The ultimate Land Rover Defender 'Octa' will debut on July 3
Land Rover will reveal the flagship Defender OCTA to the public on July 3, and it has issued a series of fresh teasers for the powerful off-roader. Similar to the debut of the Range Rover Sport SV last year, manufacturing of the Defender Octa will be restricted for the first year, with purchasers selected. The SUV, described as the toughest and most capable Defender ever, will be shown off to prospective buyers in seven global locations before being revealed to the general public.
The Defender OCTA has undergone extensive testing. The British company claims that its engineers have performed over 13,960 additional tests on top of the standard Defender's testing regime, including handling and durability testing at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, wet asphalt testing in Ladoux, France, ice driving in Sweden, rally raid stages in France, sand deserts in Dubai, and rock crawls in Utah.
The majority of the systems appear to be inherited from the newly announced Range Rover Sport SV, including the BMW-derived V8 petrol engine, which is also used in the outgoing BMW M5 Competition and BMW X5 M Competition. The 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged engine powers all four wheels via an eight-speed automated transmission and is projected to produce the same 635PS and 750Nm as the Range Rover Sport SV.
Land Rover's sophisticated 6D Dynamics suspension system will also come standard. This design eliminates traditional anti-roll bars in favour of air springs with hydraulically cross-linked dampers equipped with semi-active electro-hydraulic flow valves. Consequently, on-road handling improves, as does tyre travel and articulation over off-road terrain.
Prototypes were also spotted with Brembo brakes, a titanium exhaust system, and 20-inch wheels with BFGoodrich all-terrain tyres. All of the prototypes so far have been based on the Defender 110 body design.
We're not quite sure if a few units of the Defender OCTa will be allocated for the Indian market, but nevertheless, the Defender is quite a popular vehicle among Land Rover fans in India which is why JLR India has all 3 of the body styles available in India with the 90 starting from Rs 94.45 lakh, the 110 starting from Rs 93.55 lakh and the 130 from Rs 1.30 crore (ex-showroom).
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