LAND ROVER DEFENDER 130 V8
Eight seats, supercharged V8 engine – is there a more ridiculous car?
Land Rover chose to launch the V8 version of the Defender 130 on one of those very British days where the clouds throw a hissy fit and blanket us mere mortals in curtains of rain. An already soaked Somerset is swimming in brown puddles, police stopping drivers going any further, pumps spewing the stuff out of houses.
You’d think this would be excellent for the Defender, a chance to show just how brilliant it is at coping with extreme conditions. ‘I see you, God, and I raise you river-wading mode!’
Except. Ignoring for the time being the irony of extreme weather while driving around in a 19.6mpg SUV, we’re following a Nissan Note through every single body of water and marvelling at the progress he’s making. These are really deep puddles, the sort to make you wince even in something as capable as a Defender, and Mr Note is calmly, patiently ploughing through.
Which begs the question – do you really need a supercharged Defender that’s capable of carrying eight in splendid comfort while climbing the Eiger?
Maybe not. But the world would be a duller place, if probably dryer, without it.
Land Rover won’t officially comment, but this is almost certainly the last time we’ll see this engine in one of its cars, now the firm has switched to BMW engines for the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. The supercharged V8 is on the run-out and it’ll be a shame when it disappears completely. Not because the raw figures are so impressive – although 493bhp and 450lb ft aren’t to be sniffed at – but more because we’ll miss that muted V8 rumble and hint of supercharger whine.
It’s a lovely old lump, doing something different and injecting a bit of character into the Defender along with quite the dollop of pace. Zero to 62mph in 5.4 seconds in any SUV is hardly hanging around but in a thing that weighs 2.7 tonnes, it’s remarkable.
It does mean you have to drive the car carefully. In the regular diesel Defender, the lazier power delivery suits the car’s languid nature so you don’t often get caught out as you approach a bend. But in the V8, the supercharged thrust propels the car along with so much more fury that you’re very aware that corners need to be approached with caution. Go in too fast and you can feel the yaw movement building, the mass bending into the outer tyres. There is
