After nearly seven decades of continuous production, the Land Rover sadly ran its course with more than two million units delivered in pretty much every corner of the world. All of them are body-on-frame vehicles, which is why not many Land Rover enthusiasts have been kind to the new Defender when it became obvious that it’s rocking a unibody.
It's easy to dismiss the L663 for this very reason, but on the other hand, the British automaker knew very well that going unibody would make the Defender more appealing to a greater audience. A devoted enthusiast may dismiss Land Rover’s decision to build the L663 in Slovakia rather than at the Solihull factory in the United Kingdom, yet it’s merely the grumble of someone who’s out of touch with the realities of a global economy.
The Defender is anything but out of touch once you glance over the specs and options list. From the two-door 90 to the family-sized 110 and even larger 130, pretty much any kind of customer is catered for. Land Rover sweetens the deal with a selection of four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines, including mild- and plug-in hybrids for the more eco-conscious customers.
Although yours truly is kidding himself because purchasing a Defender is anything but an eco-conscious decision in this SUV-driven day and age.
Excessive would be the best word to describe the range-topping V8 that Land Rover dubs P525 after the British word for gasoline and the horsepower rating in the metric system. The pictured Defender puts out a more-than-adequate 518 horsepower and 461 pound-feet (625 Nm) of torque on full song, and in perfect conditions, 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) should be possible in approximately five seconds.
“That’s not quick enough,” you may be thinking to yourself. But you are right, and there’s an explanation for the less-than-impressive acceleration: curb weight. Tipping the scales at 5,735 pounds (2,601 kilograms), the black-painted example in the featured clip is 401 pounds (182 kilograms) heavier than the HEMI-engined Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat.
But the question is, how big of a gap there is between these two at the end of the quarter mile? The answer to that question is only a play button away.
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. Full profile
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