I just traded in my fully optioned 2021 P400 X-Dynamic HSE in fuji white for a 2023 V8 in Carpathian grey. Took about 5 months from order to delivery in New York. My initial thoughts:

- LOVE the engine and power so far. I love the vehicle, that's why I ordered another one. My gripes. These were things that have changed from my '23 that are annoying:

- The roof rails, not available to order on the v8 when I placed my order, now are. I bought some from PowerfulUK, and will install myself.
- They got cheap with a few things:
- The sunglass holder is gone. WTH. It's been replaced by a shiny piece of plastic. Maddening.
- The seats. I had heated/ cooled leather seats in both cars. The USB ports in the back of the seat are gone now... As are the click and go holders, which are now add-ons to the headrest. Was way better on the car 2 years ago.
- I don't like how they force you to get an alcantara steering wheel with the v8. So far, I really hate it. It's thinner than the leather one, and I really miss the leather feeling vs the suede. Land Rover does not make a leather steering wheel with paddle shifters, so I'm SOL and looking for someone to wrap it now.
- The larger screen is great... Except they don't use all that extra real estate for the reverse camera... What good is a larger screen if the added area is just black...
- Only got 1 key due to chip shortages. NBD, a second one will arrive eventually. The lack of sunglass holder is way more annoying.

Pics! I really do love this so far... Swapping the tires to KO2s and adding the roof rails next week...

 

Nice write up @sna77 . I have floated around the do I want or do I not want for quite a while. You've partially pushed me over the edge. I'll keep my 2022 until perhaps 2032! But along the way, if JLR manufacturing ever gets their heads out of their mufflers and can spec full orders - I'll buy a V8 with all the specs I want. Otherwise I'll live the Defender NAS lifestyle of the 1990's (aka, happy I got one while they lasted).

Enjoy!! It looks awesome.

 

Congrats on the V8, that Carpathian color is beautiful. You don't need to rush on the tire swap, those Wranglers are actually decent and I like them when driving on the beach. Unlike more aggressive tires (KO2's), the Wranglers tend to float on sand and not dig.

I see you are in MA, take it to Unique Car Care in Middleton and have them ceramic coat it. They did our black Defender and it always looks amazing.

Or maybe to AVI in Newton for a $14K Morel sound system. They were installing one in a Defender V8 when I was there last week having Focal speakers installed in my X5. (BMW is having supply issues too so no high end B&W sound system available)

 

FWIW, seat backs of my 2021 vs 23

rear seat comp from 21/23

 

Thanks Paul... I've already delivered the Defender to Sound-in-Motion in Watertown. They had a Defender Urban in there the week before. They've started on the paint prep already for the ceramic coating and am doing a built in Radenso radar detector as well... I'm really debating on swapping out some of the speakers too. The front ones don't sound as nice as they did on my '21... Both had Meridian. Hmmm

 

Eliminating a five dollar sunglasses holder on a 125k truck is insanity. Penny wise pound foolish.

That said, love the build here. My Carpathian Edition with the same 20s and off roads should be here next month.

 

Awesome! I went back and forth between the two, and ultimately decided I wanted glossy paint, and same color hood so stuck with V8 in Carpathian over v* Carpathian edition. LOL. Anything else come on the Carpathian edition vs standard v8? I ordered mine with leather interior.

 

I think it’s just the wrap and two-tone hood. It was supposed to also get blue calipers but they cut that for some reason. Probably the same genius who decided to ditch the sunglasses holder.

Honestly, it will be a surprise what it comes with. JLR window stickers and build sheets seem to be suggestions these days. Killer truck, clown show company.

 

I was told that the blue calipers are done... and they dont have a paint code for them either lol... Anyhow, I actually prefer the black calipers, so I'm OK with it...

I just ordered a Disco5 sunglass holder... Cheap money, who knows, it might fit. I'll update everyone if it works.
https://www.powerfuluk.com/vehicles/...y-5-black.html

 

Beautiful truck! I wouldn’t sweat the small stuff.