I see in a YouTube drag race between a G63, bronco and Wrangler the defender V8 was timed at 4.4 seconds 0-60. This is significantly faster than listed by land rover at around 5.0 seconds. I wonder if LR are just being conservative with their time?
The G63 was the quickest which is no surprise. Interesting race though.

 

The V8 Defenders are quick. Much quicker than 5.0s to 60mph. They're just so long geared (as the video shows, it was by far the slowest off the line). It actually was pipped by the Jeep 392 in the 1/4 mile despite trapping 5 mph faster. It just has long gearing and perhaps a more aggressive traction control that is cutting power rather than letting the thing move. Cammisa even states that if the race were a 60mph roll that the Defender would leave the AMG for dead. For hooning around in the real world, the Defender is plenty fast and the supercharger allows it to avoid the engine getting caught flat-footed by a bit of turbo lag (which the AMG can suffer from on occasion). Modern turbos have largely banished most traces of lag but 3 tons of off-roader can occasionally let it rear its head. Dat Jeep noise doe.

Edit: also of note is tire choice. The Merc comes on Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric tires with a treadwear rating around 240 while the Defenders have Continental Crosscontact LX with a treadwear rating around 480. The Goodyears are massively more aggressive in terms of grip. If you daily one of these G Wagens, you're going to be replacing the tires at each oil change.

 

I wonder why landrover is underselling the performance of their V8 then?

 

I can’t give you the “why” of it but Porsche has never, ever gotten close to what the magazine testers get. I’ve always admired them for listing a figure that regular drivers can attain without abusing their clutch. But now that pretty much every car they sell gets tested with PDK (dual clutch automatic) transmission and Launch Control, there’s really no variability to it other than surface friction of the track or road. So I don’t know why Porsche’s numbers still lag what magazines get.

I remember back in the day when I had a 2002 Turbo Porsche listed it as 4.4 and Car & Driver said 3.5, iirc.

 

Car & Driver numbers have always been very, very low because there is a 1-ft rollout that they omit. For most cars, that is going to be anywhere from 0.3-0.5s lopped right off the time. Porsche is probably telling you what you can produce on 91 octane in Denver without an ideal surface. Better to underpromise and overdeliver than the other way 'round.

Guys arguing about tenths of second is pointless even in the realm of supercars. Worrying about which 3-ton off-roader wins a drag race is beyond dumb. These cars won't be around much longer. Just enjoy the noise, they're all plenty quick.

 

I really enjoy their videos, i love that freeze frame effect they do when the first car hits the finish line and then they wander around the image, some quality production.