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Earlier this month, we saw a five-door, eight-seat Land Rover Defender with a V8 engine tested at the Nurburgring. Today we have another eight-cylinder prototype, although this vehicle is very different from the one we saw on April 5. What you’ll see in the attached gallery below is our first look at the upcoming hardcore version of Defender V8.
Our spy photographer captured a test car on a German track at full speed. You might find this prototype familiar – considering it’s based on the Defender 110 – although there are some design elements that hint at a more powerful version of the Defender. We don’t know the official name yet but we do know it will feature some performance improvements.
13 Photo
Think of it as a potential competitor to the Mercedes-AMG G63. Some of the most noticeable tweaks to the standard Defender 110 include larger wheels and wider wheel arches with added extensions. It’s hard to say whether the suspension has been downgraded on this test vehicle, although it appears the Defender uses the default suspension setup from the V8 version. Also worth noting is the arrangement of the quad exhaust pipes at the rear.
From what we know so far, Land Rover is working on a proper G63 rival, which will be better equipped to go off-road, while also being faster on the pavement. This could easily account for what appears to be a larger ground clearance, which could be combined with a wider track. This modification also required adjustments to the suspension, as the new wheel angles could produce more force to push the two axles.
Little else is known at this time. The standard Defender V8, as opposed to the new Range Rover family, has a supercharged 5.0-liter engine under the hood with a peak output of 525 horsepower (386 kilowatts) and 461 pound-feet (625 Newton-meters) of torque. We don’t know if there will be any performance changes to the eight-cylinder unit, although recent reports suggest the hotter Defender could receive a power boost thanks to a 4.4-liter V8 sourced from BMW.
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