Weekend Drive by Hormazd Sorabjee: Check out the Land Rover Defender V8

The Land Rover Defender V8 makes the bumpy Mumbai-Mahabaleshwar route feel breezy. It’ll calm you down too

The NH66 is still the fastest, shortest way from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar. It is also the worst highway. Road work drags on interminably, the so-called finished stretches are bumpy and uneven, and the Mangaon choke point can still swallow an hour on a bad day. None of this, it turns out, is a problem if you happen to be in a Land Rover Defender V8.

The Land Rover Defender V8 makes bad roads feel irrelevant.

The Defender has always had a talent for making bad roads feel irrelevant. But with a 426hp 5.0-litre supercharged V8 under the bonnet, it adds a layer of belligerence to that talent. It doesn’t slow down for craters, or flinch at ruts. It simply charges on, the V8 soundtrack nicely permeating the cabin. The sound is not loud or full-throated (noise regulations have taken the edge off once glorious-sounding engines) but thrilling enough to have you not reach for the audio system.

It doesn’t slow down for craters, or flinch at ruts. It simply charges on.

This old-school supercharged V8 feels properly special. Floor it from a standstill and it lunges forward with surprising conviction for something this large and heavy. Land Rover claims 0-100kph in around 5.4 seconds; it feels every bit of that on an open stretch of highway. The ZF eight-speed automatic is a willing partner, swapping gears crisply and responding well to throttle inputs.

On the Mahbi run, the Defender’s character reveals itself in stages. A smooth stretch lulls you into complacency until you suddenly hit a patch of ditches. You flinch when you hit it; the Defender doesn’t. It smashes through without a wobble. This was one of my better drives to the hills.

The car has a 426hp 5.0-litre supercharged V8 under the bonnet.

The cabin reflects its position at the top of the non-Octa Defender range. Fourteen-way, electrically adjustable, heated and cooled front seats, an 11.4-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen that’s one of the cleaner interfaces around, and physical controls that, while welcome in principle, can be confusing in practice, especially the aircon knobs.

The standard all-terrain tyres are a study in contrast: Brilliant on the broken ghat, soaking up any kind of surface; but they rob the car of planted confidence on NH66’s uneven concrete. Body roll through tighter ghat corners is noticeable, though the well-weighted steering keeps you confident. You learn to work with the Defender’s mass rather than against it.

The car has 14-way, electrically adjustable, heated and cooled front seats.

Then there’s the range. Over the entire run of highway, ghat and stop-start Mangaon jam, the Defender returned 6.4kmpl, respectable for a supercharged V8 driven with enthusiasm. It also houses a 90-litre tank, one of the largest in the business, giving a theoretical range nudging 575km. The Mumbai-Mahabaleshwar round trip of roughly 500km? Done on a single fill, with room to spare. Remarkable for a car with this much engine.

It’s hard not to wish the V8 had been paired with the Octa’s wider track and 6D suspension. That would be a different car and cost considerably more. The Defender V8 starts at ₹1.39 crore. It’s equally at home on broken tarmac and half-finished ghats, powered by one of the last great supercharged V8s in the business. On the NH66, it felt worth the money.

From HT Brunch, April 25, 2026

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