As JLR prepares the primary electric Range Rover for launch, it is usually gearing as much as reveal essentially the most excessive V8-powered 4×4 it has but produced.
The Defender Octa shall be revealed on 3 July as a extremely unique and very succesful super-off-roader, which is ready to make use of the twin-turbocharged, mild-hybrid 4.4-litre V8 from BMW, as deployed within the X5 and X6 M super-SUVs.
Just 1070 examples of this hardcore particular version will come to the UK in its first 12 months of manufacturing, that includes “tough luxury material choices, striking exterior and interior design enhancements, and the options available to make every adventure epic”, based on JLR.
The newest spherical of preview photos present the Octa being subjected to “the most extreme” check programme of any Defender variant but, with engineers conducting a claimed 13,960 further assessments on prime of the usual Defender check programme.
So far, it has carried out numerous laps of the Nordschleife, tackled Michelin’s wet-weather dealing with circuit in France, had its traction management put to the check on Swedish ice and brought on a few of the world’s most difficult off-road trails in Dubai and Utah.
It has additionally, JLR says, “conquered every extreme trail” on the firm’s 4×4 check monitor in Eastnor, Herefordshire.
Interested clients are being invited to join one in every of seven ‘Defender Elements’ preview occasions being hosted worldwide within the coming weeks, however the agency has given no indication of pricing but. It’s protected to imagine the Octa’s restricted, excessive billing will take it properly away from the £114k requested for at present’s costliest Defender.
Previously thought to hold the long-dormant SVX branding, the novel new off-roader has been noticed testing a number of instances, however solely now – just a few months earlier than its debut – has the agency given the primary official particulars of the brand new mannequin.
It would be the first automobile to put on the brand new Octa badge, which JLR says shall be used for all future range-topping Defender fashions. The title is claimed to come back from the octahedron form of a diamond, the toughest naturally occurring mineral on Earth – a mirrored image, little doubt, of each the automobile’s sturdiness and worth.