Battle in the Desert with the Jeep Wrangler 392 and Land Rover Defender Octa

The Defender‘s twin-turbo V8 outputs 626 ponies and 523 lb-ft of torque, and it conquered the dunes even easier than the Wrangler did, although it took a minute for any sonorous V8 music to kick in. Plus, the quick and accurate steering ratio got the truck pointed downhill quickly while the hydraulically linked suspension cruised over undulations — also known as whoops in desert vernacular. Both vehicles got the job done, but we felt like we had a bit more control in the Defender, whereas in the Jeep, we were merely along for the ride. 

We then found a nice section of whoops to test both vehicles’ comfort over the rough rolling desert terrain. At 25 mph, the Jeep’s nose stuffed itself into the whoops and then rebounded heavily, tossing us around like rag dolls. It feels like Jeep’s engineers didn’t tune the suspension to account for the heavier V8 engine. A solid-axle vehicle is never great in the whoops, but the 392 is egregiously bad.

The Defender, however, has an independent front suspension, which already gives it a leg up when it comes to comfort. Add in the fancy shocks and it’s much more livable. At the same speeds, there were fewer head tosses and the truck stayed mostly planted and smooth. This is the rig you want for cruising along at higher off-road speeds.