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Land Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New Exhaust

In 2018, the Defender came out of retirement to celebrate its 70th anniversary. To celebrate, Land Rover swapped out the small, underpowered diesel engine for a V8. The Defender Works V8 was born, and with 405 hp in a vintage package, it was one of the coolest SUVs ever.
Land Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New Exhaust 12 photos
Photo: SB-Medien
Land Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New ExhaustLand Rover Defender V8 Spied Testing in Europe With New Exhaust
That was only a one-year run, but it's not the end of the story, as the V8-powered Defender is back, this time in a fresh, modern format. The G-Class has already proven that there's a lot of profit to be made with high-dollar SUVs. If we had the money, this Defender would be on our future shopping list.

Our spies stationed in Europe have captured this interesting-looking prototype. At first glance, it looks like any other 5-door model in the series. However, upon closer inspection, you can see a new exhaust system at the back. This has quad tips that are square and point downward.

It's by no means the craziest SUV the Brits have ever made. A couple of years back, they were working on the Discovery SVX, which combined the family-friendly 7-seater crossover body with the 525 horsepower supercharged 5-liter V8 monster of an engine.

While Land Rover was semi-open about a V8 Defender being developed, the type of engine is still a mystery. The early development vehicles were registered with the UK government as having the 5-liter. This engine is pretty old, but has a fantastic character and is honestly a perfect fit for a no-nonsense SUV. You wouldn't want to deal with turbo lag while crawling up a vertical rock wall.

However, Jaguar Land Rover is widely believed to be in talks with BMW, which will eventually land them a 4.4-liter V8. This can offer anywhere from about 450 hp to 617 hp in the case of the M Competition models. That sounds fast!
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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