WEST SUSSEX, England – It’s a great time to seek out a beefed-up, overpowered, off-road monster. Whether you want something with desert-cruising chops like a Ford F-150 Raptor R or something with a bit more prestige like the Mercedes-AMG G 63those with money have plenty of options at their disposal.
But what if you want something that offers a unique blend of posh attitude and good off-road performance? Something that has all the heritage you could want, mixed with a modern engine that 626 horsepower? And what if you have a special affinity for all things British?
Landrover has something for you. Meet the Defender Octa, a new top-of-the-range version of the iconic off-roader that answers one last question no one asked: what if the 518bhp Defender V8 isn’t enough?
We have the full summary of the Octa’s specs and statistics hereSo I won’t dwell too long on the numbers, but as a quick refresher: what you’re looking at is a Defender 110 that’s been raised by 1.1 inches (maximum ground clearance is now 12.6 inches), widened by 2.7 inches, and adorned with a subtle sampling of visual tweaks, including diamond-shaped badging, a quad exhaust, and orange sidelights that are not only trendy but now legally required due to the increased width. New front and rear bumper profiles result in improved approach and departure angles.
Despite the subtlety of those changes, in the flesh, next to a regular Defender, the Octa stands out. Literally, of course, thanks to the extra height, but it takes the general intent of the regular SUV and turns it upside down. But only slightly. Unlike other off-road powerhouses like the Ram TRXWhile its enormous power demands your attention, the Octa has the look of a Defender that has been tastefully upgraded by someone who intends to really put their foot down.
As such, being in someone’s presence makes you really want to get out there. Otherwise, you’d just give up. Unfortunately, Land Rover isn’t quite ready to let me drive one of these Octa prototypes, but I did get an audience with the machine, a thrilling ride in the passenger seat around a test track the company calls “Octa Arena.”
It’s an ambitious name for a couple of muddy tracks through a thicket of birch and assorted hardwoods, but it was still a perfect place to show off the range of capabilities of this new, cutting-edge Defender. Unlike most of the other broad-shouldered mega off-roaders coming to market, the Octa is still very much about excelling in low-speed, high-tech situations.
That’s largely due to the “6D suspension,” a fanciful name for a setup that relies on hydraulics to control the body, replacing the traditional anti-roll bar setup. First seen on the Range Rover SV To improve dynamics on the road, the Octa can virtually disconnect the virtual anti-roll bars.
By opening a valve and releasing the hydraulic pressure, at low speed, the Octa has far more articulation than a traditional Defender. There’s 5.5 inches more, to be precise. We crawled up and over a large set of rocks, tipping well past a 20-degree horizontal incline without any of the four tires leaving the ground.
Speaking of tires, that’s another thing that offers more possibilities for low-speed trail crawling. Goodyear developed a custom 20-inch fit (33-inch outer diameter) Wrestler tire specifically for the Octa. The new tread pattern helped this machine clamber through the kinds of clay and mud that stick to everything and usually take away traction.
Those tires were in even better shape when we switched the Defender Octa into its high-performance namesake mode. A long press of a new button placed prominently beneath the center of the steering wheel engages Octa mode, a fact immediately alerted to by the flaps opening on that new exhaust.
Keep the brake pedal, foot the accelerator to the floor, and the Defender Octa engages gravel-specific launch control. That 4.4-liter twin-turbo BMW The V8 flutters nervously away before unleashing 626 horsepower and 553 pound-feet with fury. On the tarmac, it hits 60 in just 3.8 seconds.
I don’t know how long it took us to reach that speed in the mud, but it certainly wasn’t much slower.
In Octa mode, I was treated to a thrilling ride through narrow forest roads and a few small clearings where the Defender development team had carefully crafted a series of jumps. The Octa takes off eagerly but returns gently to earth, landing like a mother returning a newborn to its cradle. This thing is meant to fly. If you like to get big air in your big machine but don’t want to break your back, the Octa is for you.
When it wasn’t flying through the air, the Octa felt remarkably solid and planted, even when traversing ruts and roots. It was subjected to more than 600,000 miles of grueling testing, during which time the Land Rover team revised and upgraded a myriad of components, including new knuckles, wishbones, and wishbones. The Octa doesn’t just borrow the SV’s 6D hydraulic roll system; it also adopts that SUV’s stiffer engine and transmission mounts, lending the extra durability needed for this kind of punishment.
What impact those changes have had on the Defender Octa’s on-road manners remains to be seen. My time in the Octa was strictly off-road, but I was repeatedly assured that on-road responsiveness was just as much a priority in the rig’s development.
Jamal Hameedi, director of SVO at Jaguar-Land Rover, told me that the Defender must always prioritize luxury, performance and capability. “We want all three, and none of them should come at the expense of the others.” That remains to be seen, because that new all-terrain tires should provide a bit of highway buzz. Still, buyers with sensitive ears can choose from three separate wheel and tire builds, including a more road-friendly model on a 22-inch rim.
From what I could tell from the passenger seat, the Octa appears to push the Defender’s performance and capability to its limits. Luxury, though? We’ll have to find out when we get behind the wheel, but it’s hard to imagine those who shell out $153,475 to order one will be disappointed.
That said, those who want one as soon as possible will have to spend a little more. The Octa Edition One starts at $169,275. That’s nearly three times as much as a base Defender 110, or more than $50,000 more than the already ridiculous Defender V8. Worth it? As ever, it’s impossible to put a value on a top-of-the-line model like this. It’s the flashiest Defender yet, both in terms of presence and performance, and yet it seems to deliver.