Defender 110 V8 to Octa
Discussion
Good afternoon fellow PHers,
After a lot of research and procrastination, I finally took to plunge and swapped my venerable V8 110 for an Octa. I have had it just over a week so thought I would share some thoughts on what the Octa brings over the V8 and if the additional cost to change is worth it.
I should be honest, when I collected my V8 from West London nearly three years ago, I wasn t enamoured with it. I had come from a Taycan with all its power and instant torque, and felt the V8 just didn t handle well enough for a 525hp SUV. As time passed I came to accept it was never meant to be a sports car and that when off roading it, it was in its element and able to excel. I lived in Greece with it for a few years (and had an original 90 too) and while I loved Greece, (amazing people and food), the roads are at best, unfinished . Having Land Rovers was a great choice, especially as there was also a dealer nearby. We used it to tow a small trailer of household goods out to Greece and back, and to move the dogs (there were two then), safety and comfortably across Europe. It did this without a fuss and over time really grew on me.
This is why I decided I wanted an Octa, as I had been so impressed with the car as a whole, the Octa felt like the perfect upgrade. I was interested in the Octa as soon as the news of its release was published. I received an invitation from Land Rover to view the car early at Goodwood in 2024, and was really impressed with the looks and the many, many tiny upgrades when I first saw it at the Kennels. However, after provisionally placing an order, I was immediately put off by the lack of colour choices. I wanted green but I couldn t have it with a brown leather interior. And the only green was the First Edition but that came with lots of carbon fibre. I didn t want carbon fibre on a Defender, so that left the non-First Edition but that was still £160k and only came in grey or brown. So after a lot of conversations with the dealer, I decided that at this price, if I couldn t get the exact spec I wanted, I would wait until a good used one became available.
And this is what has happened. Prices are finally softening, (and interestingly the prices of V8 has gone up), so when the deal made sense to me, I made the jump.
Unsurprisingly, I went for the std Octa without any carbon. I have already bought the 20 wheels to swap with the (mental) 22 wheels and am very much looking forward to them being fitted tomorrow. Sadly, the only one I saw come up with a brown interior sold in minutes, so I settled on a 6000 mile 6 month old version (with a massive discount) with a black leather interior. There are several additional bits of leather all over the car. The door cards and the seat bottoms are now leather and of course the roof is alcantara. Other additions include the body and soul seats, (which are absolutely amazing) and the the V8 twin turbo engine from the BMW M5.
The engine. I loved the V8 supercharged in the V8. It is has character and is easily tuneable to something like 650hp. Tuning aside, it s a great engine and if you are thinking of getting one, do it. I believe it s an old Ford design that has been around a long time and is extremely reliable.
Power delivery is linear and to be fair, sounds good when you push it. The only one thing I wished I had done was added an exhaust. I would have added a Quicksilver valved exhaust, but for whatever reason, I just never seemed to find the time.
The Octa sounds much deeper and is noticeably louder, (does it add sound via the speakers? I hope not, but I wonder if that is why it s louder)? It is also noticeable how much more torque you can feel. This engine is a powerhouse and makes the Octa much more than a fastish off road SUV. The back box exhaust looks significantly nicer on the Octa, far more serious, and probably adds the sound. Over all it is a genuine improvement over the V8, not that the V8 is lacking, more that the M5 engine is a bit unhinged. I love it!
The one thing I did not like about the V8 was the suspension. It is designed to be competent off road, and to be fair, it nails that brief. But drive it hard on road and to my mind the one big weakness is that it does wallow and dive. The Octa has the 6d suspension from the Range Rover SV. And It works, I mean it really works. It is now a stand out feature of the car. I read one reviewer say the Octa is the GT3 of the SUVB world. I think it s a bit of a stretch, the Aston Martin DBX is probably my favourite drivers SUV, (I very nearly went for one). But it s close, and the new engine and suspension really add an extra dimension to the car. Well done Land Rover.
It s still early days, but all in all for a car that is really significantly different car to the V8, the Octa is more than the sum of its parts. New, is it worth the £50k uplift from a V8? No, not at all. But now that prices are coming down and the used gap is closing, then yes, the upgrades and power are genuinely welcome and very much worth it to me.
After a lot of research and procrastination, I finally took to plunge and swapped my venerable V8 110 for an Octa. I have had it just over a week so thought I would share some thoughts on what the Octa brings over the V8 and if the additional cost to change is worth it.
I should be honest, when I collected my V8 from West London nearly three years ago, I wasn t enamoured with it. I had come from a Taycan with all its power and instant torque, and felt the V8 just didn t handle well enough for a 525hp SUV. As time passed I came to accept it was never meant to be a sports car and that when off roading it, it was in its element and able to excel. I lived in Greece with it for a few years (and had an original 90 too) and while I loved Greece, (amazing people and food), the roads are at best, unfinished . Having Land Rovers was a great choice, especially as there was also a dealer nearby. We used it to tow a small trailer of household goods out to Greece and back, and to move the dogs (there were two then), safety and comfortably across Europe. It did this without a fuss and over time really grew on me.
This is why I decided I wanted an Octa, as I had been so impressed with the car as a whole, the Octa felt like the perfect upgrade. I was interested in the Octa as soon as the news of its release was published. I received an invitation from Land Rover to view the car early at Goodwood in 2024, and was really impressed with the looks and the many, many tiny upgrades when I first saw it at the Kennels. However, after provisionally placing an order, I was immediately put off by the lack of colour choices. I wanted green but I couldn t have it with a brown leather interior. And the only green was the First Edition but that came with lots of carbon fibre. I didn t want carbon fibre on a Defender, so that left the non-First Edition but that was still £160k and only came in grey or brown. So after a lot of conversations with the dealer, I decided that at this price, if I couldn t get the exact spec I wanted, I would wait until a good used one became available.
And this is what has happened. Prices are finally softening, (and interestingly the prices of V8 has gone up), so when the deal made sense to me, I made the jump.
Unsurprisingly, I went for the std Octa without any carbon. I have already bought the 20 wheels to swap with the (mental) 22 wheels and am very much looking forward to them being fitted tomorrow. Sadly, the only one I saw come up with a brown interior sold in minutes, so I settled on a 6000 mile 6 month old version (with a massive discount) with a black leather interior. There are several additional bits of leather all over the car. The door cards and the seat bottoms are now leather and of course the roof is alcantara. Other additions include the body and soul seats, (which are absolutely amazing) and the the V8 twin turbo engine from the BMW M5.
The engine. I loved the V8 supercharged in the V8. It is has character and is easily tuneable to something like 650hp. Tuning aside, it s a great engine and if you are thinking of getting one, do it. I believe it s an old Ford design that has been around a long time and is extremely reliable.
Power delivery is linear and to be fair, sounds good when you push it. The only one thing I wished I had done was added an exhaust. I would have added a Quicksilver valved exhaust, but for whatever reason, I just never seemed to find the time.
The Octa sounds much deeper and is noticeably louder, (does it add sound via the speakers? I hope not, but I wonder if that is why it s louder)? It is also noticeable how much more torque you can feel. This engine is a powerhouse and makes the Octa much more than a fastish off road SUV. The back box exhaust looks significantly nicer on the Octa, far more serious, and probably adds the sound. Over all it is a genuine improvement over the V8, not that the V8 is lacking, more that the M5 engine is a bit unhinged. I love it!
The one thing I did not like about the V8 was the suspension. It is designed to be competent off road, and to be fair, it nails that brief. But drive it hard on road and to my mind the one big weakness is that it does wallow and dive. The Octa has the 6d suspension from the Range Rover SV. And It works, I mean it really works. It is now a stand out feature of the car. I read one reviewer say the Octa is the GT3 of the SUVB world. I think it s a bit of a stretch, the Aston Martin DBX is probably my favourite drivers SUV, (I very nearly went for one). But it s close, and the new engine and suspension really add an extra dimension to the car. Well done Land Rover.
It s still early days, but all in all for a car that is really significantly different car to the V8, the Octa is more than the sum of its parts. New, is it worth the £50k uplift from a V8? No, not at all. But now that prices are coming down and the used gap is closing, then yes, the upgrades and power are genuinely welcome and very much worth it to me.
Edited by findtomdotcom on Sunday 16th November 19:40
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