Octa Seats
Rock Crawling
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 268
Likes: 200
From: Southern California
I really like that interior color and the two-tone steering wheel. The color of the interior looks much better in these photos than it does online in the configurator. I would want some contrast on the center console hockey stick pieces. Contrasting colors, such as black veneer wood or walnut, or something similar. It still wouldn't be a deal killer for me. I really like the OCTA. Congrats man!
Last edited by D110Xd; Mar 25, 2025 at 05:56 PM.
Mudding
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 199
Likes: 153
From: Tarrytown, NY
What I did discover yesterday was that the side bolsters in the front seats are adjustable - it can be tightened up for additional support - a nice touch but again - I wish they were 'sectioned' like the RRS SV seats so there is less risk of creasing and more support.
Mudding
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 200
Likes: 68
From: Tacoma Wa
Having personally seen the OCTA seats at the Los Angeles event last year in both leather and Ultrafabric with Kvadrat, I can say the appearance of the seat design is far better in person. It is a cool look, different and in no way looks cheap...especially on the seats with the carbon fiber. An Edition One with khaki in the combination of Ultrafabric/Kvadrat looked really good. The use of two textures, one being a woven type fabric, is becoming very popular in upper tier high end vehicles like Bentley.
The stitching pattern was very nicely done with it being positioned well in relation to the perforations, hopefully production vehicles have the same precision. The seat structure and padding was very supportive and comfortable for the 15 minutes or so we sat in an Edition One.
I do understand the comment that at the +/- $170,000 price point, the design of the seat covers might be considered too basic and uninspiring by some. With these seats being borrowed from the Range Rover Sport SV, it would have been nice to have a covering design more like the Sport SV’s but the OCTA doesn’t look horrendous by any means. And for OCTA in my opinion, the design does fit an off road, purpose built appearance.
The Burnt Sienna leather looked really good with the color being not only nice but it showed off the curves and stitching detail. Going by only photos, I personally think an all black leather would be rather boring with this design. Hands down, the majority feeling of those I talked to at the Los Angeles event was the material and texture combination of the khaki Ultrafabric/Kvadrat on the Faroe Green vehicle was the standout combination.
For my Edition One order I would have liked to have had a leather option other than black but that not being available, my selection of the khaki Ultrafabric/Kvadrat was made without any reservation. I have high hopes for the Ultrafabric as the leather on my 2024 Range Rover with 11,000 miles is not holding up as well as other leather seats I’ve had in the past.
The stitching pattern was very nicely done with it being positioned well in relation to the perforations, hopefully production vehicles have the same precision. The seat structure and padding was very supportive and comfortable for the 15 minutes or so we sat in an Edition One.
I do understand the comment that at the +/- $170,000 price point, the design of the seat covers might be considered too basic and uninspiring by some. With these seats being borrowed from the Range Rover Sport SV, it would have been nice to have a covering design more like the Sport SV’s but the OCTA doesn’t look horrendous by any means. And for OCTA in my opinion, the design does fit an off road, purpose built appearance.
The Burnt Sienna leather looked really good with the color being not only nice but it showed off the curves and stitching detail. Going by only photos, I personally think an all black leather would be rather boring with this design. Hands down, the majority feeling of those I talked to at the Los Angeles event was the material and texture combination of the khaki Ultrafabric/Kvadrat on the Faroe Green vehicle was the standout combination.
For my Edition One order I would have liked to have had a leather option other than black but that not being available, my selection of the khaki Ultrafabric/Kvadrat was made without any reservation. I have high hopes for the Ultrafabric as the leather on my 2024 Range Rover with 11,000 miles is not holding up as well as other leather seats I’ve had in the past.
Also, can you comfirm and expand upon the seat controls as a user?
Above, "Cincy" said they do in fact have more controls, like the V8 would such as lumbar and side bolsters but I was surprised to see the claim of "massage" because none of the other defenders have it. I would not have thought I cared at all but now that I'm used to them in my recently acquired 2017 RR SV-AB, I would love to have it in the Defender as well.
Also, regarding the headrests, my biggest concern is that I REALLY like an adjustable headrest and the top spec 130's have it with fore-aft and the "wings".
I do a lot of long trips, sometimes WA-NC and back so the seat and ergonomics are very important to me.
Thanks for any insight ...
Mudding
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 200
Likes: 68
From: Tacoma Wa
I really like that interior color and the two-tone steering wheel. The color of the interior looks much better in these photos than it does online in the configurator. I would want some contrast on the center console hockey stick pieces. Contrasting colors, such as black veneer wood or walnut, or something similar. It still wouldn't be a deal killer for me. I really like the OCTA. Congrats man!
Last edited by jwest; Oct 24, 2025 at 11:31 PM.
Rock Crawling
Joined: Jun 2024
Posts: 335
Likes: 202
From: Queensland
I understand the OCTA seats may look 'generic', but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In my opinion, they are very comfortable and supportive. I'm not in love with the way the back looks, but they look much better in person compared to the photos. The bolsters just curve so nicely into the seat back. However, I'd stay away from getting them in leather. The combination of tall seat height and the bolsters makes them crease very quickly - I've seen the leather seats on OCTA's with 500 km be creased. I've had mine now for a couple of months with the Ultrafabric seats, which are showing no signs of creasing whatsoever.
Mudding
Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 112
Likes: 104
From: SE Washington State
Hey, it's been a few months and now your sig shows the 2024 being gone. How are you liking the OCTA? Do you ever wish for more space that the 130 v8 would have provided?
Also, can you comfirm and expand upon the seat controls as a user?
Above, "Cincy" said they do in fact have more controls, like the V8 would such as lumbar and side bolsters but I was surprised to see the claim of "massage" because none of the other defenders have it. I would not have thought I cared at all but now that I'm used to them in my recently acquired 2017 RR SV-AB, I would love to have it in the Defender as well.
Also, regarding the headrests, my biggest concern is that I REALLY like an adjustable headrest and the top spec 130's have it with fore-aft and the "wings".
I do a lot of long trips, sometimes WA-NC and back so the seat and ergonomics are very important to me.
Thanks for any insight ...
Also, can you comfirm and expand upon the seat controls as a user?
Above, "Cincy" said they do in fact have more controls, like the V8 would such as lumbar and side bolsters but I was surprised to see the claim of "massage" because none of the other defenders have it. I would not have thought I cared at all but now that I'm used to them in my recently acquired 2017 RR SV-AB, I would love to have it in the Defender as well.
Also, regarding the headrests, my biggest concern is that I REALLY like an adjustable headrest and the top spec 130's have it with fore-aft and the "wings".
I do a lot of long trips, sometimes WA-NC and back so the seat and ergonomics are very important to me.
Thanks for any insight ...
On the cargo space topic, certainly a 130 would have been more in line with my RR LWB. Sadly just before delivery of the OCTA one of our two Bernese Mountain Dog's passed from cancer - while both would have fit in the 110, as it turns out there is now plenty of room for Fritz. Having driven a V8 Defender 110 twice and lots of seat time in my wife's Range Rover Supercharged, there is no comparison to this BMW V8. I would have to have a real cargo need to choose the 5.0L over the 4.4L.
As far as seat controls go, I'm generally a "set it and forget it" person. For general driving with side controls you can easily adjust seat base front/back and height, the seat back easily adjusts like any other vehicle. That for me daily is more than enough, that said the other evening I went to adjust my lumbar and after fiddling around on the side of the seat trying to find the button I remembered I have to go to the screen. My thought..."how stupid to put it on the screen" but given you also have adjustable side bolsters, etc. I can see why they just grouped that all together on the PIVI.
The seat "massage" function exists but it is the Body and Soul hardware that creates the massage feature, it is not air bladders like in most other Land Rover models. There are some programs in this massage feature that include various sound tracks synced to the vibration. Kind of cool the first time or two you use it but I frankly forgot all about it until I looked back at your post today. As far as the seat design debate, I still think the seats look okay and better than in photos. They fit a more utilitarian Defender type look but over time now I would have preferred something more dramatic like the RR Sport Body and Soul seats.
Wear and tear: With just under 4,000 miles on the odometer I don't see any wear or creasing on these seats, they feel great and clean up very easily (Bernese slobber especially) so in the future I would choose this material over leather once again.
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 28
Likes: 5
From: Boston area
They look great in person and are pretty comfortable - personally though, I would have preferred more support and bolstering, like the RRS SV seats - especially at the price point. My other concern is how the side bolster is so lacking that mine was creased at delivery - which is why I had the vegan leather option on my last Defender (P400X) and it did not crease once in two years - but I really wanted leather this time.
Overall, its a distinctive design and a comfy seat - but falls slightly short of what one would expect for a $170K car.
Overall, its a distinctive design and a comfy seat - but falls slightly short of what one would expect for a $170K car.