Land Rover Defender Octa ride review: up the hill in a ferocious new flagship

Standing tall amongst the hypercars and other wild machines at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed was the new Land Rover Defender Octa: a “high-performance, all-terrain hero” revealed just a few weeks earlier and raring to take on the famous 1.16-mile hillclimb, with Auto Express along for the ride.

Those who passed by in the paddock frequently did a double take, as they assumed it was just another Defender before registering the flared wheelarches, wider stance, dual air snorkels, new bumpers and massive brass towing eye all hinting that the Octa is something quite different.

Curiosity brought people in for a closer examination, the majority asking eagerly “what’s so special about this one?”. Of course, there’s the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 lurking under the bonnet that produces 626bhp and up to 750Nm of torque, which makes the Octa the most powerful Defender ever. The JLR PR team also detailed the upgraded brakes and faster steering, plus the specially developed all-terrain tyres on this example. 

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As we sat waiting for our turn up the hill, we noticed the subtle changes to the interior as well. There’s chopped carbon fibre trim on the centre console and the backs of the big bucket seats, which have a decent amount of side bolstering and still proved very comfortable. One other unique touch is the Octa button and shift paddles that illuminate red when the most aggressive drive modes are activated – more on those shortly.

At the wheel was Shaun Birch, Senior Manager of Vehicle Dynamics at JLR, who led the team responsible for tuning the heavily revised chassis of the Defender Octa. Its key feature is a new 6D Dynamics suspension system which, as Shaun pointed out, is similar to the technology we’ve seen in McLaren’s supercars. 

It’s also found in the new Range Rover Sport SV, and removed the need for anti-roll bars. Instead, the Octa has a system of air springs that work together with hydraulically-interlinked adaptive dampers that “virtually eliminates” pitch and body roll on tarmac, says the firm. It would make sense to showcase this by selecting ‘Dynamic’ mode for the Goodwood hillclimb, however Shaun wants to put on a bit more of a show.

A long press of the dedicated button on the steering wheel and we’re in Octa mode, which is all about off-road performance so slackens off the suspension for bombing around on gravel and other loose surfaces, but means the car will roll in the corners. And of course, the traction control has been turned off as well.

This was only the fourth time Shaun had driven on the Goodwood hillclimb course, but you’d never be able to tell that by the way made the Octa hustle. Burying his foot off the start line we’re fired forwards at expletive-evoking speeds – officially, 0-62mph takes just 4.0 seconds – while the V8 makes its presence known.

We’re used to seeing supercars kiss the apexes of corners, but the Octa smashes into them as we cut onto the grass, the body rolling slightly as we do and the back starting to rotate as well, but still feels very controlled. We gain more and more speed along the straight, flying past the Duke of Richmond’s humble abode, before the powerful brakes quickly slow the car for the blind left corner Molecomb and again as we approach the Flint Wall, before weaving past it.

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Even from our very quick preview of the Octa, it feels as though this car is a physical manifestation of the phrase “speak softly and carry a big stick”. It’s obviously not subtle or understated, but to unsuspecting passers-by, it does just look ostensibly like every other Defender on the road. Even the hugely powerful engine isn’t obnoxiously loud at all times, like other hugely powerful SUVs. 

However, once unleashed in capable hands, this car doesn’t move, sound, feel or stop like you’d ever expect a Land Rover Defender would be capable of. Is the new Land Rover Defender Octa really really worth the £145,300 to £160,800 starting price? We’ll leave that question until we finally get a chance to drive it ourselves.