Fast Defenders evoke funny feelings. There’s no way a car of this size and with a stance as upright should be able to accelerate like a supercar, and yet Land Rover has proven otherwise — twice. While the range-topping Defender Octa, powered by a BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, is properly made, there’s another V8-powered Defender you can have. For roughly a crore less. How?
Meet the Defender 5.0 V8. Under its high-set bonnet is a 5.0-litre supercharged V8, an engine that’s been around within the JLR family for well over a decade now and has been offered on the Defender since its inception. Except it’s no longer the P525 (517.8 bhp) but instead the P425 (419.1 bhp). A detuned Defender? Indeed, but wait — this is supposed to make sense.
OLD-SCHOOL COOL
Given that the only other engine options on a Defender 110 are the P300 2.0-litre inline-four petrol and the D350 3.0-litre straight-six diesel (both mild hybrids), the lack of a more engaging petrol engine option posed a problem. The Octa, while unmatchably exciting, happens to be priced at ₹2.41 crore and, therefore, isn’t exactly an accessible alternative. With this P425 engine, the Defender is able to wear a sticker price of between ₹1.47-1.57 crore (all prices ex-showroom). You can’t ignore that kind of saving; it leaves you with enough cash to be able to buy another Defender. Almost!
What the Defender V8 does is offer very exciting performance from an old-school (no turbo or hybrid) engine in an overall package that’s traditional — like a sleeper, you could say — rather than being extrovertedly Dakar Rally-inspired, unlike the Octa. How exciting? For one, it can accelerate from 0 to 100 kph in 5.8 seconds, and it does so with a rather pronounced squat. The engine, being supercharged, sounds fantastic even just at idle. Under heavy acceleration, the sound from its quad exhaust pipes is just so disarmingly evocative!
The P425 V8 has a greater downside, however, and that’s to do with the way it rides. You somehow feel the weight of the engine, which translates to an uncharacteristically firm ride. While there are changes to the chassis and suspension mechanicals in this spec, it simply doesn’t feel as plush as, say, the diesel-engined Trophy Edition (which gets steel wheels).
FIRST-WORLD CRISIS
You’d imagine it’s engineered this way to keep it dynamically at par with its engine performance, but that isn’t the case either. It’s only as agile and taut as any other Defender you can buy without the Octa badge. The 5.0 V8, then, works best only for those of you who live in first-world conditions, I suppose. Oh, and it’s thirsty no matter how hard you try to change its mind.
What it does get you, hypothetically in a WhatsApp group of Defender owners, is bragging rights. While you may almost never need the kind of performance its engine delivers, as crisp and exciting as it may be, that you chose a 5.0-litre V8 does set you apart from the crowd. I suspect this variant might fetch you better resale value, too, on rarity alone.
If you can (somehow) look past all of that, what you get is a very handsome car with an interior you can’t help but love. It’s spacious and practical, effortlessly cool, and, as a bonus, also sounds rather delightful, even if some of your neighbours might frown in disgust. If you asked me in person, I’d convince you to buy a Trophy — that’s just the sweet spot in the Defender range. Or you could make your colleagues work harder so you could buy the Octa instead.
The MotorGram
Published on October 2, 2026
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