The new Land Rover Defender is a great machine. It’s priced well, can go anywhere, and manages to blend its heritage appeal with modern styling and interior tech. I truly enjoy the time I’ve spend driving one and have honestly played the money game in my head to figure out how to own one. Before today, the choice of which to get was easy for me personally; I’d like a Defender 110 P400 with the 395 horsepower inline-6. That has now changed. Land Rover is adding a V8 version to the Defender lineup, and it’s available on both the 90 and 110 body styles.
The 2022 Land Rover Defender V8 is fitted with a 5.0-liter supercharged eight-cylinder mill cranking out 518 hp and 461 lb-ft of torque. That’s good for a 4.9 second 0-60 dash in the Defender 90 V8. These trucks also get larger anti-roll bars, an active rear differential with a yaw controller feature, and revised tuning to the Terrain Response 2 system. These V8 models wear large 15″ front brakes with blue calipers, feature quad exhaust outlets, and also utilize 22″ wheels. That last bit is a shame because the last time I took a Land Rover product off-road and it was wearing 22″ wheels, it did not end well. I know you need to clear those brakes, but I’d find the smallest diameter wheel capable of doing so and then adding chunky rubber around it. These Defender V8s have a beefy engine, let’s give them beefy wheels to boot.
Oddly, Land Rover is locking in the color choices on these trucks as well. If you want the V8 you can only choose to have it painted in Grey, White, or Black. That’s insanely boring on their part. Especially when the four and six-cylinder models have some wonderful paint options.
There’s no word yet on the price point for these, but an I6 Defender tops out around $80k before adding in options. It can easily jump to right about $100k if you check every box. That said, I wouldn’t be shocked if the D90 V8 starts around $90k and the D110 V8 is just about $100k to start. Either way, these things will likely be a roaring, ripping good time… tire-ripping too until you upgrade the rubber bits.
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