Land Rover Defender V8 | Cars to be thankful for

The Defender is the last hurrah for the supercharged V8. What's not to love?

By Nic Cackett / Saturday, 2 August 2025 / Loading comments

Important from the outset to acknowledge that we’re celebrating two things here. One is the current Land Rover Defender, a triumph by any international measure - but from a British manufacturer (where success often seems to be relative) a veritable sensation, both critically and commercially. The other thing, much older and even gnarlier, is the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 powering it. We are grateful for both, of course - and tremendously happy that the latter can still be bought in the former - but the Defender is only partway through its lifecycle, so we can continue being thankful for that for years to come. The V8, however, is tapering as it nears the end of the tunnel. It has well earned a final salute all of its own.

Both owe their existence and configuration to broader legacies. Assuming the 5.0-litre unit makes it to next year, the long-running AJ-V8, in all its forms, will have been around for 30 years - a heritage that stretches back to the naturally aspirated 4.0-litre engine first installed in the Jaguar XJ and XK8. The shadow that loomed over the Defender was considerably longer, encompassing not just three decades of 90 and 110 production, but also the heart and soul of the Series models that Land Rover likes to lump on top. Little wonder the firm had previously baulked at replacing a model so intrinsic to its origin story. Some at the time counselled a model in the Mercedes G-Class mould, highly exclusive and quasi-rugged. But Land Rover needed volume.

Easy to forget, five years on from its launch, just how challenging the car's introduction proved to be. Apprehension is always to be expected, but off-road virtuosity aside, Land Rover had tweaked the formula (and the model’s positioning) so comprehensively that there was absolutely no guarantee of a favourable reception, even when it seemed convinced that it was onto a winner. Moreover, the L663 landed almost in the same week as Covid-19 restrictions (the hastily arranged UK launch was notable for illicit handshakes and clumsy attempts at distancing). So there was that colossal, supply-knackering mess to overcome, too. Yet somehow the Defender seemed preordained for success; as well suited to the moment as an mRNA vaccine and very nearly as popular with the chattering classes.

It helped that it drove convincingly well and in a way that harmonised brilliantly with its thickset styling. The Defender was intended to be more of a driver’s car than the unashamedly benign Discovery, although Land Rover initially stopped short of offering it with the V8. Craftily, the manufacturer had chosen to pair a naturally aspirated version of the engine with the previous Defender first, revealing the extraordinarily pricey Classic Works V8 in 2018 - after it had pre-sold the lot. Though it hardly needed a barometer of just how appealing an eight-cylinder L663 might be to some, the limited edition restomod went a long way to confirming it. By the time Land Rover officially canned the Discovery SVX a year later (a concept nominally powered by the 5.0-litre unit), it was clear to all which model had been deigned worthy of supercharging.

The distinction was important not just because it suggested which model was better suited to a petrol-chugging flagship, but also because it meant the Defender was being primed as the likely final resting place for the largest version of the AJ-V8, the engine that since 2009 JLR had been using to spice up everything from XF to Velar. Work on the 5.0-litre motor had kicked off under Ford’s watch - and was built in its Bridgend factory for the majority of its lifetime - but much of the development work occurred in-house, with Jaguar adamant that its larger, technically superior V8 should easily eclipse any memory of the 4.2-litre unit that preceded it. Its initial appearance in the XFR, arguably the masterpiece that Jaguar spent the next 15 years failing to live up to, laid the foundation for its enviable reputation.

It evolved over time, certainly, as JLR sourced more power even as the regulatory noose started to close around it. The V8 delivered 600hp in the SV Project 8, and was comically loud in various iterations of F-Type, not to mention the original Range Rover Sport SVR. But the blueprint remained the same: courtesy of its twin-vortex supercharger, so often a point of differentiation in a mostly turbocharged world, the V8 promised not just better throttle response, but also a depth of character that managed to encompass genuine refinement at one end and outright raucousness at the other. Quick to rev and seemingly never constrained by forced induction, it managed the tricky job of not just seeming at home in a rear-drive, hard-charging sports car, but also a two-and-a-half tonne luxury SUV. There is no doubt whatsoever that its continuing presence influenced thousands of buying decisions.

Accordingly, when it finally arrived in the Defender in 2021, it was no surprise that the combination proved compelling. In fact, in the blustery wake of the SVR, some were more taken aback by how understated the car seemed, Land Rover choosing to blend the V8’s performance into the existing (and much-admired) handling dynamic rather than tying the air-sprung chassis down. Of course, we now know what we could only guess at back then: that all the trick hardware was being saved for the hydraulically interlinked dampers of the OCTA, a model which is clearly a real-world version of the SVX in all but name. That car is meant to drive like a well-appointed Baja 1000 entrant. The Defender V8, as we said at the time, is more like a supercharged grizzly bear.

It speaks volumes that some of the engineers responsible for the OCTA, when questioned about the decision to go with BMW’s mild-hybrid 4.4-litre turbocharged V8, conceded that the newer engine could not rival the AJ-V8 for rousing personality, despite its obvious advantage in output. Revisiting the Defender last month, even with the engine significantly quieter than it once was, it is the old-fashioned, up-and-at-‘em attitude - about as distant from electrification as a steam train is from magnetic levitation - that separates the experience from virtually every other SUV currently boasting more than 500hp. Even in the more spritely 90, it feels about as well prepared for a lap of the Nordschleife as your mother-in-law would be - which, for once, ranks as a compliment. Drive it virtually anywhere else, but especially to a nice country pub at the end of a mazy B road, and you’ll convince yourself that all is well with the nation.

Granted, the same journey in a lithe and devilishly attractive Jaguar might have ultimately exceeded it on the feel-good-o-meter, but this is about being thankful for the cars we have, not remorseful for those we don’t. There’s also something to be said for giving the big V8 a serious kerbweight to push against - in the F-Type there was a limit to how often you could floor it in good conscience; in the Defender, where 5.2 seconds to 62mph is the best you can possibly hope for, you can downshift almost to your heart’s content. Or for as long as the prospect of single-figure economy figures doesn't scare the bejesus out of you. But there’s always the phenomenally good D350 if that’s a concern. The V8 version, palpably close to the end now, belies such considerations for a basic truth: it’s Land Rover’s best engine, in its best car. If you’ve ever been tempted, now is absolutely the time.

SPECIFICATION | LAND ROVER DEFENDER 90 V8

Engine: 5,000cc, V8, supercharged
Transmission: 8-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 525@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 461@2,500-5,500rpm
0-62mph: 5.2 seconds
Top speed: 149mph
Weight: 2,546kg (unladen)
MPG: 19.9
CO2: 321g/km
Price: £114,325