The long-awaited top version of the Land Rover Defender SUV will be called Octa, this name refers to the octahedral shape of the diamond and symbolizes the highest strength and luxury and rarity. In the future, Octa versions will also appear in other members of the Defender model line.
2023 was a year of big changes for the Land Rover brand: Jaguar Land Rover management decided to split it into three separate brands — Range Rover, Defender and Discovery, because this way the business would be more efficient. In light of this decision, the name of the Jaguar Land Rover company itself was reduced to JLR and for the first time it had its own logo.
In the future, several different models will be offered under the Defender brand, united by a common angular style and remarkable off-road capabilities. In particular, development of a junior Defender model is already underway on the EMA electric vehicle platform with an 800-volt architecture. Well, the flagship for now remains the current “hydrocarbon” Defender of the L663 generation, which, however, also has hybrid versions.
At the moment, the Defender is JLR's best-selling model: last year, this SUV sold 110,367 units worldwide, which is 65.2% more than sales in 2022. Success is facilitated by a brutal image, high traffic and the regular appearance of new versions.
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The Defender Octa version will be the top-end and most expensive: according to the British magazine Autocar, the “diamond” SUV will cost about 200,000 pounds sterling ($252,000 at current exchange rates). Octa's own logo in the form of a square symbolizing an octahedral diamond inscribed in a circle will be found on the body and in the interior. The finish both outside and inside will be as refined as possible: in teasers, for example, three-dimensional Defender letters made of forged carbon are highlighted.
The Defender Octa will also be the most technically sophisticated in the range: it will feature a six-way adjustable 6D Dynamics suspension, high-performance Brembo brakes (the calipers will also have the Octa logo) and, for the first time on a Defender, a 4.4-liter BMW V8 twin-turbo petrol engine with a mild hybrid add-on (starter-generator).
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Previously, the most powerful versions of Defender were equipped with the old 5.0-liter compressor V8 of the AJ series, already out of production. It is still unknown how much the BMW V8 will produce under the hood of the Defender Octa, but for reference, let’s say that in the current Range Rover Sport SV it produces 635 hp. and 750 Nm. The 6D Dynamics suspension, without anti-roll bars (they are replaced by hydraulic cylinders), is essentially also borrowed from the Range Rover Sport SV, but retuned with a greater emphasis on off-road. The Defender Octa will also be equipped with especially durable rims and toothy tires.
Defender Octa will be completely declassified this year, the exact date of the premiere has not yet been announced, at the moment the top-end SUV is undergoing final development tests in different parts of the world with extreme weather conditions, as well as on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife — this is where handling is polished.
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