Defender V8 First Drive
Mark Dixon tries both the 90 and 110 versions of Land Rover’s £150,000-plus uber-defender
LRM gets a go behind the wheel of the £150,000 400 bhp Defender. Find out what we think
THE DUAL-CARRIAGEWAY is streaming wet after heavy rain as our pair of Defenders pull up at the traffic lights: black 110 in front, white 90 following. Alongside, a new Jaguar XF eases to a halt. The road is straight and clear, so when the lights change the temptation is too great to resist. Nail it!
The all-terrain tyres briefly scrabble for grip before the traction control kicks in, and then with a mighty bellow the two Land Rovers launch themselves at the horizon, rev counter needles sweeping The first Works V8 prototypes were past 6000 rpm as their eight-speed auto built way back in 2014 and, since then, boxes seamlessly keep their V8s’ massive roughly seven have been subjected to the torque and power fed to the tarmac. kind of abuse (including crash testing) The Jaguar, which had doubtless been that any new Land Rover product has to expecting an easy kill, has rapidly endure before it’s signed off for dwindled to a spec in the Defenders’ production. Two Works V8s were driven rear-view mirrors. to Morocco for hot-weather testing, for
Childish? Undoubtedly. Fun? You bet. example, towing three-tonne trailers. It’s hard to imagine that 400 bhp and So what do you get for your 150 grand? 380 lb ft would ever cease to amuse. The The base vehicle will be a late-model sensation of feeling the rear end squat Defender that’s been completely stripped down during take-off is a completely and re-engineered to take a naturallynovel one to a Defender driver. aspirated AJ133 petrol V8, coupled to the
But there’s much more to the Works V8 eight-speed auto box used in the Range than sheer speed. In fact, says Land Rover Sport. There are custom propshafts Rover, performance wasn’t the be-and(featuring CV joints rather than UJS), end-all here. The intention was to create heavy-duty four-pin diffs and massive the most civilised and refined Defender disc brakes, evolved from those specced that the company has ever offered. There for armoured Defenders. are plenty of aftermarket outfits who will The first thing that strikes you as you build you a quick Defender for less than hoik yourself into the cabin is how the headline-grabbing £150,000 price of refreshingly free from bling it is. While a Works V8 90. But they won’t have been everything is swathed in leather, it’s all subject to the rigorous testing and nicely understated. The same is true of development hoops that Land Rover, as the Recaro seats, which aren’t too an original-equipment manufacturer, has uncomfortable for people who are less to jump through, and nor will they svelte than a racing snake. incorporate electronic driver aids such as The V8 fires up with a muted roar; DSC and ETC – which, as our wet-road it lacks the bass notes of an old-school standing start has just proved, are a huge muscle car but sounds meaty and throttle springs advantage in harnessing all this power. thrilling when you bury the.
With that eight-speed ZF auto keeping things on the boil, 60 mph comes up from rest in just 5.7 sec. Top speed is artificially limited to 106 mph because the 265/65 x 18 BF Goodrich ATS aren’t rated any higher, but that’s probably a good thing: we found the white 90’s steering needed constant small corrections at serious speed on lessthan-perfect tarmac.
The longer 110 feels more directionally stable and, given its greater practicality, it’s worth the £10,000 premium on top of the 90’s £150k. And practicality is relevant here because either Works V8 would make a superb family wagon. Land Rover says it’s the Defender they always wanted to build. They can be justly proud: it really is the best 4x4xfast.