It’s the most potent and the most luxurious upgrade of a legend.
It has extreme off-road capability, as well as extreme on-road performance.
It pushes the boundaries of what the most capable 4×4 SUV can do.
It’s called the Defender Octa, and we drove it across the absolutely scenic English countryside.
What’s the Octa?
It’s the most luxurious Defender ever – and also the fastest. It’s in the same league as the G-Wagen (Mercedes-AMG G 63) – the ultimate in SUVs.
Is it better than G-Wagen?
Both have unique personalities and features.
The G-Wagen, for example, has the 4.0-litre petrol engine (850 Nm, 430 kW), while the Defender Octa gets the 4.4-litre petrol mild-hybrid V8 engine (750 Nm, 467 kW).
The G-Wagen is slower to 100 km/h, with a time of 4.4 seconds, while the Octa touches 100 km/h in just 4 seconds. The Octa also has higher top speed (about 250 km/h), compared to 220 km/h of the G 63.
As far as ground clearance is concerned, the G 63 has a standard ground clearance of 238 mm, which can be increased to 351 mm, while the Octa has a total ground clearance of 323 mm.
The G-Wagen is expensive – at Rs 3.64 crore, ex-showroom – while the Octa costs Rs 2.59 crore (and Rs 2.79 crore for the Edition One).
But both these boxes of an SUV can give a Ferrari a run for its money.
How does it drive?
The Defender Octa, despite its extreme off-road performance promise, is surprisingly refined on the road. The engine – sourced from BMW – is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. On twisty roads, there is very little body roll, and on straight highways, the SUV remains composed. The view from the driver’s seat is really wide, and its all-wheel drive system ensures almost zero traction loss even on waterlogged roads. We didn’t drive it off the road (that needs another article).
What about pricing?
On-road prices of above Rs 3 crore mean that it’s quite expensive. But looked at it another way, it looks as bold as the G-Wagen, and goes as fast as a (slow) Ferrari, and its quad-pipe exhaust produces a powerful sound, a growl.
