Way back in 1948 when Maurice Wilks traced the outline of the first Land Rover Defender in the sands of Anglesey, it’s unlikely he’d have thought his ‘mechanical sheepdog’ would one day rocket to 100kph in 3.8 seconds, transport five in ultimate luxury and be the de jour society choice of thousands. But that’s what happened. The recently launched Octa (named after a diamond) is the fastest Defender ever made, even as it retains its off-road prowess. Wilks would have been astonished: all he envisaged was a light-duty tractor, an engine and four-wheel-drive system that was able to go anywhere and run various mechanicals off the central power unit. Function was his cornerstone, ability his guiding principle.
Function and ability remain central to the successor, but the accent, post the redefinition of Defender in 2020, is firmly on luxury and design. It’s that cocktail that proved so popular; today Defender makes up a full 70 percent of Jaguar Land Rover sales and the understanding is most definitely ‘don’t fix what ain’t broke’. Rugged good looks, real off-road ability, cossetting luxury, presence on the road and a pedigree going back nearly 80 years are the fundamentals. And so, for 2025, Octa, the latest iteration, simply adds more of the same: more power, better insulation, more electronic ability and greater driving satisfaction.
Climb in (or up) and the world is a peculiarly changed place in a Defender. It’s high enough to look down on even the double cabs, traffic is a doddle and because it’s so quiet, even with the monster V8 engine running, there’s a glorious sense of detachment. Curated is the word – choose your music, your company and your destination – everything is in your control.
Press the substantial accelerator pedal and there’s the first hint that this is no ordinary 110. The distant roar harks back to a time of muscle cars and unburstable engines. Indeed, this V8, a 4.4 litre twin turbo mild hybrid unit is all of those things, muscular, unburstable, epic. It produces 470kW and 750Nm of torque, and given the right encouragement, makes short shift of overtaking. It feels beautifully engineered, shamelessly performative, a rock star, but with a dynastic heritage. It’s the in-gear acceleration that is really so satisfying. The twin turbochargers work to offer up instant low down-pull and high end-legs. Again, it’s a curious experience in a massive SUV rather than a road-hugging sports car. Happily, both suspension and chassis are up to the task of containing and directing all that power. Equally impressive are the uprated brakes, which bring the nearly three-ton beast to a confident stop without drama or alarm.
onfident stop without drama or alarm. Soon enough the relationship of driver and car is established. Octa, for all its heft, is an easy drive; controls and touchpoints light and carefully weighted. Steering, brakes and gear shifter are all quickly understood. Relaxed. There’s nothing to fear here.
The interior is a contradiction; everywhere a design edginess reveals itself, yet it’s also robust, channelling Wilks’s determination for function and longevity. The Octa, you might say, frames utility as an aesthetic decision. Seating, door insets and roof lining are exquisitely detailed. And Defender is an electronic masterclass, the various control units interfacing on the huge infotainment screen that offers a frankly dizzying array of controls. Naturally, all the expected passive and active safety aids are included, but Defender’s real party trick is its bouquet of offroad aids. Everything from wade visualisation to suspension and camber information. Ride height is adaptable and there are a host of drive modes for every possible surface and adventure, many of which most owners will never encounter.
But today we try find a road beyond its ability. A track to truly test the Octa. Earlier in the day, it had already dispatched the Atlantis Dunes with barely a pause. Now, beyond Ceres and into the Tankwa, the rain-ravaged paths that pass for roads might be a test. Except not. Three hours later, up Gannaga Pass into the High Karoo, Octa felt like nothing more than a family sedan out for a Sunday cruise. It’s understood in the safari community that Land Rovers have the best suspension set-ups, and that played out again in the Tankwa. Neither rocks, corrugations, sand nor shale dampened its resolve. What an astonishing machine.
Routing home via the N1, truck-dense and awful, the Octa had one more trick up its sleeve. The adaptive cruise control made the trip back far less stressful, surely one of the most sensible, useful inventions in modern motoring. High above the noise and chaos, happy in the knowledge it could produce whatever was asked of it at the touch of the throttle, the world was a wonderful place. The only stresser was trying to ignore dirt track after dirt track off to the left and right. Because, for all its sophistication and raw power, Defender still belongs where nothing else does. Far, far off the beaten track. Maurice Wilks would approve.
