The new, range-topping Land Rover Defender 130 is going after the Mercedes-AMG G63 with the addition of a snarling supercharged V8 option.
Available to order now, the new Defender 130 V8 uses the same 5.0-litre supercharged unit as the most potent variants of the Land Rover Defender 90 and 110 – albeit detuned slightly to give 493bhp and 450lb ft – and can crack the 0-62mph sprint in just 5.4sec.
It’s marked out from the six-cylinder petrol and diesel 130 variants by its bespoke grey and black paint options, a quad-exit exhaust, bespoke badging and 22in dark grey wheels. It ticks most of the interior option boxes, too, with 14-way heated and cooled front seats, four-zone climate control, a Meridian sound system and a head-up display fitted as standard.
It’s on sale now for £116,845, just edging the 110 V8 as the most expensive version of the Defender. Customer deliveries are expected to get under way in the coming months.
JLR would not confirm whether the Defender 130 V8 is the last production car to use the venerable ‘AJ’ V8, which was first introduced in 4.0-litre form for the Jaguar XJ8 and XK8 in 1997. Today, the 5.0-litre lump is used only by the range-topping Defender models and the Jaguar F-Type, which is in its final year of production, while the V8 Range Rover cars have swapped to a BMW-derived 4.4-litre item.
Also added to the order books for 2023 is the new Defender 130 ‘Outbound’ edition, which drops the rearmost row of seats to allow “those with active and adventurous lifestyles to pack everything they need to get out and explore” – opening up a whopping 1329-litre boot, which rises to 2516 litres with the middle row folded.
The Outbound gets a purposeful, rugged makeover in line with its go-anywhere billing and is on sale now for £80,390, exclusively with the 296bhp D300 diesel engine.
The Defender 130 brings 340mm of extra length added behind the rear axle, rather than between the wheels as was the case for its predecessor. As a result, it is identical to the mid-sized 110 ahead of the C-pillar. Measuring 5358mm long overall, it is primed to take on the largest luxury SUVs on sale and is actually slightly longer than the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.