2025 Defender Octa India review: Hardcore performance SUV – Introduction

The Land Rover Defender Octa made landfall in India final month with a beginning worth of Rs 2.59 crore (ex-showroom), whereas the limited-run ‘Version One’ is tagged at Rs 2.79 crore. It’s not simply probably the most highly effective and excessive Defender ever constructed but additionally the most costly. The truth is, it prices a hefty Rs 1.07 crore greater than the Defender V8, beforehand the priciest variant at Rs 1.52 crore. However make no mistake: this isn’t simply one other beauty particular or a brand new trim line with a catchy title. The Octa has been totally re-engineered from the bottom up.

The acquainted supercharged 5.0-litre V8 has been swapped for the BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 paired with mild-hybrid tech, which has additionally been utilized by Vary Rover. It produces a colossal 635hp and a most 800Nm of torque – figures that place it squarely within the realm of high-performance SUVs. Land Rover claims it would speed up from 0 to 100kph in simply 4 seconds.

We’ve pushed the Octa within the wilds of South Africa, however how does it fare within the ‘wilds’ of India? This can be a very totally different sort of jungle. One the place deep potholes can swallow a wheel, monsoon-induced craters seem in a single day due to shoddy roadwork, and unmarked velocity breakers can launch you skyward. Axle-twisting ruts left behind by overloaded vans and the unpredictability of two-wheelers weaving via site visitors solely add to the insanity.

2025 Defender Octa exterior design and engineering

In circumstances like these, what you want most is floor clearance, and the Octa has that in abundance. With a towering 323mm of clearance in its highest setting, this brute can crawl over nearly something. A category-leading water-wading depth of 1 metre means you received’t suppose twice about driving via a flooded Mumbai road in peak monsoon.

No highway is simply too robust for the Octa, due to its immense floor clearance.

Top is the Octa’s most dramatic dimension. It stands 28mm taller and 68mm wider than an ordinary Defender 110, its bulging arches stretched to accommodate severe rubber. In South Africa, we examined it with aggressive off-road tyres; our India-spec take a look at automobile, nonetheless, had equally chunky BF Goodrich Path-Terrain rubber. These 275/60 R20 tyres kind a powerful line of defence towards unhealthy roads, with ultra-tall sidewalls and hard development that shrugs off sharp edges and potholes.

That is the Defender dialled as much as eleven. The Octa will get a singular grille, strengthened bumpers, a strong steel bash plate and 4 exhaust pipes poking out the rear. Even the standard Land Rover badge provides approach to a geometrical Octa brand – a nod to the octahedron, the form of a diamond and an emblem of energy.

The Version One, completed in a shocking Faroe Inexperienced and loaded with each optionally available further, is for individuals who need true exclusivity. Naturally, that type of assertion doesn’t come low-cost – Rs 2.79 crore, to be precise.

2025 Defender Octa inside area and luxury

Octa-specific 14-way adjustable seats hug you for a safe journey.

While you need to enter the cabin, that added peak does have a disadvantage. Even with the air suspension dropped to its lowest setting, the cabin continues to be a climb. The seize deal with on the dashboard, relatively than the A-pillar, doesn’t supply ideally suited leverage both. However when you’re inside, the commanding driving place and panoramic visibility make you are feeling such as you personal the highway.

The high-set rear seat is comfy, however getting out and in is hard.

Entry to the rear seat is a bit simpler due to a well-placed deal with, however aged passengers – or anybody in a saree – will nonetheless wrestle with the ingress and egress. The again seat is high-set, generously cushioned and really comfy, with good area even for 3 abreast. Open the side-hinged tailgate, spare wheel and all, and there’s a beneficiant baggage space that completes the Octa’s household credentials.

Beneficiant space for storing with rubberised surfaces for added practicality.
 

2025 Defender Octa options and security package

Infotainment system brims with efficiency stats and real-time knowledge.

Inside, the Octa retains the Defender’s signature mix of ruggedness and refinement – however with a sporty twist. The 14-way adjustable entrance sport seats are upholstered in a mixture of leather-based and Extremely material, a troublesome, light-weight, weather-resistant materials that shrugs off warmth, sweat, mud and monsoon muck. So, sure, you may climb in soaking moist with a muddy canine and never fear. However let’s be sincere; in India, most Octa house owners received’t stray removed from the tarmac or threat dirtying their designer loafers.

Unique Version One options carbon-fibre trim for a contact of luxurious.

The Khaki-Ebony theme within the Version One, contrasted with carbon-fibre accents and distinctive upholstery patterns, units it other than the usual Defender cabin. Octa-specific touches embody new show graphics, efficiency menus and a devoted ‘Octa’ mode button on the steering wheel.

In Octa mode, the gearshift paddles mild up, including a sporty contact.

Tech-wise, the Octa runs the most recent technology of JLR’s infotainment system – slick, intuitive and enriched with drive-specific options. Crucially, Land Rover hasn’t sacrificed usability for kind. Necessary controls, like these for the HVAC system, are nonetheless managed by way of bodily dials and buttons, not buried in menus.

2025 Defender Octa efficiency and refinement

Driving one thing that prices north of Rs 3 crore via Mumbai’s chaotic site visitors needs to be nerve-racking, however the Defender Octa flips that script. Its sheer presence elements site visitors like Moses did the Pink Sea. Smaller autos hold their distance, and that, in itself, reduces stress.

You sit excessive, with glorious all-round visibility, and with 750Nm of torque at your command, overtakes are easy (the utmost torque is 800Nm within the Dynamic launch mode). The Octa rides fantastically over Mumbai’s patchy roads – agency however by no means harsh. In contrast to conventional ladder-frame off-roaders just like the G-Wagen or Wrangler, the Octa doesn’t toss you round or really feel unwieldy.

On the newly opened AtalSetu, Mumbai’s 22-km trans-harbour sea hyperlink, the Octa lastly stretches its legs. Flooring the throttle, and the 4.4-litre V8 responds with a refined snarl piped via the quad exhausts. It’s not as loud or dramatic because the outgoing supercharged V8 or AMG’s thunderous G63, however it’s potent.

BMW-sourced 4.4-litre V8 churns out 635hp and 800Nm of torque.

We timed a 0-100kph dash in 4.7 seconds, barely off the claimed time however nonetheless blisteringly fast for a 2.5-tonne SUV. What’s extra spectacular is how flat and composed the Octa feels at velocity. There’s little roll or pitch, and the physique management is astonishing for one thing this tall.

2025 Defender Octa journey consolation and dealing with

On the sinuous Lonavala Ghat part of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Octa corners with confidence; the fast and correct steering permits you to change path confidently. Nonetheless, you do really feel the mass and peak when shortly transitioning via a sequence of corners, and the tall all-terrain tyres blunt the steering response. The factor is that the Octa goads you to push it laborious, to drive quick, and at excessive speeds, you would possibly spot potholes too late. However as an alternative of swerving to keep away from them, the Octa, with out flinching, can simply drive via them as in the event that they don’t exist.

The Octa’s actual ace is its trick new suspension. Referred to as 6D Dynamics, this superior setup makes use of hydraulically linked dampers rather than conventional anti-roll bars, permitting it to manage pitch and roll in actual time.

The Octa is a long-distance champion, effortlessly overlaying miles, irrespective of the floor.

On Indian roads, it’s a revelation. Over tough patches, potholes and velocity breakers, the Octa doesn’t bounce, lurch or really feel unsettled like a typical tall SUV. It isn’t as plush as a Vary Rover, which cocoons you from the skin world, however it strikes a near-perfect steadiness between suggestions and luxury. You’re feeling the highway beneath you – however you don’t endure it.

We peel off the freeway previous Lonavala, heading in the direction of Nanoli. That is rural Maharashtra, the place the roads are slender, the tarmac is patchy, and life slows down. Nicely, not fairly. The Octa appears to thrive in these backwaters. You sit excessive, steering round goats, cyclists and the occasional overambitious biker, and that sense of management by no means fades. On these slender roads, it is not uncommon to drop the within two wheels off the highway and onto the earthen shoulders to present approach to oncoming site visitors. Within the Octa, you are able to do that with out slowing down. Nothing – completely nothing – catches the Octa out. If something, the Octa makes rural motoring really feel nearly luxurious.

We attain the still-under-construction Nanoli Speedway. It’s a mud-laced ribbon of what’s going to quickly be a world-class racetrack. However for now, it’s a gravel racetrack, a free floor for some high-speed antics. That is the time to modify to Octa mode and swap off the traction management. The Octa is shockingly simple to float and slide like a rally automobile. The sense of management and the boldness you get flicking this large SUV across the 3km dust monitor make you are feeling like a Dakar champion. You end the session not sweaty and drained however with the cooled seats on and your favorite music taking part in.

2025 Defender Octa worth and verdict

Unsurprisingly, Land Rover is gunning squarely for the Mercedes-AMG G 63 with the Rs 2.59 crore-2.79 crore Octa. The G 63, with its highly effective and glorious-sounding V8, would possibly nonetheless have extra road cred and an irresistible appeal that has received it a legion of followers, however it’s nowhere close to as succesful or rounded a automobile because the Octa, which does virtually all the things higher.

Different efficiency SUVs, such because the Porsche Cayenne or Lamborghini Urus, exist, however they’re much more road-biased and might’t take a severe bashing – particularly with their low-profile tyres. That’s why the Octa stands in a league of its personal: equally comfortable navigating the chaotic sprawl of Mumbai, drifting sideways down a gravel highway, tackling distant Ladakhi tracks, or wading via a metre-deep river. Sure, it’s tremendous costly, however for individuals who can afford it, the Octa is luxurious with a wild streak – constructed not simply to outlive India’s roads however to dominate them.

Additionally see:

2025 Defender Octa India video overview

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