Photo: Hugo Silva (hugosilvadesigns) via Instagram
What would the new Land Rover be without its off-roading abilities? Well, it would join the ranks of the countless SUVs and crossover that only pretend to be tough when in fact, they are nothing more than family cars with a higher seating position.
Some people might even feel entitled to raise the question, "what off-roading abilities would those be?" After all, we did see the new Defender go up a mountain together with a Bronco and a Wrangler and end up spending the night there with not one, but two flat tires, while the other two returned home safe and sound.
Indeed, Land Rover's latest model does have one big problem (19-inch, to be exact), which is the minimum wheel size for its most potent powertrain preventing it from mounting any serious off-road tires. However, clever people have found a way around that in the form of a sub-frame lift kit, though going for it will only add more cost to what is already a very expensive vehicle.
While most people are worried about lifting the vehicle's body to make room for bigger tires, one digital artist decided to go the very opposite way. For Hugo Silva, the new Defender's wheels are just about the right size. What they need, in his view, is a bit of negative camber to go with what looks like a complete delete of the vehicle's ground clearance.
Seeing a slammed Land Rover Defender in the wild feels highly unlikely, which is why Hugo's effort deserves all the more credit. Looking at it, though, we doubt it's going to convince anyone who was sitting on the fence to go for it because let's face it, it doesn't exactly enhance the vehicle's strong points.
People can't decide whether it looks like a Kia Soul, a Scion XB, or a Nissan Cube. Someone even mentioned the Honda Element, but we feel that's a little unfair toward the Japanese model. While saying it's similar to any of these feels like a stretch, the Defender's proportions do look completely wrong once the lift provided by the vehicle's suspension system is taken out of the equation.
Since dropping it on its belly wouldn't have been enough to turn it into a proper asphalt scraper, Hugo also added a few bits of bodywork to make sure no pebble is left standing wherever this Defender goes. There's a complete package: front splitter, side skirts, and a rear air diffuser.
The spare wheel is also gone, and while that was probably done for aesthetic and aerodynamic purposes, we feel it wouldn't have served any purpose anyway. Why? Easy: anything that could potentially puncture a wheel will be pushed aside by the bumper.
Indeed, Land Rover's latest model does have one big problem (19-inch, to be exact), which is the minimum wheel size for its most potent powertrain preventing it from mounting any serious off-road tires. However, clever people have found a way around that in the form of a sub-frame lift kit, though going for it will only add more cost to what is already a very expensive vehicle.
While most people are worried about lifting the vehicle's body to make room for bigger tires, one digital artist decided to go the very opposite way. For Hugo Silva, the new Defender's wheels are just about the right size. What they need, in his view, is a bit of negative camber to go with what looks like a complete delete of the vehicle's ground clearance.
Seeing a slammed Land Rover Defender in the wild feels highly unlikely, which is why Hugo's effort deserves all the more credit. Looking at it, though, we doubt it's going to convince anyone who was sitting on the fence to go for it because let's face it, it doesn't exactly enhance the vehicle's strong points.
People can't decide whether it looks like a Kia Soul, a Scion XB, or a Nissan Cube. Someone even mentioned the Honda Element, but we feel that's a little unfair toward the Japanese model. While saying it's similar to any of these feels like a stretch, the Defender's proportions do look completely wrong once the lift provided by the vehicle's suspension system is taken out of the equation.
Since dropping it on its belly wouldn't have been enough to turn it into a proper asphalt scraper, Hugo also added a few bits of bodywork to make sure no pebble is left standing wherever this Defender goes. There's a complete package: front splitter, side skirts, and a rear air diffuser.
The spare wheel is also gone, and while that was probably done for aesthetic and aerodynamic purposes, we feel it wouldn't have served any purpose anyway. Why? Easy: anything that could potentially puncture a wheel will be pushed aside by the bumper.
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