Land Rover Defender has lineage of power, capability and luxury
In their most recent commercial, Land Rover touts the Defender as the contender while all the other competitors out there are just pretenders. This sounds a little cutesy, but there's a lot of truth to it as well. The Defender traces roots back to postwar 1940s. So claiming it to be an original is fair. And certainly many “rugged” SUVs on the road today are in fact mimics of the Defender's boxy, sturdy styling.
And this week, I was given a chance to drive the new version of the Defender. My tester this week is the 2026 Defender 110 X-Dynamic SE.
It had been a while since I drove a Land
Rover, but this Defender was just as I remembered, and honestly seems to follow a steady, consistent lineage of success.
On looks, the Defender doesn't try to be subtle, and that's the point. The squared-off body, upright glass, and exposed design cues still scream utility, but the V8 trim
adds menace. Bigger brakes peek through dark wheels, quad exhaust tips announce intent, and the stance is wider and lower than a standard Defender. It looks like it could climb a mountain or flatten the on-ramp getting there and truth be told, it could do either.
The styling and the performance are all part of the Defender's rich heritage and might be why there are so many “pretenders.”
With Land Rover being a luxury, high-end brand,
it needs to walk a fine line between being too rugged and too polite. It's a fine line to walk with this stout, powerful SUV.
Pop the hood and this thing stops pretending to be polite. The 5.0-liter supercharged V8 cranks out 518 horsepower and 461 lb-ft of torque, and it feels every bit as ridiculous as that sounds. Throttle response is immediate, the exhaust note is properly loud, and the eight-speed automatic snaps off shifts with real urgency. For something
this tall and this heavy, the acceleration is borderline absurd. It's still a Defender, but now it hustles like a muscle SUV. And that power alone helps justify the high price tag. Well, that and the luxurious interior.
Inside, Land Rover blends rugged and premium better than almost any other automotive brand. You sit high, the sightlines are excellent, and everything feels built to survive abuse, but wrapped in leather and metal trim. The seats are supportive without being stiff, the infotainment is clean and responsive, and there's enough tech to feel modern without losing the truck-first personality. It's a place you'd happily spend hours, whether that's on the highway or miles from pavement.
A question someone asked me while I was driving the Defender seemed absurd to me. They said, “that thing is boxy and powerful, I bet the gas mileage stinks.” And the answer to that question is, yes. The fuel economy is not good. But you don't buy a supercharged V8 Defender to save fuel. Expect roughly 14 mpg city, 19 mpg highway, and that's if you behave (and why should you behave). My tester had an MSRP that started just below $100,000, but with an optional package and an optional premium package, the final price tag was $110,910. With that, you're paying for heritage, character, capability, power and luxury. All of those traits are nearly impossible to find in one vehicle. That's the Land Rover brand's edge and it's on full display in the Defender.
The 2026 Defender 110 V8 is loud, fast, expensive, and completely unnecessary and that's exactly why it rules. It keeps the Defender's off-road credibility but adds a supercharged punch that turns every drive into an event. It's not efficient, it's not subtle, and it doesn't apologize. If you want one of the most entertaining SUVs you can buy right now, this is it.