Land Rover to Introduce Twin-Turbo V8 Defender
If you like yer British off-road weapon served with a size of boost, you’re in luck. Land Rover announced this morning they are stuffing a twin-turbo V8 up the nose of its blocky Defender.
Pedants will note Defender is technically the brand these days, at least according to marketers at JLR who are trying to place the model on its own plinth. Part of that effort apparently includes this new OCTA trim, promised to be the most powerful Defender ever to roll off an assembly line. Specs are scarce at the moment but it’s worth noting that max attack V8 models currently make 518 horsepower; something in the neighborhood of 600 isn’t out of the question. This will be a mild hybrid mill.
As for the oddball OCTA name, it apparently stems from a diamond’s octahedron shape. This means you know there will be ample reference to the precious gem scattered about this trim, with a graphic of this nature planned to appear on a number of interior and exterior components. A diamond is generally considered to be the hardest naturally occurring substance on Earth and renowned for its rarity, so the name arguably fits this square off-road beast.
Underneath this SUV will be a new suspension developed in partnetship with a company called 6D Dynamics. The hydraulic interlinked technology apparently features an innovative pitch and roll control system designed to enable the truck to maintain a near-level stance during on-road acceleration, braking, and cornering. This will help whilst driving Miss Daisy but we’re more interested in how it’ll assist off-road, where yaw and pitch can approach wild angles. To this, JLR says it will maximize independent wheel travel and articulation whilst hammering across demanding off-road terrain.
The full vehicle will be shown later this year, in contrast to the Zapruder-grade image supplied today of a camouflaged unit being flung around the countryside.
[Image: Land Rover]
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Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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- Dale Quelle surprise.
- 3SpeedAutomatic Nice looking, but IIRC, there was an issue with these engines where a knock would develop. That may account for the very low milage. 🚗🚗🚗
- Redapple2 Used to watch F 1 a great deal. Now? F1 Random thoughts:1 Silly rules bug me. Must use 2 types of tire. Cant refuel. Drag reduction can only be used in certain areas of the track and only if you are so close to the car in front.2 Passing is rare. Pole sitter wins a high % of the time.3 A new team can only start in F1 if they get the blessing of the overlords. Evil gm Vampire was barred. How about this. Anybody with a car that meets the construction rules can try. If your speed qualifies and you pay the entry fee. You re in. So is anybody else. 4 I tune in for Martin Brundle's grid walk. In my life, it s must see tv. But he is often bumped or cancelled. Grid walk takes place 1 out of 3 or 4 races.5 So, because of this utter bull sheet and other points, I ve migrated to IMSA and MotoGP. I might catch a summary on the youtube.
- Redapple2 I retract my comments and apologize.
- Flashindapan I always thought these look nice. I was working at a Land Rover dealership at the time the LR3 came out and we were all impressed how much better it was then the Discovery in just about every measurable way.
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Sounds alright for mud and gravel games but all that highly complex electronic and hydraulic wizzardry would be suspect for serious rock crawling...