Land Rover has updated its Defender 4×4 with a new trim, a new bodykit, some new paint options… and cut a whopping 93bhp out of its all-singing, all-conquering V8 OCTA. Wait, what now?
Buried at the bottom of an information dump focusing on the ‘Vertex’ – we’ll get back to that shortly – is the news that the 4.4-litre BMW V8 has been “updated”… by slashing its previous output down from 626bhp to 533bhp. Land Rover said the car’s been pegged back in order to comply with Euro 6e EB regulations.
So it’s a little slower to 60mph… by four tenths (was 3.8s, is now 4.2s). Still, torque remains the same – 553lb ft – it’s now available in a delightful green (pictured above), and we’re told this ‘updated’ V8 “features a more characterful and deeper exhaust noise to give a truer V8 sound”.
Anyway, there’s also the option of a 380bhp petrol straight-six (the ‘P380’) mild hybrid too, said to feature “new technologies to improve real-world fuel economy”. This P380 is available on all Defender variants – from the 90 right up to the monster 130 – including that aforementioned new ‘Vertex’ spec.
