Online Reporter
LAUNCHED five years ago, the (Land Rover) Defender has received several upgrades, including finishes, design and technology enhancements across 90, 110 and 130 body designs, so has been the Defender Octa.
It gets a new headlight design with signature detailing and fog lights as standard, and flush rear lights with smoked lenses.
There are new exterior colour options that include woolstone green and borasco grey, enhanced detailing and upgraded materials, as well as a larger 13.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system.
Adaptive off-road cruise control is available as an option, while the Defender 130 is now available with an optional integrated air compressor.
The Octa gets a new sargasso blue exterior colour, a patagonia white exterior with matte protective wrap and tactile textured graphite accents.
Exterior
The Defender receives optimised surfaces for the new front and rear bumpers finished in silicon silver or carpathian grey satin on most models, and a new textured pattern for the bonnet inserts and side vents, while the gloss black grille-bar with a dark oval badge is now standard.
It stands on newly designed 22-inch seven-spoke diamond turned dark grey alloy wheels.
Interior
The dash-mounted gear-shifter has been repositioned, and the centre console has been redesigned to make the most of the space on offer.
A new sliding section hides small items out of sight in a closed cubby, and as part of the signature suite upgrade, it gets removable side pockets and cable routing to keep items charged without wires trailing around the cabin.
There is still the option for the centre “jump” seat for three-abreast seating across the front on most models.
For the first time, there is optional adaptive off-road cruise control that allows the driver to set a desired comfort level when negotiating rough terrain.
The system automatically adjusts the speed to maintain the desired level of comfort while driving off-road.
A new driver attention monitor features a driver-facing camera that provides audio-visual alerts that can be adjusted, enabled or disabled via the driver assistance menu.
Defender Octa
The fastest and most capable Defender yet, with a 467kW 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, gets a revised colour palette, which, in addition to the existing charente grey and petra copper, there is now borasco grey and sargasso blue with a coarse sparkle.
In addition to the existing matte protective film available on all Defender Octa exteriors, there is also an optional patagonia white matte wrap.
There are also new textured graphite finishes with a matte surface and high-intensity metallic flake on key touchpoints on the exterior, including the front and rear bumpers, bonnet vent inserts, side fender vent surrounds and two-piece bonnet script with a phosphor bronze outer finish.
Chopped carbon fibre exterior and interior accents can now be specified as an option, along with four interior colourways and a choice of wheel and tyre combinations, including 20-inch forged alloy wheels.
Behind a chopped carbon fibre cover, there is a specially integrated 4 500kg-rated winch. — IOL
Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter