I cant say that the Defender is a bad car, or worse than the Wrangler, but i can say the Jeep Wrangler is a very VERY GREAT offroad vehicle.
I used to have a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0L, this thing was a beast. I kept it completely stock, i took this baby everywhere, one of the most demanding places being down in baja california, mexico. Everything offroad i threw at it, it came back and spat in my face saying "is that all you got pussy!"
I honestly would never buy an american car, with one exception, a Jeep Wrangler. In my experience, the jeep wrangler, offroad, feels like bliss. The only way to have an honest and good opinion on a jeep wrangler is to have seriously driven one. So all you haters, go out and give a wrangler all you got, and come back to me when your loving it, because no doubt you will be loving it.
I cant say I would choose a Wrangler over a Defender, becuase i have never driven one, but i can say, the defender is going to have to reach the high bar for me to think about it on equal terms.
man... i wish i still had it...