We had the all-new 2025 Defender OCTA in the SHARP garage recently, and we put England’s posh hot-rod SUV to the test in the urban jungle. (Note: no real jungles were used in the making of this road test.) We did venture off the pavement, but only to get over a private gravel road leading to a Muskoka cottage. As a result, we’re presenting the most realistic test of the OCTA ever conducted because while, yes, it was built as a basis for Defender’s 2026 Dakar Rally contender, most OCTAs will no doubt spend time pulling up to Muskoka cottages, Rocky Mountain chalets, and private schools. Suffice to say the average OCTA owner won’t be spending much time climbing sand dunes and doing triple-digit speeds over dry lakebeds. Here are 5 important lessons we learned during our week living with the 2025 Defender OCTA.
OCTA is Mysterious (In a Good Way)
Bravo to the designers at Defender who resisted plastering “OCTA” lettering all over this thing. Seriously, give them a standing ovation. It couldn’t have been easy to resist the marketing team on this front, but the designers fought the good fight and won. Instead, the OCTA features a mysterious square-in-a-circle badge. It’s an if-you-know-you-know thing. The “octahedral” shape represents the molecular structure of a diamond, which is badass. In truth, the OCTA doesn’t need badges or logos to distinguish itself. That task is accomplished a whopping great 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 with 626 horsepower, not to mention a set of massively wide fenders and glorious off-road wheels. (Pro Tip: please only spec this car with the 20-inch “Style 1086” off-road rally wheels, okay? The sporty 22-inchers just look wrong.)
Great for NBA Players, Not So Much for My Mother-in-Law.
Yes, the OCTA is tall. Really tall. It has to be, because it’s made for going fast off-road, which necessitates a lot of suspension travel plus wheels as tall as a three-year old, which — you guessed it — means increased ride height. It’s like a Defender on steroids. The car’s onboard screen has a helpful page that tells you exactly how tall this behemoth is: 2.0-metres. That’s too tall for many underground parking garages, but you can eke out a bit more clearance by lowering the air suspension. Width is 2.11-metres including the mirrors, and length is a hair over 5-metres. (That’s 28mm higher and 68mm wider than the standard Defender for all those keeping score at home.) So it’s a stout machine, no doubt. If you’re an NBA prospect you’ll have no issue hoisting yourself up and into the OCTA. If, however, you are my rather short mother-in-law, you’d honestly be well-served by a step ladder to aid ingress. (I tried explaining to her that the OCTA is Defender’s road-legal version of its 2026 Dakar Rally contender so it has to be tall, but that didn’t help. YMMV.)
Also Great for Rock ‘n’ Roll Stars, Including Oasis
According to a recent press release, Defender is the proud official automotive partner of Oasis Live ’25. That means the Defender (presumably the OCTA because would the Gallagher bros accept anything less?) will be transporting the British band on international tour, which is already underway. We have so many questions: do Noel and Liam ride together in the back? Does one get shotgun? Do they take turns? Or do they each ride in their own Defender? Hopefully we’ll get some answers when Oasis plays the Rogers Stadium in Toronto on August 24 and 25, kicking off the North American leg of their tour.
Also (Mostly) Great for Crappy Canadian Roads
Short of buying fully-loaded Range Rover or one of the cars from that other brand whose initials are “RR,” the Defender OCTA is actually a pretty comfortable way to get around on crappy Canadian roads. You know what I’m talking about, if you live in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary or really any major city in this country: random potholes, ruts, divots, sudden bumps, wavy lumps, and a patchwork of patches that look as if they were made by a blindfolded quiltmaker. On roads like these, the OCTA’s magical 6D hydraulically-interlinked air suspension works to shave off the road’s rough edges. (This trick suspension is really what separates the OCTA from more pedestrian Defenders.) True, the suspension can get overwhelmed on long rough sections, tossing your head around a bit too much, but one or two big potholes or bumps that would normally have a driver clenching in anticipation of a big hit are shrugged off without incident. It’s like the suspension swallowed the potholes in one bite. The flip side is that the road’s surface feels so distant, in part because it is. You’re high up, elevated from the imperfections like the captain on the bridge of a cargo ship. It’s quite a fun sensation actually, but you have to be extra vigilant keeping an eye on blind spots, because it’s not always easy to see what’s immediately around this giant SUV.
It Takes Effort to Get The Most From The OCTA
We hope you like modes, because the Defender OCTA has an awful lot of them. Comfort Mode is self-explanatory. Dynamic Mode is unlocked by pressing the special OCTA button at the bottom of the steering wheel. It unlocks ultimate performance, upping the maximum torque from 553 lb-ft to 590 lb-ft and sharpening the steering, throttle and suspension to match. Result? Sprinting from 0‑100 km/h takes just 4.0 seconds. And peak torque is available from just 1,800 rpm to just under 6,000 rpm. If you stomp on the throttle in comfort mode the OCTA rears up like a power boat. Its hood points toward the sky, the off-road tires squirm and wiggle, and the engine howls; it’s hilarious and wonderful and so unlike any dainty little sports car. But wait! The OCTA has another mode. Hold down the OCTA button and you get OCTA mode, which, um also unleashes maximum performance except it’s meant for off-road driving. For most people, the core benefit of OCTA mode will be that it makes the translucent paddle shifters glow red, which is cool.
All the modes and settings mean there’s a long learning curve with this one, whether your leaning to climb into the cabin or figure out what all the buttons do. Is that a dealbreaker? Nope, because we’re all still head-over-heels for the OCTA. It doesn’t make any sense for the daily grind most of us would use it for, but that’s missing the point entirely. The OCTA is simply fun. If this truck can’t put a grin on your face, I’m sorry we can’t help you.
