The eight-seat Land Rover Defender 130 now gets eight cylinders

The biggest Land Rover Defender is now available with one of JLR’s biggest engines. Eight cylinders, meet eight seats: this is the new V8 Defender 130.

Of course it’s just called ‘Defender’ now, following JLR’s rebadging effort that sees Range Rover, Jaguar, Discovery and Defender speared off into four distinct ‘brands’. While the outside badging has been streamlined, the internals have been embiggened.

So, there’s the familiar 5.0-litre supercharged V8 lurking under that vast bonnet, producing five hundred British horsies and 450 British torques. That propels the vast 4x4 from 0-60mph in 5.4s which could probably pass as ‘inhumane’, but will mostly be categorised via a succession of expletives.

The P500 130 V8 is available in grey or black, features blacked out – ahem, ‘privacy’ – glass, quad-mounted exhausts (!), a sliding panoramic roof, some V8 badging and 22in special alloys. There’s similar sportification inside via suedecloth/leather seats that can be heated and cooled, a suedecloth steering wheel, fancy headlining and a Meridian sound system.

It’s now the top engine variant across the 130 range that includes the six-cylinder petrol and diesel units, and as such commands the top price. We’re told the P500 130 starts from £116,845. Big money for a big car with a big V8.

Read TopGear.com's review of the V8-less Defender 130 here