LAND ROVER DEFENDER 90 V8 – SPECS

20” wheels)

Fuel use: 12.8 l/100km (claimed)

Boot capacity: 297 - 1263 litres Towing capacity: 3500kg (braked) Ground clearance: 225 (291 with air suspension)

Warranty: 5-year/100 000km Maintenance plan: 5-year/100 000km

it handles unlike any other SUV no matter what the speed.

The Terrain Response 2 has an additional Dynamic programme that tightens throttle response, suspension and a few other assists to provide, well… a more dynamic ride. You have to be a bit bonkers to push all of this to the limit, but I have no doubt that somewhere out there there’s a person doing exactly that.

While on a very early morning drive on the highway a typically aggressive Gauteng motorist in an expensive German SUV flashed his lights at me to move across. I was going slightly above the speed limit (the V8 Defender does that) so I pressed the accelerator to the floor, easily leaving him behind to explain to his friends how a Defender managed to outrun him.

Driving like that doesn’t do consumption any good but when you’re forking out that type of money I doubt the price of petrol or how much you use is on your list of concerns.

It has all the off-road goodies that you would find in a “normal” Defender which means it’s highly capable off the black stuff but somehow I can’t imagine seeing one on a trail any time soon.

For that they have a new Defender parked at home and perhaps even a kitted old clunky manual 90 or 110.