All,
I’ve now owned my OCTA for 6 months and just crossed the 2500 mile mark. I want to provide a “real” review for anyone considering the OCTA and potential alternatives. I have the privilege of owning several vehicles and will use my current stable as a sort of compare/contrast to sort out what I think the OCTA is and where it may fit for some people.

Current Stable:
2025 MB G63
2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2023 RR Sport
2024 RR
2024 Defender X 110 P400
2025 Defender OCTA

Background:
The Porsche Cayenne TGT is arguable the absolute finest sport suv on the planet. It does what no suv should do. It is utterly sublime…if you haven’t driven one, do yourself a favor and go test drive one. It’s INCREDIBLE!! The G-wagon is…well, it’s a G-wagon. The ‘panache’ factor is off the rails and maybe the best interior of any suv I’ve driven. The RR is the finest road vehicle I’ve ever driven…it simply eats up miles and does so with ease. Plenty of power and absolutely “all-day” comfortable. The RR Sport…naaah! The Defender 110 is well…a defender. You can mod it and have one of the best off-roaders available.

The OCTA:
That leads to my review of the OCTA. It’s good at a lot but not great at anything. It’s the “over promise, under deliver” vehicle of the year in my opinion…especially considering the price point. The “OCTA” mode is not transformative, the interior is just a defender, it simple pales as a performance SUV. The BMW engine is again; good, not great. The exhaust note is good not great. The 6-D suspension seems like “market-tecture” to me…feels no different than my Defender 110.

On the positive side, it’s pretty cool looking, and it pleasant to drive on the road. It absolutely can be your “do everything” daily driver.

My personal summary:
As previously said…it’s good not great. But it’s NOT EVEN close to being worth what I paid. Would I buy it again…not a chance. Will I keep it…probably. I’ve seen several reviews of the OCTA: one said it was the G-wagon killer…NOT a chance!!! One said it was the ultimate off-roader…transparently, I’m not really an off-roader so that may be true but at the price point will the average owner really off road this thing?


On balance…I really enjoy driving the OCTA. I drank the kool-aid and jumped off to buy the OCTA without even seeing it in person or driving it. I will admit that the rubric changes if the vehicle was $120,000 and NOT $170,000…in that case, “good” is ok. Also, I’m transparently evaluating the OCTA as a performance SUV. The rubric also changes if what they’ve actually delivered is a super powered, ultimate “off-roader”.

As a final thought…I’m really curious what the market data says about the OCTA. Has it been a home-run for JLR or an utter failure (see the BMW XM platform)???

Curious to others input.

 

Your review of the Octa falls in line with my experience having owned the V8 Carpathian Edition, the P400 and the P300. Whilst I enjoyed all three engines of the Defenders, my personal favorite is the P300. It is lighter, has more linear acceleration and overall a great Defender. The V8 and the P400 were very good as well, but not great in my opinion, sort of like how you feel about the Octa.

 

Interesting review and I think this is consistent with other reviews. I have never seen a collection of cars that is high dollar and SUV focused like yours below. Do you also have sports cars? It just seems like a very odd collection. Not criticizing. What market/city do you live in? It just seems odd, usually someone would have these, plus a Porsche, or a bunch of sports cars. Or other different stuff. The plethora of SUVs puts you in an interesting position to compare/contrast.

Current Stable:
2025 MB G63
2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT
2023 RR Sport
2024 RR
2024 Defender X 110 P400
2025 Defender OCTA

 

Basically, the OCTA is exactly that, a "super-powered ultimate off-roader". Furthermore, I think it is a mistake to think of it as anything else. This is because the other Defenders can be simply more comfortable due to a more classic seat design with a multi-way adjustable headrest and 2nd row captains chair type seats. For example, If the octa were available with the seats from the V8 and the 130 captain chairs, that's what I would want. In fact, if the 130 could be ordered as a octa version underneath, that's what I'd want ideally. More space, the 6D and longer travel suspension, but better interior both practically and comfortably speaking.

I had a solid axle G63, loved it for many aspects, but still appreciate more the air suspension vehicles that LR offers. For certain trips I really prefer our SV Autobiography RR. It's comfort is unmatched for my ergonomic preferences, which for BIG trips, like coast to coast, makes a huge difference in enjoyment as well as the practical aspect of being less fatigued when arriving on location for a commercial photoshoot, or for a mtn bike ride.

The interior is not remotely on par with the price point but the right buyer gets the OCTA and not only doesn't care but rather appreciates the ease of dealing with dirt and such.
In my first week and at 300 miles I took mine to a nearby ORV park to test some breakover and cross axle flex situations I knew about from going there in my heavily modified 2007 LR3 and 2008 VW Touareg V10 TDI I briefly had back then. I almost replaced it with a Cayenne GTS 6mt but ultimately decided that body shape was too small for my needs - having been spoiled by the ideal size of the LR3 for camping type travel.

As for the 6D being a marketing thing, that would be a natural assessment if one never pushes it into where it shines. Compared to the other Defenders, it dives less under braking and leans less when cornering harder. While I do not plan to necessarily be playing "rally wanna-be", I do load up pretty heavy for trips after a vehicle build is complete. For example my LR3 weighs 8000 lbs, when I'm solo. The 6D design handles the forces/weight much better than the normal suspensions. However, that is only part of the OCTA magic because the lack of sway bars allows it to really open up more on uneven terrain, more than just what the 6D does for it but also because the control arms are longer, which proves a wider range of geometry movement.
To me, the price difference b/n V8 / OCTA was all the work I would do to the V8 (or a P400) to get it taller (subframe lift) and allow larger tires while even then it still wouldn't match the OCTA due to the 6D and the wider track and control arms geometry.

So in a sense, to me, I saw the OCTA as the "factory built modified Defender" as opposed to the user/DIY/aftermarket modified Defender. So for a $40k lump sum, I got a fully warrantied, factory built lifted, widened, larger tires, and suspension upgrade. If a person hired all of that out, went fully into it, they could spend more than the 40k extra but still not rival the octa, at least from what I have seen available currently from various vendors. Like I said though, if there were a line item to get the "20 way" seats from a RR in the OCTA, I'd have those for sure. It would be almost perfect then.

Mine has 34" tires now, which is only 1" more than factory, and required no modifications. At that size, the desire/argument for wheels smaller than 20" weakens.

If I were forced to get a car sized "suv" though, it would likely be another VAG model like the Cayenne seeing as the VW offerings have all gone soft to me.

 

I have a ‘24 Turbo S Cab; 23 Taycan Turbo and a BMW M5 as well

 

I fully respect your perspective…as stated, I’m not a full on off roader. I suspect it is extremely capable as an off-roader.

 

We are interested in one of those sometime and it would be to replace the "small" car segment that we like to have in addition to the "go anywhere" vehicles. So far it has always been a sporty wagon or two but both of them are getting on in age.

Overall, I am sure these types of thread discussions can be invaluable to someone trying to decide. I did a lot of reading before even test driving all 3 of the potential Defender models and several threads told me about variations between models and years.

 

I think the new suspension makes the OCTA worth it. The ride is extremely good, especially at highway speed. It also works amazingly well off-road with the hydraulics visibly adjusting over terrain to get the car flat, and have all 4 wheels touching the ground. It works like magic. Moreover, the suspension hugely eliminates on-road body roll, to the extent we were comfortably able to pull 0.88 g’s on a mountain road.

In response to the interior not being worth the price tag, I do understand that it is very similar to the standard Defender’s interior, but the standard interior is excellent, so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I get it’s very rugged for the price tag, but if you want true opulence and luxury your in the market for a Range Rover, not a Defender. I do like the ruggedness, and I appreciate how easy the Ultrafabric is to clean because I like using my car properly. I think you are crazy if you spend the money for an all-terrain tow car and don’t use the potential. Plus, I think the shape of the seats is very comfortable. Not so much the ‘body and soul’ feature, that’s a bit stupid, but the actual seat so great.

TL;DR Know if you want a Range Rover or Defender before you buy an OCTA.

 

This is so valid. They come with all the features people usually turn on with GAP, wade deeper, are more powerful, and have beefier suspension. The marketing materials actually say that the components are physically stronger (supposedly), something that I doubt you’d find for aftermarket.

 

To be honest, I was negotiating $ on a V8 and then started researching what all the OCTA was really about because many sales people aren't much more versed than about the engine HP, wider track, and sitting taller, and the seats LOL.

I had already been pricing out the probable build / modifications. That process is where it dawned on me that in a year I'd end up spending much of the gap between the V8 and OCTA so it came down to just going for it.

You're in AU right? This Bundutec roof tent is pretty sweet.