‘Unstoppable’ defender OCTA officially unveiled

We’ve known for years that Land Rover has been brewing a very high-quality Defender. That much was clear when it cancelled the Discovery SVX. That much was clear when the Defender was originally launched, when the company felt it had a winner on its hands. That much was clear from the car’s subsequent sales performance and the willingness of buyers to accept six-figure asking prices. Even when the first V8 derivative was introduced, it was clear that the chassis had more to offer. The question was never if, but when. And to what extent Land Rover would let its hair down.

Well, the answers are now, and all the way up to the waistline. We already knew it would be called the OCTA (it’s something to do with diamonds; let’s just skip that for now) and would share the same combination of 4.4-litre V8 and hydraulically linked dampers as the new Range Rover Sport SV. But we didn’t know the power would be the same – meaning the Defender gets 635bhp; a whopping 110bhp more than the 5.0-litre V8 variant – and we didn’t know anything about the specs or price. Both of which are eye-watering.

As, it must be said, is the car. In a break with tradition, Land Rover has been touring the country (and other major markets) showing off the 110-specification model to potential customers ahead of its official unveiling and dynamic debut at the Festival of Speed; a static preview that PH was invited to last month, so we got to see it in the flesh. We were genuinely surprised. The pictures barely do it justice: they’re shod with 33-inch tyres, the largest ever fitted to a production Defender, wrapped in specially developed all-terrain performance rubber from Goodyear – not to mention a new lightweight 20-inch alloy wheel design that’s easily the best we’ve seen on the car yet.

It helps that the wheel arches have been extended to accommodate them, giving the OCTA the sort of leering, goose-bump-inducing stance that sets it apart from the rest of the line-up. You also get a new grille (said to improve underbonnet airflow), revised bumpers for improved approach and departure angles, and much beefier underbody protection thanks to a new aluminium alloy shield. But it’s the wheels that really stand out. And the updated quad-valve exhaust. And the Phosphor Bronze front and rear tow eyes. In Faroe Green – exclusive to the bespoke Edition One – it looks muscular enough to hunt down Scud missile launchers in an Iraqi desert.

What’s underneath doesn’t detract from the impressiveness. The V8 and its eight-speed automatic are familiar, but they’re set to deliver an unprecedented level of performance to the Defender. The current 5.0-litre 110 does 0-62mph in a howling 5.4 seconds; the OCTA will do it dead in 4. That’s clearly a meaningful increase in power, and providing a new chassis to tame it is where much of the time and effort has gone. The newcomer sits 28mm taller than standard, but its footprint is 68mm wider, and the roll centre and kerb weight remain roughly the same as the supercharged 110. Land Rover says the OCTA gets longer, stronger wishbones, as well as uprated 400m front discs with Brembo calipers.

The suspension geometry has changed too, though it’s the introduction of the continuously variable 6D Dynamics system, with its hydraulically networked dampers, that should prove the most significant difference to the car’s handling. Its ability to dramatically suppress pitch and roll should have much the same effect on the road as it does in the Range Rover Sport SV, though Land Rover was keen to emphasise what this means for the OCTA’s off-road prowess – thanks not only to an increase in wheel articulation, but also the inclusion of “a first-ever dedicated Defender off-road driving mode with a focus on performance”.

This is, inevitably, called ‘OCTA mode’, although ‘Baja’ would seem a more apt description. The manufacturer talks about it ensuring ‘ultimate driver control and confidence’, but based on the fact that it enables an Off-Road Launch mode for loose surfaces coupled with what is essentially a TracDSC setting, the end goal is clearly to skid around merrily without completely forgoing a safety net. You still get a full suite of mature Terrain Response modes, of course, but a unique Off-Road ABS calibration for hard-driving on gravel tells you a lot more about what Land Rover expects from some OCTA owners.

“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 – no matter what surface it’s used on,” said Jamal Hameedi, who joined JLR as Director of SVO to help build the vehicle. “They’ve re-engineered components across the vehicle to ensure Defender OCTA is the perfect companion for epic adventures anywhere in the world.”

As you might expect, the ‘no compromise’ approach was emphasised repeatedly when discussing the development process. Land Rover is fond of touting its extensive testing regime, but the OCTA is said to have broken all previous records for durability assessment – ​​not only by traversing all the most extreme off-road sections the company has access to (the extra ride height means wading depth has increased to one metre), but also by going to places they’ve never been before, such as the Château de Lastours, where teams normally prepare for the Dakar.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that for some OCTA owners, things will be no tougher than the school gates – and when Land Rover isn’t regaling you with tales of how entertaining the car is on a rally stage, it’s keen to emphasise just how remarkable the model’s bandwidth really is. This is probably best summed up in the tyre choice. Yes, you can have the puncture-resistant, go-anywhere, three-ply Goodyears that (from an advisory perspective) limit your car to 99mph – but you can also have all-season rubber on a flashier 22-inch rim that will get you to 155mph. And there’s a middle ground between the two for those who want to go off-road but also safely do 112mph. The choice is entirely yours.

And that’s to be expected, as the OCTA isn’t a traditional top-of-the-range version, at least for now. Land Rover has committed to building 1,070 examples in its first year, making it something of a limited edition (the First Edition version will certainly be available during that time). If the packed event we were invited to is any indication of global interest, it’s highly unlikely to remain a short-lived option – although that hasn’t stopped the manufacturer pricing it as if it were: the OCTA starts at £145,300 in the UK, with the Edition One starting at £160,800. Thankfully, the latest Mercedes-AMG G63, the model Land Rover is eyeing, doesn’t retail for less than £184,595. Talk about unlocking the Defender’s full potential. Expect the order books to open soon and for it to sell out almost immediately.