Land Rover Defender 130 - long-term review

To be a member of the Top Gear Garage is to wear many hats. Even the born-to-be muddy Defender 130 refuses to be pigeonholed, variously flipping between commuter tool, off-road support truck (more on that little adventure soon), school shuttle and furniture hauler… but recently it achieved an honour few lifers ever get to experience… video crew chase car.

Did it get lucky that there was nothing lower, lither and more suitable available on that day at Dunsfold? Absolutely, but if you get your shot, goddamnit you take it. I refer you to the photo above of a near three-tonne shipping container cornering on its door handles as it attempts to chase the McMurtry Spéirling (aka one of the fastest cars in the history of the universe) through Hammerhead.

Note also the video rig suckered to the front bumper… and probably quite a few tilted shots of the Spéirling wanging off into the distance, suckered to the track, in the Stig Laps film coming to YouTube very soon.

Clearly, the Defender got the nod for its meaty 493bhp supercharged V8 (which gave it half a chance of sticking with the McMurtry on the straights) not for its body control, which if we’re honest isn’t great. Length, weight and ride height – all things that the 130 has in spades to offer a commanding view ahead, supple ride and to conquer most things off-road – are the enemies of dart like reactions, as our little science experiment demonstrated.

However, the joy of driving something in a completely inappropriate manner, will never be anything short of bloody hilarious. Just keeping all four wheels on the airfield felt like a sizeable victory, and once you’ve wiped away the tears of laughter you do learn something new and valuable about the car – the Defender 130 V8 is definitely a slow-in, slightly-less-slow-out kind of car.

If we’re honest it’s a curious combo, ordering the biggest Defender with JLR’s biggest engine – more status than necessity. The sheer mass of the Defender, and the slightly ponderous auto box, mean it takes a while to gird its loins and fire itself forwards, supercharger whining, V8 bellowing. I’ve taken to driving it with the gearbox in sport mode, everywhere, just to give a crisper downshift response when you step on it. Yes, I could use the paddles, but in a Defender, that just feel wrong, it’s not a sports car and shouldn’t be, er, used like one.