Pitch perfect
FOR Commendably silly, masses of V8 character
AGAINST Pricey, mpg figures in the mid-teens
The new Defender’s programme director Stuart Frith recently told TG that a V8 wasn’t in the product plan when the project began eight years ago, but the team built a couple of mules early on and in the end it was just too good an opportunity to miss. And boy are we glad of that.
Officially this is badged the P525. You’ll recognise the engine – it’s JLR’s familiar supercharged 5.0-litre unit that makes 518bhp and 461lb ft of torque here. That power is sent to all four wheels and means that the longwheelbase 110 can do 0–62mph in 5.4 seconds.
LR has toughened up the Defender’s chassis to cope with the extra grunt – and weight
– of the V8. That means larger diameter anti-roll bars, stiffer suspension bushes and bespoke spring and damper rates.
There’s also a new electronic active rear diff and a Dynamic mode for the terrain response system that sharpens the throttle response, weights up the steering and livens up what Land Rover calls “continuously variable damping”. This is a good thing. However, the Defender V8 isn’t actually one of JLR’s SVO products, so despite the extra tuning it isn’t supposed to be stiff and hard riding. There’s plenty of heave and pitch under heavy acceleration and braking – call it character.
This version of the Defender is far from elegant, but it turns in well, copes with quick cornering and then blunderbusses its way across any following straight section, while the nose rises up and makes a break for the sky.
The smooth eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox is the same as you’ll find in all other Defenders, although here you get wheel-mounted paddles for manual upand downshifts, and you still get the full range of off-road capabilities.
If you can park the feeling that everyone else on the road – especially those who are scooting around in miniscule-looking hatchbacks – thinks you’re a bit of a pillock, then it’s a fantastic thing to drive.