I know the OCTAs just started shipping, but what are the odds that the steering rack is something that can be retrofitted? I imagine the tie rods might be different due to the wider track of the OCTA, but maybe the rack itself might be interchangeable?

A faster rack would really make the Defender's on-road manners better. Even my Sprinter has a faster rack...

 

Maybe, I wouldn’t be surprised if the rack bolts right up, but probably unlikely because the electric power assist steering is tied into other systems of the car, and not sure if the special programming needed to run it would work on the standard car. Also, the OCTA has completely redesigned suspension and only shares a few parts with the standard car, so the rack might not fit.

regardless, it’s a ton of work and expensive to just attempt to see if it works.

 

Could definitely trigger a few issues with integrated systems like stability control, ABS, and probably lane centering on cars that have it.

The steering angle sensor is on the steering shaft and everything is likely calibrated based on the input from that sensor. EPS definitely adds some complexity in that respect... I've done rack swaps to faster ratios on more analog cars and have run into mostly issues with DSC/ESP being a bit more intrusive as it detects more yaw or G than expected at certain steering input angles. But nowadays with OTA updates, perhaps the calibration might be available in a future update push that we can change over with a GAP tool.

 

We will have to wait until the full parts list becomes available online. I would definitely be interested to see what the differences are. The lane keeping assist is in all Defenders, so assuming you can directly bolt on the new rack, I don't necessarily see that as being as big of a problem as say the DSC.