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Land Rover Defender Octa Launched In India, Price Starts From Rs 2.59 Crore

Land Rover has finally revealed the pricing of its flagship Defender model, the Defender Octa in the Indian market. It has a starting price of Rs 2.59 crore (ex-showroom). The Defender Octa has been listed on Land Rover’s website for quite a while now but there was no pricing for India until now. Subsequently, the top of the line Defender Octa First Edition with all the bells and whistles comes in at a hefty 2.79 crore (ex-showroom).

The Defender Octa is the ultimate Defender that the British luxury car manufacturer has to offer and not only is it the most powerful Defender on sale, it is also the most capable one. There are a host of changes which are very specific to the Defender Octa and it will compete against the likes of the Mercedes Benz G-Wagon 4×4² which is not available in the Indian market but is a direct rival to the Octa abroad. Here are all the changes to the Defender Octa over the regular Defender.

Land Rover Defender Octa: All The Off-Road Goodies

To make the Land Rover Defender the most capable Defender yet, Land Rover has changed a host of things. It has wider fender flares which increases the track of the vehicle and houses the larger 22-inch wheels as well with 20-inch ones with all-terrain tyres being an option as well. There are new bumpers at the front and also the rear which have larger openings for more cooling. The wheels are also bespoke to the Octa models and there are a few exclusive colours limited to the Octa namely-Carpathian Grey, Charente Grey, Faroe Green and Petra Copper. All the colour options can also be opted with a matte finish.

One major change underneath is the suspension system which has been beefed up for the Octa to be the ultimate off-road version of the Defender. There is a new 6D Dynamic Suspension which was also featured in the Range Rover Sport SV but there it was to increase on road performance while in the Octa, it enables better articulation since there are no physical anti-roll bars and it works by hydraulically interlinking the dampers on each side. Not only does it improve the Octa off-road but it now has impressive on-road performance as well.

There is an off-road specific ABS system as well which allows for the wheels to lock under heavy braking. On loose surfaces, this is the fastest way to stop as per Land Rover engineers. The individual suspension components including the thicker wishbones as well. There is more ground clearance, new skid plates, and a faster steering rack as well.

Powering the Octa is a 4.4L twin turbocharged BMW sourced V8 engine which produces 635 bhp and 750 Nm of torque. The torque number can be increased to 800 Nm when in launch control mode. Power is transferred to all four wheel via an 8-speed torque converter automatic by ZF. 0-100 kmph happens in just 4.0 seconds and it has a top speed of 250 kmph.

Other changes include new sport seats, lots of carbon fibre bits and an extensive accessory list to increase the practicality of your ultimate off-road Defender. With a price tag of Rs 2.59 crore (ex-showroom), the Octa is quite a bit more expensive than the base Defender but this will be a limited run production model which offers the best of what the Defender is.