Yahoo Autos Land Rover's Defender Octa Is Coming for the G-Wagen
There's never been a better time to be in the market for an off-roader with a bit of a posh streak. Whether it's products from Ford, Mercedes-Benz, or Toyota, the off-road market has never been more full of exceptionally capable, exceptionally livable machines.
Of course, there's no 4x4 brand with as much gentry appeal as Land Rover. (After all, Land Rover basically invented the idea of an off-roader for the upper crust.) In an effort to keep up with the Joneses, Land Rover has just released its most hardcore model yet: the new Defender Octa. Here’s everything we learned about this heavy hitting SUV after a ride outside the grounds of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
At the helm of the Defender Octa program sits Jamal Hameedi, the current boss of Jaguar Land Rover’s SVO division. Hameedi is no stranger to the world of high-performance 4x4s; after all, he was responsible for the development of the original Ford F-150 Raptor during his tenure at Ford. He’s an experienced off-road racer in his own right, and knows a thing or two about what enthusiasts actually want.
It’d be easy to assume that the Octa is effectively just a new Defender with the Raptor treatment, but that isn’t quite fair to the engineers and designers behind it.
The team didn’t want to build a caricature of other defenders Defenders, so you might not immediately notice the styling changes. The Defender Octa is based on the Defender 110 model, but measures 2.7 inches wider. The truck also sits just about an inch higher than a standard model, owing to the reworked suspension package below. The hydraulically interlinked 6D Dynamics suspension setup is borrowed from the Range Rover Sport, but features a ton of unique hardware, include new lateral links, tension links, control arms, knuckles, lines, and steering links.
Not only does the system provide the truck with a bit more ground clearance than its (already segment-leading) sibling, but it allows for improved articulation — 5.5 more inches, to be exact. The truck is now able to keep wheel contracts in situations where the fronts would have lifted off the ground before.
The system proved a massive improvement in the small rock garden constructed by JLR outside of Goodwood, delivering more consistent traction and less head toss than a regular 110. This system allows the automaker to take advantage of the truck’s unibody construction, enhancing comfort and control over more traditional 4x4s. It also allows for the truck’s dual-personality on-road, which was a major focus point of development.
“How do you take the core of the Defender and go crazy with it, but don’t change into something that is not a Defender?” Hameedi said in an interview with Road & Track. “There was, well, make it into an on-road SVR, which a company in Germany does. And that doesn’t seem very Defender-like. You make a Defender more of a Defender. But not by sacrificing the on-road.”
Further aiding the on-road performance is a set of 15.7-inch front brakes with six-piston Brembo calipers, which hide behind a set of 20-inch wheels on most Octas and 22-inch rims on the early Edition One models. Either wheel can clad in regular all-terrain rubber or an advanced all-terrain tire developed specifically for the SUV.
Of course, the real star of the show is the SUV’s new engine, borrowed from the folks at BMW M. The 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine is an absolute powerhouse, and also benefits from BMW’s mild hybridization.
“We could’ve done our own, but if you think about when the decision was made, there were CO2 regulations globally, there was electrification, there was everything that said V-8s are on their way out,” said Hameedi. “All of the data said that V-8s are on their way out. So if you need a V-8, what’s the best solution you can get? I mean, this is like a world-class V-8. It’s got power, it’s got MHEV. I think it fits the character of the rest of the car as well. There is a lot of technology in every part of the car, so it matches everything else.”
The end result is 626 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, which launches the SUV to 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds. Land Rover says the Octa will do 155 mph with the right tires, significantly faster than many off-roaders. (For reference, the F-150 Raptor is limited to 114 mph.) That speed helps explain the fact that this truck was developed extensively at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
While I didn’t get to experience the SUV on tarmac, the speed is certainly there. The test drivers who drove the Octa at the 'Ring were responsible for wheeling me around JLR’s off-road property in West Sussex, highlighting the capability on offer here. In the dedicated Octa Mode, that V-8 engine's power delivery is ferocious; Thanks to the traction provided by the 4x4 system and bespoke tires, the Octa never hunted for grip, despite the mode's lack of active traction control.
The straight-line speed isn't nearly as impressive as the control available once the trail starts to turn, however. The truck carves its way through the tight trail sections at speeds well beyond highway pace, stepping the rear out when requested. The standard Defender is already quite clever, thanks to its differentials, but the Octa’s breadth of performance sits at another level. The truck is also quite comfortable over jumps — which probably shouldn’t be a surprise, what with Hameedi at the helm of the project. All told, the Octa is a genuinely exciting package that delivers on the promise of being the ultimate Defender.
Of course, we’re going to have to wait to judge how these changes have impacted the truck’s on-road comfort, but JLR is adamant that the truck will remain a standout in that regard. The dual personality of the package is the brand’s major selling point, which ultimately justifies the $153,475 base price ($169,275 for the Edition One models). For reference, that's some $50,000 more than a current V-8 Defender. Hameedi told R&T that while the brand expects some current customers to step up into the Octa, they have their eyes fixed on another market altogether.
“I think there’s also a new group of customers that may have bought G-Classes,” said Hameedi.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, particularly the AMG variants, have captured a huge amount of interest in the luxury 4x4 space for decades. The customer has traditionally been a bit different from the Defender buyer, with the overall image of the G-Wagen doing a lot of lifting; of course, the trucks are incredibly capable off-road, but that’s not why most people purchase a Gelandewagen. Whether or not the Octa’s immense capability is enough to tempt buyers away from the madmen in Graz, Austria will have to be seen. It surely has the right attitude to give it a shot.
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