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New flagship Defender doesn't get any mechanical updates, but sports a new darkened finish inside and out.
Special Black version of the Defender OCTA now becomes the line-up’s new limited run flagship. Image: JLR
Having debuted the Black Edition Range Rover Sport SV earlier this week, JLR has removed the wraps from its second darkened model, this time based on the flagship Defender OCTA.
Mechanically unchanged from the model revealed just over a year ago as the eventual successor for the supercharged Defender V8, the OCTA Black follows the same philosophy as the Sport SV Black Edition by being an appearance package inside and out.
Black outside…
For the exterior, this consists of standard forged 20-inch or optional 22-inch gloss black alloy wheels, a special gloss Narvik Black colour, the Defender script finished in what JLR calls Shadow Atlas, gloss black brake calipers with silver scripting, and a black Land Rover badge on the grille with silver wording.
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Powder coated satin black front and rear scuff plates, gloss black exhaust tips, a gloss black finish for the grille and gloss black tow rings complete the exterior’s transformation.
… black on the inside
Inside, the black touches consist of a satin powder coated finish with optional copper accents on the crossbeam that runs on the passenger side of the dashboard, and the Performance seats finished in Ebony semi-aniline leather with Kvadrat inlays and Carpathian Grey front seatbacks.
As part of the facelift handed to the rest of the Defender range in May, the OCTA Black, and the standard OCTA, receive the upgraded 13.1-inch Pivi Pro infotainment system, new head-and-taillight clusters, an altered grille and redesigned front and rear bumpers.
Specification is also unchanged from the normal OCTA, meaning the standard inclusion of the 6D adaptive dampers, the OCTA mode as part of the reconfigured Terrain Response 2 system, the ClearSight transparent front-view camera and the 15-speaker, 700-watt Meridian sound system.
Same V8
Up front, the BMW-sourced 4.4-litre twin-turbo mild-hybrid assisted V8 develops an as is 467kW/750Nm, or in the case of the latter, 800 Nm for short spells with the red OCTA diamond button at the base of the steering wheel pressed.
At the same time engaging launch control, the OCTA Black will get from 0-100 km/h in four seconds and hit a limited top speed of 250 km/h.
As with the regular OCTA, drive is routed to all four wheels through the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic gearbox.
Price
Now available for ordering, pricing kicks-off at R3 979 500, a premium of R315 900 over the standard OCTA, and includes a five-year/100 000 km maintenance plan as standard.
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