Many people, but especially Defender enthusiasts, bashed the L663 series for being a unibody rather than a body-on-frame sport utility vehicle. Certain voices also expressed worry in regard to the Defender getting too upmarket. It's alright to point the finger at Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover for both developments, but looking at the bigger picture, JLR wouldn't have done either had there been no demand for such a vehicle in the lineup.
The British automaker says that full-year sales are up more than 20 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. In the past quarter, Defender sales improved 5 percent to 28,702 units worldwide. In order to keep the Defender fresh, Jaguar Land Rover is preparing extensive updates. The so-called OCTA will serve as the flagship trim level for model year 2025, and similar to the big Range Rovers, it will be powered by a twin-turbo V8.
Named after the octahedron, which is the most common shape of natural diamond crystals, OCTA sports the S68 engine from BMW instead of the AJ133 from Jaguar Land Rover's Ford era. The direct-injected engine rolled out in 2009, a year after the Dearborn-based automaker agreed to sell the Jaguar and Land Rover divisions to Indian automaker Tata Motors.
S68 is BMW's codename for the successor of the S63. The M-developed engine may have a similar displacement to the S63 and regular-production N63, but it's very different from the S63 in many respects. Developed with hybridization in mind, the mild-hybrid version of the S68 enables a whopping 626 horsepower and 553 pound-feet (750 Nm) of tire-shredding twist in the Range Rover Sport SV.
Teased in March 2024, the Defender OCTA is expected to mirror the SV's crank output ratings, and – similarly to the Range Rover Sport SV – it will further sweeten the deal with 6D Dynamics air suspension. The spy photographers have recently captured a camouflaged prototype doing hot laps at the Green Hell, with said trick suspension keeping the OCTA as composed as possible in the corners.
Photo: SH Proshots
In addition to pitch and roll control, the 6D Dynamics system further promises a near-level stance during braking and acceleration. In addition to dynamic driving scenarios, 6D Dynamics also maximizes articulation and wheel travel across uneven terrain. A seriously capable setup, indeed!
Also tested in the sub-zero weather of Sweden, the deserts of Dubai, and on Moab trails in the United States of America, the Defender OCTA shows widened arches filled with all-terrain rubber. Equipped with 20-inch wheels measuring 275/60, the most powerful and likely the most expensive Defender thus far is rumored to be revealed on July 11. The press release for the Defender OCTA from March 2024 reads "ahead of its full reveal later this year," meaning that the hearsay might hold water.
The OCTA is the first of the Defender Elements series, but alas, JLR did not explain what the Elements series will entail for the 2025 Land Rover Defender and future models. All we know is that OCTA should've been SVX, a designation that Jaguar Land Rover last used for the Land Rover Discovery SVX concept from the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Discovery SVX was officially canned in February 2019, while the production version of the Range Rover SV Coupe was canceled in January 2019. Considering that only the Range Rover Sport SV uses the SV designation, SVX might be used for an upcoming SUV from the Range Rover sub-brand.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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