Trundle anywhere in the 2023 Land Rover Defender V-8.
My mind reeled when a Santorini black Land Rover Defender 110 V8 rumbled into my driveway.This modern Defender would look unrecognizable to Land Rover oldheads. Save a few exterior styling elements like the rounded DRLs, tail light stacks, and the general toaster-oven shape of the thing, this new Defender looks nothing like the old one, that frumpy English farmer with wheels.
Modern unibody SUVs like the Defender have become scary good—not so much at hiding their considerable mass—but at corralling it in a way that still encourages you to drive the thing in anger. The BMW X5 M and Porsche Cayenne have been doing it for years. While this V-8 Defender isn’t aimed so squarely at performance figures as those two Übertrucks, it doesn’t lack for composure, and surpasses its German contemporaries for charisma.A lot of that has to do with the soundtrack.
The brakes were similarly confounding to operate, providing less initial braking force than I asked the pedal for up front, then clamping quickly once a percentage of pedal's travel had been consumed. In stop-and-go interstate traffic, I often felt in danger of rear-ending the car in front of me while reining in the 6100-pound Defender. Even at crawling speeds, when you’d expect a very light application of brake pedal to slow the truck to a complete stop, the Defender just keeps on rolling.
However, the cabin’s stellar sightlines are compromised by the Defender’s narrow-but-tall side mirrors, which never quite allow you the perfect view for a lane change. When you turn your head to check the truck’s blind spot, you’ll instead look straight at a solid panel just aft of the second row of passenger windows.
That’s all to say, the utility, functionality, and versatility of the Defender’s rear cargo area hit a high point. I have no need for a third row in my life, so this arrangement would suit me just fine. But Land Rover will sell you a longer, three-row Defender called the 130 if you’d like.
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