Ultimate Defender: 2025 Land Rover Defender OCTA Debuts

If the popular and rugged Land Rover Defender wasn’t quite rugged enough for you, the famed British off-roading company has come forth with the OCTA version of the Defender 110, the “middle child” of the Defender line-up sat between the two-door 90 and long wheelbase 130 edition of the vehicle. Being the big seller of the bunch, it’s the 110 that gets the special treatment.

And make no mistake – it is special, indeed.

The wheels are the first giveaway, especially if you’ve selected the more aggressive of the two available all-terrain tires – you know, the one that actually comes coated in Kevlar. Yes; that’s Kevlar, like the stuff bulletproof vests are made of. They come wrapped around 20-inch wheels (22” items are standard, but they aren’t as good for off-roading) that are unique to the OCTA and they look fantastic. It’s a shame hey can’t be ordered on the 90 or 130 versions of the truck, but there’s a reason for that.

The OCTA will be the second truck in Land Rover’s repertoire after the Range Rover Sport SV to get what’s called “6D Dynamic” suspension. That does away with any anti roll bars meaning that every wheel is independent and that allows for more articulation and better off-roading as a result. Those wheels and tires are developed specifically to work with 6D so until other Defender models get the tech – Land Rover won’t confirm or deny if that will ever happen, which is pretty typical OEM behaviour when it comes to new tech applications – those wheels will not work. New exhaust and front bumper designs, meanwhile, make for better approach and departure angles and the OCTA can wade through up to 1,000 millimetres of water. In addition to the better wheel articulation, there are also active dampers that will allow for more or less roll depending on the application. It may sound strange to want more body roll in any given vehicle, but being able to feel what the body is doing can be beneficial to the driver as it will provide them with a better idea of the forces being applied to their vehicle.

It’s not just the chassis that’s getting a hefty once-over, either; a single engine choice will be available and that’s a 4.4-litre twin-turb0 V8 shared with BMW. Those in the know that this isn’t the first time Land Rover has partnered up with the Bavarian manufacturer on the engine front, so it’s not like these two don’t know how to work in concert. In OCTA spec, it’s good for 635 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, which make this the most powerful Defender you can get, eclipsing the figures made by the older supercharged 5.0L V8 by 116 hp and 129 lb-ft. All that grunt gets made quickly thanks to this engine’s more compact “hot vee” alignment – the turbos sit nestled within the V of the engine – and a ZF 8-speed gearbox. Indeed, whether on-road or off, it seems this OCTA is going to have the guts to get it done.

The exterior gets a shot of life, too of course because while many – most, probably – appreciate the fairly basic and clean squared-off look of a Defender if you’re going to give it wild bulletproof (no, not really) tires and all that power, it has to look the part. So, the Edition 1 of the OCTA – of which just 400 will be made, for a total of 4,010 OCTAs across North America – gets all-new Faroe Green paint, which is a shade never seen on any Land Rover product, anywhere. All OCTAs get nicely integrated fender flares (the increased width necessitating new grille marker lights) as well as a dose of carbon fibre trimwork – the way they’ve applied it to the “Defender” applique on the nose is sublime – but it doesn’t look like the weave most carbon inserts get. Instead, this particular version of carbon has been sourced from recycled material for a more environmentally-conscious outlook. That’s why it looks like more of a mishmash than carbon typically does, which fits the Defender ethos well.

Inside, it’s fairly standard Defender; upright seating position, 11.2” central display with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, high-mount shift lever, exposed fasteners and grab handles for all. OCTA touches include performance seats with something called Body and Soul technology mounted within, specialized Ultrafabrics surfaces and soft Kvardat textiles and a 15-speaker Meridian audio system. Those speakers get augmented by the Body and Soul seats, which are developed to emit slight vibrations in tune with your music so you can literally feel the vibes through your back. The tech can also be used to improve driver attentiveness and wellness and if we’re honest, we can’t wait to see what all that feels like.

The final OCTA-specific touch is a new button marked with the diamond-shaped OCTA logo – or “octahedron”, which is where OCTA comes from as diamonds represent both durability and luxury, two pillars of the Land Rover brand – used to call up two new OCTA off-road modes, one that much more hardcore than the other.

Add all the accessories – fanny pack exterior storage bin, ladder, tent-capable roof rack – that we’ve come to know and love about the Defender, and what we have here is the ultimate application of one of Land Rover’s bestsellerss.

Needless to say, we can’t wait to give this one a go.

OCTA too hardcore? Try Outbound on for size

Earlier this year, Land Rover released the Outbound version of the Defender, and while not quite as souped-up as the OCTA, it gets some nice bits to give it a boost over the standard Defender and is a kit available only for the 130 long wheelbase model. They’ve done that because the Outbound is meant to be ready for an overlanding adventure or two right out of the gate. To ensure that it excels in that task, it gets beefy Goodyear Wrangler Duratec tires that make it better off-road and allow for more weight to be loaded on, more storage space thanks to the deletion of the third row of seating as well as an optional Expedition roof rack capable of handling almost 300 pounds of gear — or a big, comfy tent.

It doesn’t get the supercharged V8 but it does get the more fuel-efficient turbo inline-six. That makes more sense for an overlanding application where fuel economy is key. Don’t think of it as a skimp on power, though; we had the chance to drive the Outbound on both the highway and off the beaten track and the 395 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque it makes — sent through the same ZF 8-speed auto the OCTA gets — and in both applications, it was plenty gutsy.

As good as it was on paved roads, we also put it through its paces on Land Rover’s own off-road training course at the Biltmore ranch in North Carolina. There, we splashed across muddy embankments, slid over slick grassy fields, crawled out way through alternating “elephant tracks” ridges (think moguls for off roaders) that at times had the Outbound perched on just three or even two wheels and it took everything in stride. There’s no way a 2,600-plus kilo long wheelbase SUV should make the kind of progress we were making but even without trick 6D Dynamics ansd so on, there we were, traversing all of this with little concern. Make one really wonder just how good that OCTA’s going to be…