The new top defender will not be shown until July, but the automaker is already showing testing and inviting potential buyers to private presentations.
As if the Land Rover Defender was not capable enough as it is, its manufacturer is preparing a tougher version. It’s called the Octa, and what else could be working under its hood than a turbocharged eight-cylinder. Land Rover boasted about it in a press release, to which they added images from testing the new product.
That eight-cylinder will not be the familiar supercharged five-liter, but an engine with two turbochargers. This will probably be a 4.4 liter V8 and a mild hybrid system from BMW, i.e. the engine originally from the X5 M, X6 M and other top versions of the big Munich cars. Land Rover already uses it in some other models.
During development, the car goes through 14,000 tests in addition to standard defender testing, the automaker says. They range from driving on the North Loop of the Nürburgring to rally-style tests in France or ice in Sweden to desert driving in Dubai or rock climbing in Utah.
The goal is to offer “a unique breadth of capabilities, comfort and composure on and off the road”. The name also refers to its durability – it does not originate from the number of cylinders, but from the word octahedron, Czech for octahedron. This is the shape of diamond, the hardest naturally occurring mineral on Earth.
In addition to the engine, it should offer durable but luxurious materials or suspension with the 6D Dynamic designation from the Range Rover Sport SV. This hydraulically connects the shock absorbers and thus controls body movements without the need for classic transverse stabilizers. Let’s also expect distinctive accessories from the outside and in the cabin “options to make every adventure epic”says the manufacturer.
While the company is showing the car to the world with camouflage and we won’t see it without it until July 3rd, those interested in buying it can register at their Land Rover dealer for one of the seven events that will present the car in detail. There will be four of them in Europe, and it’s quite likely that a lot of the supposedly limited production series will be sold on them.
