Land Rover has slotted a supercharged V8 under the bonnet of its new Defender, creating the fastest version yet of its reinvented off-road icon.
Called simply Land Rover Defender V8, the range-topper is available in short-wheelbase, three-door Defender 90 guise for £98,505, or as a more practical five-door Defender 110 for £101,150. That’s big money, but the V8 still undercuts the Mercedes-AMG G63 by a significant £50k.
The fastest Defender is powered by Jaguar Land Rover’s well-proven 5.0-litre supercharged V8, an engine that’s been fitted to everything from luxurious Range Rovers to racy XKR coupes.
Here it produces 518bhp and 625Nm of torque which sends the Defender 90 to 62mph in 5.2 seconds and to a top speed of 149mph in the Defender 90. The longer, slightly heavier Defender 110 needs 5.4sec.
Keeping that performance in check is a chassis featuring new springs and dampers, thicker anti-roll bars, a recalibrated eight-speed automatic transmission and a new electronically controlled rear differential. The hottest Defender retains its four-wheel drive system, of course, but the traction control system has been reconfigured and Land Rover has equipped it with the kind of torque vectoring technology you find in sports car, to improve agility in the bends. There’s also a new Dynamic mode for Terrain Response system.
To make sure other road users can tell you’re driving the most powerful Defender even when you’re not blowing them into the weeds the V8 gets new 22-inch wheels and quad exhausts. And on the inside you’ll find Ebony Windsor leather trim, V8-branded motifs and chrome gearshift paddles for the automatic ‘box.
Land Rover hasn’t forgotten about its less speedy Defenders, however. Changes for the 2022 model year include the addition of some exterior design packages, and a new touchscreen multimedia system that enables Land Rover to perform over-the-air software updates.
Keyword: Land Rover Defender gets 518bhp V8 power