Like any other Defender, then, the Octa is a car whose appeal is defined almost entirely by what it does. On the inside, but for the ‘chopped’ carbonfibre trim of Edition One trim level and some new, well-shaped, comfortable ‘body and soul’ bucket seats (which, like those of the Range Rover Sport SV, have built-in speakers that can broadcast bass-frequency sound directly at your backside; I’m still not entirely sure why), our test car had no performance-derivative cabin frippery at all.
All the usual space and versatility is present. Coming as a 110 model only, the Octa offers four passenger doors, plus the wide-swinging, side-opening boot ‘door’ with the spare wheel attached – which you will likely have cause to curse in tight parking spaces for how tricky it can make boot access (and may be why so many Defender owners prefer parking nose-in). It’s available only with a five-seat cabin layout.
Look carefully and you will find one or two black diamond motifs – the badge ident of the Octa derivative – around the interior, most notably on the drive-mode button at six o’clock on the steering wheel, whose function we will come to shortly.
Otherwise, the cabin offers lots of useful storage areas, lots of room for adults in both rows of seats and a useful quantity of physical secondary controls up front also.
JLR’s Pivi Pro infotainment console proves mostly easy to navigate and has useful off-roading display modes (external cameras help you to judge the extremities of the car when driving over and around obstacles, for example).