Land Rover Defender Octa First Ride: Baddest D110 is ready for launch

WEST SUSSEX, England – It’s an excellent time to be in the market for an up-rated, over-powered, off-road monster. Whether you want something with desert-storming chops like a Ford F-150 Raptor R or something with a bit more prestige like the Mercedes-AMG G 63, those with the cash have plenty of options at their disposal.

But what if you want something that offers a unique blend of posh attitude and proper off-road performance? Something that’s got all the heritage you could ever want mixed with a modern engine making 626 horsepower? And what if you have a particular affinity for all things British?

Land Rover has something for you. Meet the Defender Octa, a new, top trim of the iconic off-roader that answers a final question that nobody was asking: What if the 518-horsepower Defender V8 wasn’t enough?

We’ve got the full rundown on the Octa’s specs and stats over here, so I won’t dwell on the numbers, but as a quick refresher, what you’re looking at is a Defender 110 that’s been lifted by 1.1 inches (max ground clearance is now 12.6 inches), widened by 2.7, and festooned with a subtle sampling of visual tweaks including diamond-shaped badges, a quad exhaust, and orange running lights that are not only trendy but now legally required due to its increased width. New profiles for the front and rear bumpers result in better approach and departure angles.

Despite the subtlety of those changes, in person, sitting next to a regular Defender, the Octa stands out. Literally, of course, thanks to the extra height, but it takes the regular SUV’s general sense of intention and dials it up. Only slightly, though. Unlike other off-road powerhouses like the Ram TRX, which demands your attention with that giant power bulge, the Octa has an air of a Defender that’s been tastefully upgraded by someone who’s planning on really getting out there.

As such, to be in the presence of one makes you really want to get out there. Otherwise, you’d just be letting it down. Sadly, Land Rover isn’t quite ready to let me drive one of these Octa prototypes, but I was at least granted an audience with the machine, a thrilling passenger-seat ride around a test track that the company branded “Octa Arena.”

It’s an aspirational name for a couple of muddy trails cut through a thicket of birch and assorted hardwoods, but still it was a perfect place to show off the range of capabilities for this new, highest of high-end Defenders. Unlike most of the other broad-shouldered mega off-roaders hitting the market, the Octa is still very much about excelling in slow-speed, highly technical situations.

That comes largely thanks to the “6D suspension,” a fanciful name for a setup that relies on hydraulics to provide body control, replacing the traditional anti-roll bar setup. First seen on the Range Rover SV to improve on-road dynamics, here it instead allows the Octa to virtually disconnect those virtual anti-roll bars.

By opening a valve and releasing hydraulic pressure, at low speed, the Octa has far greater articulation than a traditional Defender. There’s 5.5 inches more, to be exact. We crawled up and over a large series of rocks, tipping well past a 20-degree horizontal incline without any of the four tires coming off the ground.

Speaking of tires, that’s another thing that adds more capability for low-speed trail crawling. Goodyear developed a bespoke, 20-inch fitment (33-inch outer diameter) Wrangler tire just for the Octa. The new tread pattern helped this machine claw through the sorts of clay and muck that stick to everything and typically eliminate grip.

Those tires were in even better form 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 wheel enables Octa mode, a fact you’re immediately clued into by the valves opening on that new exhaust.

Hold the brake pedal, foot the accelerator to the floor, and the Defender Octa enters a gravel-specific launch control. That 4.4-liter twin-turbo BMW V8 flutters away nervously before releasing 626 hp and 553 pound-feet with a fury. On the asphalt, it’ll get to 60 in just 3.8 seconds.

I don’t know how long it took us to get to that speed in the mud, but it surely wasn’t much more tardy.

In Octa mode, I was treated to a thrilling ride through narrow wooded lanes and a few small clearings where the Defender development team had thoughtfully created a series of jumps. The Octa takes to the air eagerly yet returns to earth gently, touching down like a mother returning a newborn to its crib. This thing was meant to fly. If you like getting big air in your big machine but don’t want to break your back, the Octa is for you.

When not soaring through the air, the Octa felt remarkably planted and solid, even when pounding over ruts and roots. It was subjected to over 600,000 miles of hard testing, and throughout that time, the Land Rover team revised and upgraded numerous components, including new knuckles, wishbones, and control arms. The Octa doesn’t just borrow the SV’s 6D hydraulic roll system; it takes that SUV’s stiffer engine and transmission mounts, too, providing extra durability needed for this kind of punishment.

What kind of impact those changes have had in the Defender Octa’s on-road manners remains to be seen. My time in the Octa was purely off-road, but I was assured multiple times that on-road sensibility was just as much of 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 of those, and any one must not come at the expense of any other.” That remains to be seen, as surely those new all-terrain tires must deliver a bit of highway drone. Still, buyers with sensitive ears can choose from three separate wheel and tire fitments, including a more road-friendly model on a 22-inch rim.

From what I could tell in the passenger seat, the Octa does seem to push the Defender’s performance and capability boundaries. But luxury? We’ll have to wait for a go behind the wheel to find that out, but it’s hard to imagine those who put down their $153,475 to order one will be disappointed.

That said, those who want one as soon as possible will need to spend a bit more. The Octa Edition One starts at $169,275. That’s very nearly three times the cost of a base Defender 110 or more than $50,000 over the already ridiculous Defender V8. Worth it? As always, putting a value on a top-tier trim model like this is impossible. It’s the most ostentatious Defender yet, both in terms of presence and performance, and yet it does seem to deliver.