Land Rover Defender SVR with 600bhp and BMW V8 on the way, says report

According to reports, a Land Rover Defender SVR with 600bhp from a BMW V8 engine is on the way as a properly ‘sporty’ Defender.

Just last week we reported that the Land Rover Defender is now outselling every other car in JLR’s lineup, except the Range Rover Evoque, as buyers flock to the ‘new’ Defender, with Land Rover sitting on an order bank for the Defender of some 30,000 too.

And we can expect more sales success from the Defender as the newer variants – like the Defender PHEV and Defender V8 – start to arrive in greater numbers once the chip shortage resolves, and there’s still the long versions of the Defender to come with the 130 arriving to sit above the 90 and 110.

Now it seems – according to a report from Motor Trend – Land Rover is busy working on a new range-topping performance Defender to sit above the Defender V8, with a BMW V8 good for 600bhp and badged Land Rover Defender SVR.

Apparently, this new ‘hot’ Defender will use the BMW V8 Land Rover will use in the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, tuned to 600bhp, rather than the old 5.0-litre Supercharged V8 in the Defender V8, together with retuned suspension, sportier looks and, no doubt, a chunky price tag.

It seems almost incongruous to build a Defender SVR, but it works for Mercedes and the G63. If the report is right, we can expect to see the Defender SVR in the New Year.