We’ve known for yonks that Land Rover has been cooking up a very senior-grade Defender. It was obvious when it cancelled the Discovery SVX. It was obvious at the Defender's original launch, when the manufacturer already sensed it was onto a winner. It was obvious based on the car’s subsequent sales performance, and the preparedness of buyers to accept with six-figure asking prices. Even when the first V8 derivative was introduced, it was obvious that the chassis had more to give. The question was never about ‘if’ but ‘when’. And to what extent Land Rover would let its hair down.
Well, the answers are ‘now’ and all the way down to its waist. We already knew the model would be called OCTA (it is to do with diamonds; let’s gloss over it) and feature the same combination of 4.4-litre V8 and hydraulically-interlinked dampers as the new Range Rover Sport SV. But we didn’t know the power output would be the same - meaning the Defender gets 635hp; fully 110hp more than the 5.0-litre V8 derivative - and nor did we know anything about the spec or the price. Both are eye-popping.
As, it must be said, is the car. In a break from tradition, Land Rover has been touring the country (and it other major markets) showing the 110-specific model to likely customers ahead of its official reveal and dynamic debut at Festival of Speed; a static preview that PH was invited to last month, so we’ve seen it in the flesh. Marvelled at it, really. The pictures hardly do it justice: those are 33-inch diameter tyres, the largest ever fitted to a production Defender, with specially developed all-terrain performance rubber from Goodyear - not to mention a new lightweight 20-inch alloy wheel design that’s by some distance the best we’ve yet seen on the car.
It helps that the wheel arches have been pulled out to accommodate them, giving the OCTA the kind of glowering, goose-bumpy stance that marks it out as very different from the rest of the lineup. Additionally, you get a new grille (said to improve the under-bonnet airflow), revised bumpers for better approach and departure angles, and much tougher underbody protection courtesy of new aluminium alloy shield. But it’s the rims you notice. And the updated four-exit valve-wearing exhaust. And the Phosphor Bronze front and rear towing eyes. In Faroe Green - exclusive to the specially curated Edition One - it looks brawny enough to be hunting for Scud missile launchers in an Iraqi desert.
What's underneath does nothing to dilute the impression. The V8 and its eight-speed automatic are already familiar, yet they are primed to deliver an unfamiliar amount of performance to the Defender. The current 5.0-litre 110 serves up 0-62mph in a raucous 5.4 seconds; the OCTA will get you there in 4 seconds dead. Clearly, that is a meaningful uptick in potency, and delivering a new chassis to contain it is where much time and effort has been spent. The newcomer sits 28mm higher than standard, yet its footprint is 68mm wider and the roll centre and kerbweight remain roughly the same as they are for the supercharged 110. Land Rover says the OCTA gets longer and tougher wishbones, as well as uprated 400m front discs with Brembo calipers.
The suspension geometry has changed, too, although it is the introduction of the continuously variable 6D Dynamics system, with its hydraulically networked dampers, that ought to serve as the key point of difference in the car’s handling. The ability to dramatically subdue pitch and body roll ought to have much the same effect on road as it did for the Range Rover Sport SV, although Land Rover was keen to underline what it means for the OCTA’s off-road performance - not just thanks to an increase in wheel articulation, but also its incorporation into the ‘first ever dedicated Defender off-road driving mode with a performance focus’.
Inevitably this is called ‘OCTA Mode’, although ‘Baja’ would seem a more fitting description. The manufacturer talks about ensuring ‘ultimate control and driver confidence’ but on the basis that it enables an Off-Road Launch mode for loose surfaces combined with what is essentially a TracDSC setting, the end goal is clearly skidding cheerily about without completely dispensing with a safety net. Obviously you still get a full suite of grown-up Terrain Response modes as well - but a unique Off-Road ABS calibration for fast driving on gravel tells you a good deal more about what Land Rover is expecting some OCTA owners to get up to.
“Our high-performance experts have achieved the impossible with Defender OCTA, working tirelessly over the past three years to create the most capable Defender ever made – regardless of which surface it is enjoyed on,” noted Jamal Hameedi, who joined JLR as Director of SVO with a view to building this very car. “They have re-engineered components throughout the vehicle to ensure Defender OCTA is the perfect companion for epic adventures anywhere on the planet.”
As you might expect, the ‘no compromise’ approach was repeatedly highlighted when discussing the development process. Land Rover is fond of talking up its exhaustive testing regime, but the OCTA is said to have broken all previous records for durability evaluation - not just by traversing all the most extreme off-road sections that the company has access to (its additional ride height means its wading depth has increased to one metre), but also by going to places they’ve never been before, like Château de Lastours, which usually hosts teams preparing for the Dakar.
Of course, it’s perfectly possible that for some OCTA owners things will get no more challenging than the school gates - and when not regaling you with stories about just how entertaining the car is on a rally stage, Land Rover was keen to stress just how remarkable the model's bandwidth really is. This is probably best encapsulated in the tyre choice. Yes, you can have the puncture-resistant, go-anywhere three-ply Goodyears which (from an advisory point of view) limit your car to 99mph - but you can also have all-season rubber on a flashier 22-inch rim that will let you do 155mph. And there’s a halfway house choice between the two for those who want to go off-road, but also safely do 112mph. The choice is very much yours.
And that’s to be expected because the OCTA is, for now at any rate, not a traditional range-topper. Land Rover has committed to building 1,070 examples in the first year, making it a limited-run model of sorts (certainly the First Edition version will only be available in that period). If the very well-attended event we were invited to is indicative of a worldwide level of interest, it is very unlikely to remain a short-lived option - although that hasn’t prevented its maker pricing it like it was one: the OCTA starts at £145,300 in the UK, with the Edition One costing from £160,800. Thank goodness the latest Mercedes-AMG G63, the model squarely in Land Rover's crosshairs, cannot be had for less than £184,595. Talk about unlocking the Defender’s full potential. Expect the order books to open soon, and to hear that it sold out almost immediately.
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