2024 Land Rover Defender has lost its most unique feature

The 2024 Land Rover Defender has lost one of its most unique features.

Up until this point, the Defender has been known as one of the few vehicles in the US that is available with steel wheels.

This isn’t going to be the case going forward, however.

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Why ‘steelies’ are going extinct

Usually steel wheels are associated with cheaper cars, but they also work a treat on off-road vehicles like the Defender.

And with videos showing the Defender towing trucks, it’s clear this car means business.

However, with the orders for Defenders with steelies on the decline, this option will no longer be offered.

As a replacement, Land Rover will be selling 20-inch Style 9013 Gloss White wheels, which reportedly look identical to the steel wheels of old.

The key difference is they’re aluminum and therefore much lighter.

Ford had previously offered something similar for their Bronco and Bronco Sport models.

Why have Land Rover made this decision?

Whilst the steel wheels were 18 inches, the 9013s are two inches bigger with no additional weight.

Car & Driver weighed two Defenders on a scale to compare their weight with the different wheels.

With the steelies in place, there was 39.85 pounds added, whilst the aluminum ones only totalled 31.96 pounds.

This is roughly eight pounds per corner.

It likely won’t make a big difference to how the car handles, but it has a good chance of helping save fuel over the vehicle’s lifetime.

The 9013s cost $1,800 but are only available with a $600 County Exterior Pack that includes other options totaling $5,650.

Aluminum is one of four main materials used in wheels, with the other three being steel, magnesium and carbon fiber.

Outside of these standard four, there aren’t many deviations.

Unless you’re the guy who put horse and carriage wheels onto his Dodge Challenger.

But something tells me that’s a rather unique category to be in.