Land Rover Defender 130 arrives in the UAE with V8 power

Land Rover has revealed its biggest Defender in the region: meet the Defender 130. The headline figure is that it can seat not four, no five, not six, not seven but EIGHT people. Now this is what we call a proper family car, right?

The basic silhouette of the original Defender has been maintained despite the 130 being 340mm longer at the rear to accommodate a third row of seating. To ensure that all passengers have a similar experience, the Defender 130 gets a second sunroof above the third row along with the standard panoramic sunroof.

The Defender’s full range of exterior accessories and packs are available for the 130 including the Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban packs. For the exterior, the DefenderDefender 130 also gets an optional Extended Bright Pack. Choosing this pack will give Ceres Silver detailing to the Defender's bonnet louvers and side fenders along with all lower body panels finished in Ceres Silver Satin.

The interior is as spacious as it can be with the seats split in 40:20:40 configuration and a small stadium rise provided to second and third row passengers for superior visibility. ISOFIX child seat attachments are available on up to five passenger seats, including the outer seats of the second and third rows, as well as the front passenger seat.

The Defender 130 has a large 11.4-inch Pivi Pro touchscreen as standard. The display is described as “crisp and intuitive” thanks to the curved glass interface. It looks to be very user friendly with its state-of-the-art functionality and simple menu structure. Over the air updates will be provided as and when they come. 

Land Rover has been looking to make its cars safe from viruses and bacteria ever since the COVID pandemic and the Defender 130 gets Cabin Air Purification Plus. The purification system combines nanoeTM X technology for allergen reduction and pathogen removal to significantly reduce odours and viruses. CO2 Management and PM2.5 Cabin Air Filtration also improve the cabin environment by monitoring and adjusting air quality.

The Defender 130 is available with four powertrains including the P300 and P400 mild-hybrid Ingenium six-cylinder petrols, and the D250 and D300 Ingenium six-cylinder diesels. The P300 and P400 will feature a 3.0-litre six-cylinder combined with a 48V Belt-integrated Starter Generator (BiSG) that harvests energy lost under braking and deceleration. The D250 and D300 have a similar setup with the change coming in the fuel.

A bonus powertrain is the supercharged V8 engine in the Outbound model producing 493 horsepower and 610Nm of torque. 0-60mph takes just 5.4 seconds. BRISK.

Despite becoming more family-oriented, the Defender 130 gets loads of off-road goodies and looks to provide great ride quality with Electronic Air Suspension and Intelligent All-Wheel Drive (iAWD) system. The Defender 130 also has a towing capacity of up to 3,000kg. Hitching is made easier with the Electronic Air Suspension controlled via a switch panel inside the tailgate.