Land Rover is proudly stating that the Defender Octa is “the fastest and most capable Defender ever made,” so it makes sense it will serve as the base for the racer. Not only

G o to YouTube and you'll find videos of Land Rover test drivers hooning prototype Defenders around the Nürburgring. It's wild to see a boxy SUV on knobby all-terrain tires squea

The Defender is the best-selling member of the JLR family, and the one that has been steadily gaining in popularity for the past five years—a rare occurrence in the auto industry, where models normally lose ground as they age.

With 626 hp, the Octa is the most powerful Defender ever, but it is also the most capable. To understand the auto industry, always follow the money. When the current Land Rover Defender launched for 2020 it was targeting those in search of rugged,

What’s this? The Land Rover Defender Octa’s mission statement is simple: to be the world’s fastest off-roader. But how do you define that? A Nürburgring lap time is only going to tell part of the story,

Land Rover had shown the Discovery SVX in Frankfurt exactly two years earlier: a 525hp V8-powered, hydraulically-restrained vision of what the family-friendly SUV could be if you jettisoned some of the friendliness and fitted proper all-terrain tyres.

This remains largely familiar from the core Defender, and that’s a very good thing. This is still a fantastic SUV interior; chunky and industrial in its design but rendered luxurious by the hushed refinement, strong fit and finish and high-quality materials.

Remember when Land Rover unleashed the Defender OCTA last year? Billed as the most powerful version of the Defender yet, this go-anywhere SUV comes with a 4.4L twin-turbo V8 that pushes 635 PS and 750 Nm of torque. It can go from 0 – 100 km/h in 4 seconds thanks to peak torque being readily available at 1,800 rpm.

It’s the most extreme Defender yet and also the best, with a character that marks it out as both unique and unexpected thrill to drive.

The current-generation Land Rover Defender (L663) will not get an EV powertrain. The Defender EV will be based on the next-gen SUV, which is unlikely to appear until the end of this decade, according to our sister publication, Autocar UK.