Land Rover Defender 130 received a derated five-liter V8 engine

The British brand Land Rover began producing its legendary model back in 1948, and initially the car was simply called Series I, II, III, and the wheelbase in inches - 88 and 109 - acted as a prefix. Later, in 1983, SUVs were named Land Rover 90, 110 and 130 (here the index also varied from the distance between the axles), and seven years later the models were given the name Defender. The era of "classic" Defenders is already over: the last copy rolled off the assembly line at the beginning of 2016. As a result, the recognizable name was transferred to another model of the brand: sales of the new SUV started in Europe in 2020.

An extended version of the Land Rover Defender 130 debuted at the end of May last year. It is worth noting that the current indices are no longer related to the distance between the axles. So, the Defender 130 has the same wheelbase as the "one hundred and tenth" - 3022 mm (or 119 inches), but the rear overhang is increased by 340 mm. The overall length of the "one hundred and thirtieth" is 5358 mm, and together with a spare wheel located on the tailgate. The maximum clearance is the same - 290 mm, the depth of the ford to be overcome has not changed either - 900 mm.

Land Rover said that the Defender 130 will now be available with a powerful 5.0-liter V8 compressor engine, which was previously offered only to "short" modifications. True, for the elongated Defender, the developers derated this engine to 500 hp. and 610 Nm (for options with indexes 90 and 110, its power is 525 hp, and the maximum torque is 625 Nm). The Land Rover Defender 130 with a 5.0-liter V8 takes 5.7 seconds to accelerate from standstill to “hundreds”.

Previously, the Defender 130 engine lineup included only in-line 3.0-liter V6 engines of the Ingenium family: they work in tandem with a 48-volt starter-generator, there are P300 and P400 petrol options and diesel D250 and D300. All versions are offered with a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and iAWD all-wheel drive system.

The top version of the Land Rover Defender 130 Outbound received not only a V8 engine, but also rich equipment. This model received 20-inch glossy black wheels, 22-inch “rollers” are available for an extra charge. The interior can be trimmed with either genuine leather or durable high-quality fabric, ebony elements are used in the design, bumpers, a radiator grille, as well as side air intakes are designed in anthracite color. The interior is designed exclusively for five, the driver's seat with heating and ventilation has 14 positions, the SUV received four-zone climate control and a Meridian sound system.

Recall that the “regular” Defender 130 has a basic seating formula of 2 + 3 + 3, it is designed for eight riders, however, when ordering, you can refuse the third row of seats. Standard equipment includes heated rear seats, USB-C connectors for recharging gadgets, as well as an additional section of the panoramic roof.

In the home market, in the UK, the price of the new version of the elongated SUV starts at £116,845. Early buyers of the Land Rover Defender 130 V8 are expected to receive their vehicles in the coming months.