Have you had a Land Rover before, especially a higher spec model or any other "nicer" level suv ? I ask because the wagon you had is far nicer spec in regard to interior design, materials, adjustments, etc. The OCTA is a bit ironic for its price point. To be honest I think you should seriously also test drive a full size Range Rover, like an Autobiography level trim or even some other things like an X5 M or Cayenne of similar build.
I say this because the OCTA is priced for its chops, not for it "luxury" features, of which there are not really any.

Range Rovers:

Seating - Far better ergonomic adjustments and seating design both front and rear, articulated backrests, massage function, better bolstering, and infinitely nicer materials. The rear OCTA seats are a basic split bench folding 2 - piece, almost an afterthought. My 2007 LR3 2nd row seats are better as are the lr3 engineering of their folding flat into the floor.

My 2017 RR 2nd row seats recline, ventilated, lumbar, etc, winged headrests, massively more comfortable than the Defender 2nd rows and you can spec a RR with full massging rear seats etc and a "long wheelbase" if family and friends comfort matters.

Glass- RR has 3 layer windscreen and 2 layer side windows for quieter experience, my RR windscreen has UV/sun protection as well.

RR's have a lot more color choices inside and out.

Surprisingly, in terms of footprint/length, the RR also has more cargo space than a Defender 110 LOL and I don't mean by just a carefully measured 2" but more like 8" longer. I noticed this the other day transferring some stuff from one to the other.
The RR tailgate is also really quite nice. I like both designs as I have a 96 disco since 1999 and an 04 disco since 2006 so I find some aspects useful but overall the tailgate design is usually more practical and enjoyable for more purposes.

For example at least on the older 2004 Discovery swing door design, you can very easily stand on the nice wide flat bumper to access the roof rack. The Defender has a bumper designed to 99% discourage any standing even if you were to install grip tape.

I could go on but figured I'd let you ask for more if interested ;- )

 

Having gone from a 2024 Range Rover to the Defender OCTA, I agree with everything except quieter experience. L460's have a notorious wind noise issue and updates were done with little change and my OTCA is far quieter at highway speeds, even with the "Advanced All-Terrain Tires" making their racket.

 

Thanks for your comments, they are helpful for sure. I see my wagon, and it's CCBs etc., as a bit ironic as well...and it's probably why I am drawn to the Octa. You are correct in that the spec, build quality, finishing, etc., is top notch. I have some doubts it will be easy to find a similar level in an "enthusiast" dad vehicle in 2026. Value engineering seems to have been the predominant form of engineering across the industry in the last few years. There are exceptions, and the Octa is probably one of them. But understood, the price tag isn't there because JLR put a ton more effort into pumping up the luxury. I will miss soft close doors.

As for the luxury play (the RR)...beautiful (imo) car, and I absolutely love when my buddies pick me up in theirs to go somewhere...but I just can't see myself driving one. I'm more of a salt of the earth $160k defender guy.

This is my first JLR product, however, so in a few weeks I will be setting up a Turo with a normal 110 just to get a feel for driving position, back seat layout (two small boosters + a baby seat across?), and overall technology package, etc.

 

Hello. New to this forum. Just bought a 26 Octa on Saturday. Traded a 26 110 V8. Decided I wanted the Octa. Has the synthetic fabric seats which initially seem nice. Comfortable. Will not see full power for a few hundred miles I understand. Have had several G63’s and G550’s…..decided to try this instead. Had several P530 RRs bit got tired of the electronics nannies. My rep told me he doesn’t get near the number of calls (complaints) on the defenders that he gets on the RRs, especially the sport. So fingers crossed.

 

Great choice on the Ultrafabric seats. You won’t see creasing like the leather.
You’ll love it and probably have no issues - unless you got an unlucky build. In that case, just about everything will go wrong. Unlikely though.

 

I am definitely a HUGE fan of the blue Octa.

It is interesting to me that on that color interior, JLR used the grey plastics around the interior instead of the black plastics (by plastics, I mean flooring, sill trims, that sort of thing). I was not aware of that. Not good or bad, just an observation.

 

Have any of you OCTA owners received a software update yet? I have not received a single update since I purchased it. I was in for a service recently and asked them to check and they said there was nothing to apply to my defender. I’m coming from the standard V8 which seemed to get pretty regular updates.

For what it’s worth, my software update screen looks like this:



Is this what all OCTA owners see?

 

Hey leebones - I have a 2025 P400 that I purchased in February 2025 - I have also not received any software updates and my software update screen shows the same as yours. I had a 2022 P300 and received at least 6 updates, about 1 every 6 months, but nothing so far on my 2025 - strange. My dealer also said there was nothing they could do.

 

@leebones , with all variants the updates have been rolled out in batches with a variety of factors playing into the timing on when you receive one.

I took delivery of my OCTA end of June and received my second update just a couple of weeks ago.

 

Interesting. I have not seen any updates yet on my 2026. If yours got an update a few weeks ago, that was obviously well after mine was built.