NEW YORK — Land Rover has finally pulled the wraps off the upcoming and often-spied Defender Octa. For those who haven’t been glued to any news surrounding this new model, it’s a premium-end, limited-run, ultra-high-performing variant of the Defender 110. Having been spied testing in Sweden, England, and even lapping the fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, I finally had the chance to take a first-hand look at the 2025 Land Rover Defender Octa in its final form — and I wasn’t disappointed.
Land Rover adorned the Defender Octa with plenty of new engineering and tech to make it stand out in terms of performance. Its upgraded suspension system, which Land Rover calls “6D Dynamics,” rapidly calculates and compensates for any pitch and body roll generated by g-forces. This should significantly help cornering, improve traction on- and off-road, and enhance ride comfort in general.
Land Rover has also fitted the Defender Octa with its twin-turbo V8 under the hood — erm, bonnet — and kept the existing mild hybrid system. It puts out 626 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, and Land Rover claims a zero-to-100 km/h run around the four-second mark. Additional changes to the ride height, track width, and underbody also allow for steeper ascent and descent angles, and the Octa can wade through a maximum water depth of 1 metre — up from the paltry 90 cm with a “regular” Defender.
What the previews and spy shots don’t capture is the Defender Octa’s sheer presence. The satin paint, widened fenders, unique wheels, and tweaked grille design with integrated amber LEDs inspired by clearance lights you’d find on much larger off-roaders are some of the features that struck me at first glance. But as I walked around the two models on display — one of which being an Edition One, a limited-run trim with a few special badges and a handsome “Faroe Green” paint job — I noticed more subtler details meant to make the Defender Octa a little bit more special.
Here, Land Rover has fitted new side intakes, more stylized nose badging, and gold-painted tow points to the front and rear end. As well, the redesigned gas cap integrates into the massive fender flares perfectly, and the squared-off exhaust tips are almost hidden in the rear bumper. This is a much more refined-looking Defender overall, yet it maintains its ruggedness wonderfully.
That refinement extends to the Defender Octa’s interior as well, making it an even more comfortable space to complete your rock-crawling from within. The front seats are now a bucket-style with integrated headrests and more bolstering, as well as what Land Rover calls “body and soul” audio technology — which is basically a set of speakers stuffed inside. Land Rover was also kind enough to put six “wellness programs” into the infotainment system so you can … have a spa day while driving through a snowstorm? This addition feels more than a little gimmicky to me, but maybe some people will enjoy it for more than five minutes.
The rest of the interior features upgraded material and colour options, including a fetching two-tone khaki-on-ebony, which is exclusive to the Edition One. Beyond the style updates, a reworked centre console makes better use of space below the drive mode selector thanks to a hidable storage cubby — instead of the gap that was there previously. The wireless charger is also tilted up to a 45-degree angle, allowing easier access to your phone. Here’s hoping these tweaks make it to the rest of the Defender lineup.
Land Rover will release more details on the Defender Octa in the coming weeks, including exact pricing and availability. But for now, the 2025 Land Rover Defender Octa certainly has the goods to be a more rugged, handsome, and livable top-tier off-roader. Personally, having recently taken delivery of a Defender 110 X-Dynamic, I almost wish I was a little more patient; I’m admittedly not a big fan of forged carbon fibre, so I’ll pretend that’s enough to justify staying in my lowly six-cylinder model. That is, until I find out what it feels like to send a truck with the aerodynamics of a shipping container from zero-to-100 in four seconds flat.
