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2021 Land Rover Defender V8 Engine Option Spied Fine-Tuning at the Nurburgring

For decades, the Series and Defender have defined Land Rover more than any other SUV in the lineup. But with the introduction of the Freelander in 1997 sporting a monocoque structure and a transverse engine layout, the British marque started to change into something else.
2021 Land Rover Defender V8 test mule 34 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
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For better or worse, this change has also affected the Defender. The body-on-frame architecture is gone, replaced by the D7x platform with air suspension on all four corners in the case of the 110. Speaking of the roomier body style, take a look at this black-painted prototype.

Building on the legacy of the Works V8 special edition, the Defender V8 for 2021 is currently trialed on the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the twisties and on the blacktop instead of somewhere with more rocks, mud, and slopes. Make no mistake about it; the Defender is a different animal from before, a luxurious off-roader with a lot of mass-market appeal.

Spied with red brake calipers and a quad-tipped exhaust system, the V8-powered model relies on the 5.0-liter engine from Jaguar Land Rover instead of the long-rumored blunderbuss from BMW. The AJ133 engine has also been fitted to prototypes of the next-gen Range Rover, and chances are a supercharger is on the menu for both models as well.

In the case of the RR for the 2020 model year, the blown V8 cranks out 565 ponies and 700 Nm (516 pound-feet) of torque to the tune of a deep and savagely glorious burble. An eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF Friedrichshafen is the only choice available, and with a bit of luck, the Defender may shoot to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) in 5 seconds flat.

Somewhat curious for a fine-tuning test at the Green Hell, the prototype in the photo gallery is wearing Continental CrossContact rubber shoes that can only be described as a compromise. The tread pattern is for all-terrain driving, meaning that on- and off-road performance won’t be superlative unless you switch the standard tires to P-Zeros or T/A KO2s.

As much excitement as a V8 may bring to the Defender lineup for 2021, it’s hard to ignore how the iconic model turned into a Chelsea Truck of sorts instead of staying true to its storied predecessors.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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