New Land Rover Defender OCTA: Carwow goes for a spin in the most powerful Defender ever made
July 26, 2024 by Jamie Edkins
Car changing is a big deal
This is the new Land Rover Defender OCTA, and it’s the fastest and most capable Defender the brand has ever built.
- New Land Rover Defender OCTA revealed
- The most powerful Defender ever made
- 4.4-litre V8 with 635hp
- Better performance both on and off road
- More aggressive styling
- Prices start from £145,300
If you’ve ever looked at the Land Rover Defender and thought it was a bit soft, then the new Defender OCTA should pique your interest. It features a BMW-derived V8 engine, completely reworked suspension and a host of styling upgrades.
You’ll be able to see the OCTA in action at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this month, with order books opening shortly after.
New Land Rover Defender OCTA engine and performance
Let’s start with the heart of the beast, which in this case is a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8. It’s a similar unit to the one you’ll find in the new BMW M5, and it puts out 635hp and 750Nm of torque.
That’s a whopping 210hp more than the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 you can get in the standard Defender, and as a result the OCTA will do 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds. So this 2.5-tonne off-roader accelerates faster than a Mercedes-AMG A45 S.
New Land Rover Defender OCTA chassis and suspension
So Land Rover has done plenty to make sure the OCTA is quicker than the standard car, but you don’t buy a Defender to go drag racing do you? Well it’s also been hard at work beefing up the suspension to make this car even more capable off-road, an area where the standard car already excels.
It’s been fitted with something called 6D Dynamic suspension, an all-new setup for the OCTA which enables better wheel articulation to allow you to tackle even tougher obstacles. It’s also 28mm higher and 68mm wider than the standard car.
There’s a focus on off-road performance with this model. It has an off-road launch control mode to get you off the line quickly in the mud, and there’s a unique off-road ABS mode for the best braking performance.
Check out this video of the OCTA on the Nurburgring…
It’s not just better off-road either, because the OCTA has also been tuned to be more fun on the tarmac. The active dampers reduce body roll through the corners, and there’s a dynamic mode which sharpens the steering and throttle response. A video emerged online of this off-roader testing at the Nurburgring, and it’s an impressive-looking thing.
New Land Rover Defender OCTA design
To make the OCTA model stand out from the standard Defender it has beefed-up styling. The most notable change is the massive 33-inch tyres and flared wheel arches, but there are some more subtle differences as well.
The front bumper has been tweaked with a different grille design which aids airflow, and you have aluminium underbody protection for an even more rugged appearance. The rear bumper is new as well with quad tailpipes.
The OCTA is available in two exclusive colours – a dark green and a copper finish. All versions get a contrasting black roof, and you can get matte paint protection film if you want an even more tough look.
Passenger ride in the Land Rover Defender Octa
At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Carwow was given a unique opportunity to get a passenger ride up the famous hill climb in the new Land Rover Defender Octa.
Jump inside and it’s largely similar to any other Defender, but there’s an ominous button on the steering wheel with the Octa logo on it. Press and hold to engage Octa mode, which is a performance-focused off-road setup, and the dials and screens change to a sporty red theme, and even the tips of the wheel-mounted gear shifters turn red.
Pulling away from the line you’re left in no doubt that this Defender makes use of every one of the 635hp made available by the 4.4-litre V8 engine. Our run coincided with a summer downpour so the track was greasy, and a full throttle launch saw the rear end squirm as the tyres fought for grip.
Once hooked up it launches you forward with a ferocious soundtrack, and each corner was taken with little concern for the ponds and streams that were quickly forming on the tarmac. Where supercars on summer tyres had performed heart-in-mouth pirouettes just moments before us, the Defender Octa found grip like it was a summer’s day. The wipers on full attack mode remind it’s anything but.
Let’s be honest, 625hp in a posh off-roader feels wholly unnecessary, but that’s what makes it so fun. Given it’s designed for fast-paced fun in the wilderness, a run up a wet driveway is just a walk in the park, but it did hint that the Defender Octa could be the ultimate all-weather performance car. Watch this space for a full review once we’ve been behind the wheel…
How much is the new Land Rover Defender OCTA?
You’ll be able to see the new Land Rover Defender OCTA at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in mid July, and order books will open shortly after this. Prices start from £145,300, making it a hefty £50,000 more expensive than the current range-topping Defender 110.
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