicle that was perfectly acceptable as an everyday method of transport, while still retaining excellent off-road abilities. This was epitomised by the limited edition 50th Anniversary Defender 90 from 1998 which was equipped with automatic transmission, air conditioning, roll-over protection cage and powered by the Range Rover 4.0-litre V8 engine.