- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
5.0SC, 8 cyl.
- Engine Power
386kW, 625Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 12.7L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4XD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
5 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2021 Land Rover Defender 110 V8 launch review
V8 power suits the Defender predictably well, but brings a very serious pricetag
- Performance
- secure handling
- unstoppable off-road
- Nearly three times the price of the base four-pot
- V8 is feeling its age
- won’t be cheap to run
Pretty much nobody needs a Land Rover Defender V8, but lots of people are going to want it.
The previous range top dog, the X-Dynamic P400, has a turbocharged, 48-volt boosted 3.0-litre straight-six that makes 294kW and gives the long-wheelbase 110 a 6.1-second 0-100km/h time. That’s plentiful performance for something so big and boxy.
But the V8 blows that out of the water. Power comes from a 386kW version of JLR’s long-serving 5.0-litre supercharged V8, this being the engine the company brought in-house when Ford stopped making it last year.
The V8 takes nearly a second out of the 0-100km/h time – dropping to just 5.4-seconds for the Defender 110 on Land Rover’s figures, and 5.2 seconds for the shorter, lighter Defender 90.
Performance is predictably impressive, but the Defender V8 is about much more than just straight-line pace. The supercharged engine is showing its age in several ways.
Accelerator response can feel a little mushy at lower engine speeds, and the Defender’s new Dynamic mode sharpens responses at the top of the throttle pedal too much – also making the eight-speed auto overly keen to shed ratios. But there’s no arguing with the engine’s character or effectiveness.
While quiet at cruising speeds, the V8 makes a muscular rumble when pushed, this turning into a proper snarl at higher revs. It pulls all the way to a 6750rpm limiter and seems to enjoy doing so.
2021 Land Rover Defender 110 V8 | |
Engine configuration | 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8 |
Power and torque | 386kW at 6000rpm, 625Nm at 2000rpm |
Transmission | Eight-speed automatic |
Drive type | Four-wheel drive |
Kerb weight | 2678kg |
Fuel consumption (combined-cycle claim) | 14.7 l/100km (WLTP, combined) |
0-100km/h claim | 5.4-seconds (110) |
Key competitors | Mercedes-AMG G63 |
The Defender V8’s character is more grown-up than the SVO models that use a more aggressive version of the same engine.
The Defender doesn’t make a fusillade of pops and bangs when the throttle is lifted. Nor is there much discernible supercharger whine in the cabin. In part, this is down to both outstanding sound insulation and altered European emissions standards that have brought a gasoline particulate filter. But Land Rover also says it wanted the Defender to feel more mature than its shoutier cousins.
The V8 is the undoubted party piece, but some of the other changes are almost equally impressive. Like lesser Defenders, the V8 comes with a wide range of terrain response modes to deal with differing off-road environments. But unlike them it has gained a second setting for tarmac use, Dynamic joining the regular Comfort.
This tightens the V8’s standard adaptive dampers and gives a more aggressive response to the new electronically controlled limited-slip differential, making the big car feel more lashed down and keener to turn, resisting understeer far better than something with such a big, heavy engine mounted high in the front has any right to.
Ride quality is still impressively plaint in Dynamic, too.
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On lower grip surfaces the V8’s stability safeguards can be slackened off further than any other Defender, even to the extent of allowing power oversteer.
Land Rover laid on a grass field at its Eastnor Castle test site in England to demonstrate this, and the Defender could indeed be persuaded to drift at lower speeds. (A roll-over mitigation algorithm continues to stand guard in the background.)
It’s not a trick that many owners are likely to experience often, if at all, but the fact a 2600kg SUV that’s very nearly two metres tall is impressive evidence of the depth of engineering expertise behind it.
The V8 also has stop to match its go, thanks to huge Brembo brakes with six-pot front callipers (these painted in a snazzy shade of blue) and addressed through a reassuringly solid-feeling pedal. Steering feel is also improved over lesser Defenders, with weightier assistance but also more sensation getting to the helm.
Away from sealed surfaces, it remains as good as any other Defender and better than most. Standard air suspension gives the ability to vary clearance, this increasing by 73mm to 291mm in Off-Road Height mode. Switchable low-range gears help will help in boggy terrain, or when scrambling over rocks, and the combination of auto-locking centre and rear differentials maximises traction in the sticky stuff.
Eastnor’s mud didn’t give any additional chance for the V8 to shine over the four- and six-cylinder versions – this was the sort of British off-roading that takes place at a walking pace. But on quicker surfaces like smooth sand, the extra power promises plenty more fun.
What is lacking is much in the way of visual distinction considering the V8 is set to cost nearly three times as much as the base P300, with a $210,840 starting price before on-road costs and options in Australia for the Defender 90 V8, or $215,800 for the Defender 110 V8.
There are discreet V8 badges on the bottoms of the doors, quad exhaust tailpipes at the back and satin grey 22-inch rims.
Plush cabin trim doesn’t really add much to the utilitarian purpose of the standard car – like the leather that now covers what is a more appealing full-length metal dashboard bar in more basic versions. Buyers wanting more bling have plenty of alternatives to turn to, of course – the Defender V8 carries a very big stick but speaks softly.
Not that the V8 is set for a particularly long life. JLR admits that taking on production of the engine was a stop-gap measure and that even in cleaned-up form the V8 will almost certainly die in 2027 as tighter European emissions standards come in.
But until then, the most powerful factory-built Defender or all time is also high in the running to be the most compelling.
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