The Land Rover Defender range will soon be expanded with the longer 130 variant which has been spied again, this time in V8-powered guise. Despite its massive length, a camouflaged prototype of the performance-focused SUV was caught testing at the Nürburgring showing its faster bits. The prototype is covered in black and white camo but we can see most of the design features signifying the presence of a V8 under the bonnet. Those include the 22-inch five-spoke wheels finished in Satin Dark Grey, the tinted headlights, and the quad exhaust pipes sticking out from underneath the rear bumper.
The Defender 130 is expected to measure
5,100 mm which would make it 342 mm longer than
the Defender 110 and a massive 777 mm longer than the Defender
90. The extra length is visible to the naked eye in the stretched rear overhang
that makes the Defender look like an off-road school bus. This will result in a
full-size three-row cabin layout and plenty of room for luggage.
From the current Defender V8 range (90 and
110) that was introduced in 2021, we already know the specifications of the
mighty engine. The supercharged 5.0-liter V8 produces 518 hp and 846 Nm of torque, sending power to all four wheels through an
eight-speed automatic gearbox. The model comes standard with the Electronic
Active Rear Differential, while featuring a stiffer setup for the active
suspension, larger anti-roll bars, a Yaw Controller system, and an extra
Dynamic program in the Terrain Response Selector.
The Land Rover Defender 130 – first hinted
at during a presentation back in 2019 – was supposed to join the three-door 90
and the five-door 110 a lot earlier, but its debut was postponed due to the
pandemic. Last year, Land Rover CFO Adrian Mardell revealed that the Defender
130 would arrive by August 2022 during a call with investors. This sounds
plausible judging from the nearly production-ready look of the latest
prototypes.
