The revival of the Land Rover Defender has been a smash hit for JLR. So much so that people have practically overlooked the Discovery and went straight for this boxy 4x4. Since its premiere way back in 2019, a barrage of special edition models have come and gone.
Locally, it’s the high-performance Octa model that’s just landed. It serves as the range-topping variant of the Defender, and it’s got a lot to offer. With a base price of P24.59-M, it better be the most epic Defender to date.
A huge part of the Octa’s appeal lies under the hood. It has a BMW-sourced 4.4-liter, twin-turbo V8 engine straight out of the M catalog. That means it packs 626hp and 750Nm coursed through a permanent four-wheel drive system. With that much power and torque, the boosted V8 can hurl this heavyweight in just 4.0 seconds…on all-terrain tires.
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The Land Rover Defender Octa also benefits from the Range Rover Sport SV’s 6D Dynamics air suspension system. In this case, it’s been calibrated more for extreme and demanding off-road use, instead of the sporty bias of the Range Rover, er, Sport. The company claims even greater driving dynamics on loose surfaces and rough terrain.
Water wading capabilities were further improved, not that the standard Defender struggled in that department. Still, Land Rover claims it can wade through 1,000mm – yes, a meter deep.
There’s another cool thing about the Defender Octa. Next year, Land Rover will enter a near-stock example in the grueling Dakar Rally. It’ll be two weeks of extreme off-road and flat-out driving, effectively an extreme torture test for this 4x4. That 6D Dynamics suspension and twin-turbo V8 will surely get a workout while it’s out there.
But therein lies an interesting, first-world conundrum for this special 4x4. There’s no doubt that it’s probably the most capable Defender of all time, but at around P25-M, will its owners dare risk scratching it up? Conversely, that price essentially gets you a leather-lined Dakar rally car, and rally raid cars aren’t exactly affordable.
Either way, you have to be quick in reserving one as it will be an extremely limited model for the Philippines. Land Rover Philippines boss Chris Ward hinted that they’re only offering less than five units locally, and one has already been spoken for.
More photos of the 2025 Land Rover Defender Octa:
