£120k Defender V8: Why is it so popular?!

why is a Land Rover Defender so damn popular last year Land Rover sold 110,000 of them worldwide but could this particular version be the very best defender it's the 130 which means it's got eight seats combined with a Supercharged V8 engine we're going to find out I'm my Watson and you're watching carwow I have to say the Land Rover Defender is one of the best looking if not the very best looking SUV on the road today it's just a cool looking bit of design isn't it being the V8 this one gets 22in alloy wheels as standard there you can get some optional no cost option actually 20s if you want to go for more ride comfort you also get the V8 badging now being the 130 you have a slightly larger overhang at the rear for that increased interior space do you know what though I think that the 90 looks the best but then the second best looking version of The Defender is this 130 it kind of works with a longer length I like it I prefer it in the 110 visually now around the back my favorite bit about this particular Land Rover Defender the quad tail pipes I mean just how good does that look no wonder they're so blown and popular they just look great makes you want to own one one of the problems with the Supercharged V8 engine in this car is that the performance really isn't as good as the new 4.4 L BMW Source twin turbo V8 that you get in the Range Rover Sport so in this particular 130 version of The Land Rover Defender V8 not 60 is supposed to take 5.4 seconds 5.4 seconds is reasonably quick it's not very quick is it gear boxing sport off we go good traction sounds great 5.46 so they're not lying that is the performance it delivers slight issue is is that for some reason in the 130 version of this car Land Rover downtune the engine by 25 horsepower compared to what you get in the '90s and because it's heavy as well so 2 and 1/2 tons this not 60 time is slightly slower than in The Defender 90 so that car do n 60 in 4.9 seconds and if they're as accurate with that as they are with this one that's a whole lot half a second difference but the Range Rover Sport with the new BMW engine way quicker I mean it's probably cuz it's got like 600 horsepower right right but the performance figures are proper now if you want to see exactly how quick that car is I'll put a link it's just up there or use the QR code just scan it with your phone you can see exactly how quick that car is the link should take you directly to where I launch it if it doesn't sorry being a land driver Defender this is a proper off-road vehicle so you have a low range gearbox you have a center locking differential a rear locking differential you have an ability to Wade at up to 29 in that's what this is in metric you you also have a load of different automatic settings for driving in various off-road conditions so if I press this button here I can go to a grass and gravel and snow program there's also a mud and rut program there is a sand program there is a rock crawl program there's your waiting program and then you can configure it just as you'd like it also I've got height adjustable air suspension if I press these buttons I can make the suspension rise up oh it's going up and make it go down as well oh yeah oh if you want some shots of some land dver Defenders off-roading here's some now this engine has so much character and we listen to this you get the wine of The Supercharged and the real gruffness of the V8 oh sounds better than turbocharged cars another thing I like about the supercharger is the throttle respond it's just instant there's no turbo lag it's just on it such a glorious glorious engine and it's a shame that it's dying out this is probably the last new car that it will go in this wonderful 5 L V8 with 500 horsepower it actually works really well with this Auto gearbox so when I'm in sports mode and manual shifts up quick I'm just going to go down the gearbox and go again doesn't get old [Music] and I did all that without going over the speed limit listen throttle response oh and it's Madness having this engine in this type of car a big comfy off-roader and yet you got a sports car engine brilliant idea brilliant while we're on the subject of this lovely 5 L Supercharged V8 let's have a listen to it revving while stationary go on then rev It Up oh lovely and then there's this as well supercharger wine a I'm going to miss all this stuff when everything's electric this particular car I've got here cost £17,000 unfortunately well I really like the interior design of the defender look it looks cool doesn't it it's chunky there's like Expos rivets really really kind of utilitarian looking while still being rather Chic and minimalist but some of the materials don't feel like the kind you'd expect to find in a car that costs £17,000 so Plastics here a bit scratchy and here here and down in the low Parts the door like door bins and then there's this the roof lining really £17,000 it should be Alcantara and then there's the sun visor that's it's a bit of a shame I'm not feeling the £7,000 worth of money here in the cabin I'm afraid buying a new or used car then you need to visit carw and we'll help you find your perfect car at a price you'll love just answer a few simple questions about the car you want and our trusted dealers will come back to you with great offers then choose the offer that's right for you and contact the dealer directly through carwow no haggling no fees and on average carow users save over £1,800 but what if you're not sure which car you actually want no problem just watch our insightful video reviews read our impartial expert advice or use our helpful car buying tools to discover your ideal car in no time at all no wonder 95% of customer surveyed said they wouldn't buy a car without car wow I've put a link in the description of this video and the pin comment to take you directly to car wve so you can see for yourself how it can help you or you can just click on the pop out Banner that should be appearing up there there right now alternatively just Google help me carw and my team and I will help you choose your perfect car and get it for a price your love now on with the video there are a few things that do my head in a little bit about the Driving Experience on this I'm going to show you now the Turning circle is 12.8 M it's a long old vehicle but it doesn't have rear wheel steering like the long wheelbase version of the Range Rover that a turning circle of Under 12 M thanks to its rear wheel steering as a result you might find yourself doing some three-point turns in this that you wouldn't have to do if you had the long wheel base Range Rover why they fit it with rear wheel steering maybe they couldn't then there's another thing that's a bit weird about this 130 version of The Land Rover Defender for some reason the towing capacity is 3 tons rather than the 3.5 towing capacity of every other nonhybrid Land Rover product what why that that 500 kg could be key then there's this I've just been driving in sports mode however when I want to go back into Comfort to slacken off the suspension a little bit I have to look down here press that button well there's a car coming don't want to do it now look down now and then twiddle the knobby to get into the normal mode twiddle no it didn't do it oh a come on your bugger I'm going to just press the button instead there that is not ideal why can't I just have a button on the steering wheel what's more I'd quite like this Snappy throttle response of the dynamic mode but the slightly softer suspension of the Comfort mode together yeah with this Land Rover I cannot configure my own driving mode so I can set it up just like I want it Land Rover has decided for me now you do get the option on a BMW X7 and if you want to see my fall in- dep video review of that car just click on the pop out Banner appearing in the top right hand corner of the screen or if you're watching on smart TV just scan the QR code now right it take you directly there oh and while I'm having a bit of winge about the drive let's talk about the economy supposed to do about 19 and 1 12 MPG which isn't great to start with on a cruise I managed 18 m per gallon however now I've been giving it a little bit of stick dropped to 16.6 and if I continue to give it some stick it'll probably drop some more oh yeah big fuel bills very big that is gone 6.5 dear the great thing about the land driver Defender 130 is that as well as having it as a five-seater you can have it as an 8 seater want to show you this I can slide and I can recline the middle of row got in a very good position here lots of knee room lots of head room but as you can see it's a three seater across this Center so let's just try out with three people in the middle row so James would you mind getting in and Louis if you pass me the camera I'll just flip it around hello everybody it's all right isn't it and KN room is pretty good for everyone even taller than average Louis there we go lovely leou anyway right that's not all I want to show you so I'm going to hand the camera back to lisis the rear most row isn't like many other large SUVs you see you don't just have two seats in the very back have a look at this there is in fact three seats first thing I want to check though is what it's like for an adult here in the back so come on James sit back into this seat put it all the way back get yourself nice and comfortable it's on average height so 179 cm look knee room is fine head room is good the seat isn't too close to the floor so I don't feel like my knees are up around my ears this is actually pretty good but let's check it out in three seater mode admittedly this is really the kids back here but let's give it a go anyhow so L if you give me the camera again I'll just flip it around everybody in there we go Louis is in let's get James in here P the seat back can't all struggling there there we go got the seats back right now this is interesting so I'm fine here in the Middle with my short legs and leis is I'm touching Lou's knee here has got enough knee room so has James but there is a problem isn't the L have you got a problem yeah there is the whe well so if I look down there oh that a that gets in the way of your feet doesn't it which I think is a bit of a shame because actually in terms of like shoulder space it's not bad but I'm sure we can all agree that for three kids back here with you know smaller feet and stuff like that they're going to be fine also what's really interesting is that you have an isopix point on the outit two rumo seats on the edge two middle seats and there's also one on the front passenger seat it's really really family friendly this car I'm quite enjoying sitting here it's cold there I'm just absorbing your body heat guys let's move on Land Rover has updated the entertainment system in the defender but it still isn't the best look it's quite laggy it's not slick when you're swiping through stuff come on there we go yes there's always a bit of a weight it's just not smooth then if you look at the digital dials once again same thing if I start swiping through stuff there's just something a little bit like GH about it okay come on oh yeah press the button and it just doesn't move in a very slick or sophisticated way let's try changing some of the layout display layout there we go look it's just not the smoothest is it one of the things that really blows me away about this car is that while he sit up high in a big comfy off-roader that has air suspension and feels really quite smooth as you drive down the road surprisingly it handles really well it's not a sports car but you can have some fun in it because the steering is pretty accurate and the body stays nice and level through the bends it does help that you got this Alcantara steering wheel because if your hands are touching Alcantara instantly whatever vehicle you're in feels sportier but it is absolutely surprising how this big Land Rover goes down the road I mean look at this I'm just chucking it into some bends and it's gripping and going around have they done it how it's utter witchcraft well done to the engineers who developed the drive on this car well [Music] [Applause] [Music] done so then what's my overall verdict is it easier to see why the land rver Defender is so popular well yes I think it is it's a really good car that's super desirable but is this 130 V8 The Very Best of The Defenders well I'm sure you can make your own mind up but if you want to know what I think I'm going to do something a little bit cheeky now don't hate me for this but if you want to see what my favorite Land Rover Defender is I've configured it using the car configurator so if you click on the pop out Banner appearing in the top right hand corner of the screen or use your phone to follow the QR code appearing on the screen now you can find out what my favorite land dver Defender is and they're saving on it through carwow anyway I hope you enjoyed the video if you did give it a like if you want to watch some more videos click on the video Windows see you next time

Channel: carwow

Views: 982,666

Keywords: carwow, mat watson, car review, new car review, car review 2024, new car 2024, defender, land rover, land rover defender, land rover defender 130, new defender, new land rover, new land rover defender, new land rover defender 130, land rover defender review, land rover defender 130 review, defender 130 review, defender 130 review 2024, 8-seat car, 8-seat defender, 8-seater car, 8-seater defender, defender 130, new defender review, land rover review

Id: 1z6b2oxstOI

Length: 14min 27sec (867 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 08 2024