Land Rover Philippines, through its official Philippine distributor, ICATS British Motors, Inc., has confirmed that order books for the toughest, most capable, and most luxurious variant of the Defender, the Defender Octa, will open soon.
Unveiled just before the Goodwood Festival of Speed where it will make its world dynamic introduction, the Defender Octa is powered by a 4.4-liter twin-turbo mild-hybrid V8 engine mated to an 8-speed automatic with high and low gears. This makes it the most powerful Defender ever with 635 horsepower and up to 750 Nm of torque. 0 to 100 km/h is done in just 4 seconds.
Accompanying the more powerful motor, the Defender Octa gets a heavily revised chassis with the hydraulically-interlinked 6D Dynamics system. This network of variable semi-active dampers virtually eliminates pitch and body roll on-road, while also enabling greater wheel articulation off-road.
It sits 28 mm higher and has its stance widened by 68 mm for better ground clearance and stability. Longer and tougher wishbones and unique dampers improve wheel articulation off-road and reduces on-road roll. 400 mm front brake discs with Brembo calipers provide better stopping power than ever. At each corner are 33-inch Goodyear Advanced All-Terrain tires specifically developed for the Defender Octa.
Enhancements to the drive modes include Octa Mode—a first-ever performance off-road drive mode that offers functionalities like Off-Road Launch mode. The familiar Terrain Response continues as does the ClearSight Ground View 3 which effectively makes the hood transparent for improved visibility on trails.
With a name derived from the toughest and most desirable mineral on earth—a diamond—and the octahedral shape that gives their distinctive appearance and durability, the Defender Octa wears a new encircled diamond graphic, including a gloss black diamond within a machined and sandblasted titanium disc on each Signature Graphic panel. The front passengers are treated to sport bucket seats with thicker bolsters and integrated headrests.
The seats also come with Body and Soul Seat audio technology – available for the first time in the Defender. The seats are developed in collaboration with music industry experts SUBPAC and Coventry University, allowing the driver and front passenger to feel, as well as hear, the music. Six wellness programs are also available to help relax occupants or help improve cognitive responses on the move, depending on their preference.
One thing for sure is it's going to be very expensive and unreliable.
ReplyDeleteThe top of the line Land Rover Defender 110 V8 P525 Carpathian Bespoke costs P18.55M so this toughest, most capable, and most luxurious variant of the Defender, the Defender Octa is bound to be even more expensive, probably P20M++. They are now opening their order books, but maybe they should just limit it to a page since the list of orders will not be long, given the exorbitant price, complexity, unreliability and high maintenance of this model even if admittedly it is capable and luxurious.
ReplyDeleteI think if Renault were to replace Nissan with BMW as the former's partner, then since the German carmaker used to own Land Rover until the latter was acquired by Ford in 2000, hence it was LR who've helped BMW to develop their own X SUV line, I wonder that German BMW would also reunite with British LR with help from French Renault and Romanian Dacia while having Renault to own both BMW and Jaguar Land Rover as well. (Although JLR doesn't have much presence in Southeast Asia as BMW therefore Renault may apply the lessons they've learned from its Nissan ownership to that of the French owning BMW and JLR...)
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