The Land Rover Defender has always been known as an off-road beast that does its best work in rugged terrains. While it is quite the luxurious vehicle, it’s not quite as refined as the Range Rover for regular city driving. With the new Land Rover Defender Octa, that all changes.
Billed as “the most dynamically accomplished Defender ever created,” the new vehicle boasts equally stellar performance both on- and off-road, combining the series’ backcountry prowess with the Range Rover’s sportier charms. In fact, they named it “Octa” after the diamond’s octahedron shape because they’re using the precious stone’s hard yet luxurious characteristics as representative of what the new flagship SUV brings to the table.
The Land Rover Defender Octa is powered by a BMW-sourced twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 that produces 626 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. When fitted with 22-inch wheels with on-road tires, the car can supposedly go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, all while hitting electronically-limited top speeds of 155 mph. You can opt for on- or off-road wheels anywhere from 20 to 22 inches, each one coming with massive Brembo disc brake packages. When optioned with the 20-inch off-road wheels, by the way, it comes stock with a new 33-inch three-layer tires that, the outfit claims, offers excellent performance both on- and off-road. Those tires, by the way, are also the largest ever offered stock on any Land Rover. Do note, using the new large tires will cap the top speed at 99 mph, which would be its primary downside.
It uses a modified version of the 6D Dynamics suspension used in the SV Range Rover Sport, which now gains the ability to pitch and roll, making it more suited for the Defender’s off-road shenanigans, along with a faster steering rack that improved overall responsiveness. The vehicle also gets longer, tougher suspension wishbones that give it an additional 1.1 inch of lift compared to the Defender 110. This results in 5.5 inches of additional suspension articulation, 12.6 inches of maximum ground clearance, and wading depths of 39.4 inches.
The Land Rover Defender Octa gets a bunch of exterior changes, including an all-new front bumper, a larger grille, a quad-exhaust sticking under a redesigned rear bumper, large fender flares, and a bunch of carbon fiber details. It also has those US-spec clearance lights you normally see on high-performance pickups and dual raised air intakes, both of which were supposedly necessary to meet legal requirements due to its burly 80-inch width.
Inside, it gets all-new performance seats with more supportive bolsters and integrated headrests, as well as the Body and Soul Seat audio technology that will, supposedly, allow the driver and front passenger to not just hear the music, but feel it as well. Standard interior is Burnt Sienna semi-aniline leather with ebony Kvadrat fabric. For the first year of production, the outfit is offering a special Edition One model, which comes with a Faroe Green paint with matte wrap, chopped carbon fiber detailing, and 20-inch forged wheels with the 33-inch hybrid tires.
The Land Rover Defender Octa will begin production in October, with prices starting at $152,000.