Few others than JLR offered a convertible coupe offroad, or even a light-duty two door, off-road vehicle -- both of which were attempted in the RR Evoque, and both of which have been taken off the market, for lack of unit volume.

It will be interesting to see how long the V8 two door defender 90 version stays on the market, as a minimal-utility vehicle. It is possible the V8 two door Defender 90 buyers will have a collector car on their hands?

I loved the old original Bronco and the look of the two doors -- but without the roof removed, jumping in and out of the back seat must have been a pain.

 

I agree, not to mention future variants will likely be hybrid. I believe this is the swan song for the 5.0 V8. I wish they would have had it at the 575hp tune though.

 

I think you missed my point. If I wanted to drive like a bat out of hell on pavement, I’d buy any number of low slung German performance cars or maybe at the most, a performance wagon. To me, it makes no sense to try and turn a top heavy unaerodynamic brick of an SUV into a performance car, but I know there are those that seem to want this. Just bizarre to my mind.

 

To go up against the 4 door GWagon -- ok I get it -- a D110 V8 makes sense. And a D130, of course. I just checked the base price of the non-AMG Gwagon in the U.S. is $132 K ..... whoa!

But, for the Evoque and the Defender, Tata JLR appears to be susceptible to flights of fancy -- the V8 D90; a hidden, wi-fi connected winch in a seriously capable Off-road vehicle, the cloth roof; the whole wi-fi digital thing (that seems to be an industry affliction) -- all come to mind.

I think it is kind of refreshing, actually. And the transmission, engine, 4WD system, Mild hybrid approach, integrated aluminum and steel construction of the Defender have all been proved out -- if not at JLR than at their suppliers. So, all is good.

Now one wonders how many D90 V8s will exist in 20 years and how much they will be worth?

If I had my wish, I would have a zero miles Honda S2000 and convertible Evoque sharing space in a garage somewhere. But, alas, it is not to be.

Enjoy !

 

But it's really not that weird. I have a 911, it's a pain in the but everyday. It's low, pot holes suck, you worry about the interior getting roughed up. Defender is fast enough to give me that rush but way more practical, best of both worlds really.

 

I suppose not.

I would welcome a stock, zero option, zero miles 1972 911T to share the garage with the hypothetical S2000 and Evoque convertible any day . I just love the combo of efficiency and a , simple clean look of all three. Ok, all done -- back to reality.

 

Of course I want a modern car capable of everything....
Higway in Germany, above 150 Mph, Rockcrawler in Rubicon, Poison Spider, Hell's revenge, Sportscar acceleration, cabriolet.. etc.
The perfect all in one still does not exist.

So beside my working Van, I'am perfectly happy with my new defender.

Capable, fast, 7 sec, safe, connected,.

( to show you all the progress we have made in 30 years. V8, 80's 170 bhp, 19mlg, 4 banger 21, 300 bhp, 19 mlg.)

Yeh will love the V8 always...
Just my 2cents

 

So we have both
2020 1st edition P400 , have had lots of little quirks with it
2022 V8

V8 is amazing, they did a great job with it. Plenty of power on demand, yet easier to drive than my wife's Sport was with the V8. The heads up display, adaptive cruise control, and plusher interior are worth it.
Both have plenty of power, V8 about 15 mpg, P400 about 17 mpg (i am an aggressive driver)
my mechanic in Austin said you cannot put roof rails on the V8--we bought it in San Antonio and they said they would put them on---I just got a call that you CANNOT put roof rails on the V8. I don't understand, the track is up there, seems like it would be easy enough but their software will not let them order the rails for the V8

resale is the most compelling feature of the V8 and we have another on order--now do we sell the 1st edition or the V8??? Probably the first edition even though I planned on keeping it forever. That's how much fun the V8 is to drive.

 

You can fit the roof rails, the only reason they are not a factory-fit option on the V8 is because they would have to redo the type approval. There are videos online that show how to fit them - it's an easy DIY job or any competent mechanic should be able to help.

 

thanks!