Either way, you can rest your phone in the cavernous center console in front of the refrigerated console box or the dashboard shelf, whose upper and lower edges double as off-road grab handles. But it’s nice when manufacturers give you the choice. The included wireless or wired CarPlay and Android Auto are infallible, not that the standard infotainment system is hard to use. The Meridian sound system is always prepared to play “Real Big” on full blast and exercise the commendable solidity of the interior build quality and materials. Its beastly engine dons a tux and hums along smoothly, eager to provide ample passing power at any speed, bolstered by a (mostly) brilliant eight-speed, which only had a couple hiccups with sudden throttle stabs in Eco mode. The V8 Defender’s “F*** it, we ball” mentality towards trailblazing and global oil depletion bleeds into its nine-to-five demeanor. If you choose the big-baller Defender with the big-baller engine, you know exactly what you’re in for. I averaged 17 miles per gallon with 60% highway cruising. If you care, gas mileage is 14 city, 19 highway, and 16 combined. ![]() So as an adventure rig, the V8 Defender is certainly true to its roots, if a bit complicated, heavily reliant on tech, and a single option box away from a proper setup. Thankfully, a downsized wheel package with all-terrains is available for $350. Rocking a sporty set of sleek five-spokes wrapped in Continental CrossContact all-seasons, I wouldn’t exactly trust this setup in anything particularly deep or slick, but it’ll dispatch fire roads and sand-covered beach parking lots A-OK. Perhaps the only thing stopping the Defender 110 V8 from being a perfect candidate for an overlanding rig is its 22-inch wheel setup. That buys you adaptive and height-adjustable air suspension, locking diffs, and Jaguar-Land Rover’s ever-so-clever Terrain Response 2 system and its specially tailored drive modes. For example, my “base” tester, with an as-tested price under $110,000 – the equivalent 2024 will sticker for a smidge under $113,000 – hardly left anything on the table save for some off-road accessory packages and an off-road wheel package. You already know what this thing can do, and it does it well.Īs the flagship, all of the Defender 110 V8’s come loaded with adventure-ready tech goodies that would otherwise be option boxes on lesser trims. Given I was in LA for less than three days, primarily for the We Are Porsche exhibit at The Petersen, taking on a press car was a bit of an afterthought, and I simply didn’t have time to get stuck in a mud pit or sail off the dunes at Pismo. ![]() So how much of that classic Defender DNA is really there? And has the sporty V8 treatment, introduced for the previous model year, done anything meaningful for the formula?įirst things first when discussing any Defender: yes, this thing can haul ass off-road and perform gnarly feats that’d have Wrangler folks blush. With a $107,700 base price and upcoming 2024 models to start at $111,300, you’d hope for some substance behind that nameplate. The reborn Land Rover Defender is an endearing SUV and a modern-retro take on an old fan favorite, but its attempts to pay homage raise a couple questions. ![]() What you need a whole lot of is the 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V8. ![]() You need something sporty for your backroad jaunts bundled with capability and versatility for shuttling the kids to school and the goons to the jungle lair. After all, you’re a busy person with all that business or whatever Bond villains do besides collecting designer apparel, terrorism, or purchasing island real estate. You there! Fancy a new SUV and need it as well-rounded as possible? Right, of course.
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