Latest news with #Defender


Hamilton Spectator
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
For real off-roading or navigating potholed Canadian streets, this SUV brings it. It really can go anywhere
GATEWAY, COLO.—The ultrafine dust — it's so fine, it's caked our vehicle and made for a dangerous particulate in the cabin, forcing me to switch to recirculated air — swirls off the vehicle ahead, and, mercifully, just to the right, thanks to some favourable winds. As a result, we aren't completely blinded; just partially. The clay-red dirt below forms a stark and beautiful contrast with the blue sky above and while cloudless, the horizon is punctuated by fortress-like buttes as far as the eye can see. In my hands is the gorgeous two-tone leather-wrapped wheel of the all-new Defender OCTA performance SUV. It's a no-holds-barred take on the latest incarnation of the famous Land Rover Defender off-road vehicle. Defender tested the OCTA in conditions just like this over hundreds of thousands of miles during its development and all that sweat equity has brought us here — to beautiful desolation. We'd put it through its paces on sub-five-mph rock crawls, a fast off-road circuit and a water crossing or two. There would also be some 'normal' highway driving, but when you consider the spec, it becomes tough to focus on how well it tracks through a gentle right-hander on a divided highway at 100 kilometres-per-hour. While the OCTA is clearly a Defender 110 variant, there's so much more going on underneath it all. For starters: just look at those wheels and tires! Defender turned to Goodyear to develop an extra-durable tire for the OCTA, and they answered the bell by embedding Kevlar, a material used in everything from boat sails to bulletproof vests, into the tires' sidewalls. That makes it very hard for sharp rocks to punch through, which is a big deal when off-roading or navigating potholed Canadian streets. Under the hood things get more interesting still. The OCTA is the first Defender model to get a new 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 engine. It's good for 626 horsepower and 553 pounds-feet (motive force) of torque, both healthy increases over the 5.0-litre, supercharged V8 the Defender currently uses. It's an incredible engine that revs quickly and gives you its full slug of torque at just 1,400 rpm. That's the kind of quick power delivery you want when off-roading, as it helps pull you through steep, rough terrain. To prove its worth, we went for a 4,000-foot climb on unforgiving mountain trails littered with rocks (average size equals a softball), loose gravel and jagged outcroppings poised to tear many a tire's sidewall and gash many a fender. Even the desert bushes are foreboding, their lives hard lived in harsh, dry, hot conditions, forcing them to develop branches with arthritic tendrils that sound like nails on a chalkboard as they 'brush' — if you can call it that — against the fenders, doors and roofs of our OCTA. With a selection of drive modes (we chose Rock Crawl for this jaunt) and an all-new '6D Dynamic' suspension system that provides massive wheel articulation, the OCTA clambered over everything with no complaint. To help further instil confidence, the central display inside can be set to show a camera that looks over each front wheel. That's handy when you have a panel-shearing rock wall on one side, and about a foot between said wheel and a 100-foot drop on the other. Even through a three-foot-deep river crossing in 'Wade' mode, the OCTA plowed on, the powerful engine having no problem neutralizing the water resistance. Defender says the OCTA can wade in up to a metre of water and I have no reason to think otherwise. The fast off-road course did have me holding on that much tighter only because I wanted to see what the OCTA could do, how far I could push it. One of the drive modes is called 'OCTA,' and it allows for just a little more slip, and a little more ability to control the rear end with the throttle. Back on the road — surprisingly quiet and comfortable, even with knobby off-road tires — I had the chance to enjoy the interior environs of this most hardcore of showroom-spec Defenders. The OCTA has heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats (cooled if you spec the captain's chairs), Meridian audio, digital rear-view mirror, automatic climate control, 11.4-inch infotainment display and the very unique Body and Soul Seats (BASS). More than just being heated, cooled and providing a massage feature, BASS seats, developed in conjunction with Subpac, a Toronto-based company, are tuned to vibrate with your music. Or, they can use the seat's built-in actuators and heating controls to help provide a relaxing environment if you need a break. Through all of this I never noticed my knuckles whitening or my brow sweating (even with ambient temperatures rising to 40C) because the OCTA is so darn good at what it does. With the hardware on-hand, the computers that aid with traction and the cameras, you just don't need to think as hard to progress. I am no off-roading expert, but that just didn't matter so much here. Indeed, few people buying an OCTA will ever make full use of all that. But if you're dealing with harsh Canadian winters or pockmarked gravel roads to the cabin, it's nice to know that you can. Type: Five-door, four-wheel-drive, mid-size SUV Engine: Twin-turbocharged, 4.4-litre V8; 626 horsepower, 553 pounds-feet of torque (motive force) Fuel: TBA Transmission: Eight-speed automatic Cargo: 786 litres, or 27.75 cubic feet; 1,875l, or 66 cu. ft. with rear seats folded Towing: 3,719 kilograms, or 8,200 pounds Price: $200,884, as tested
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Automotive
- Business Standard
JLR delays launch of Range Rover, Jaguar electric vehicles: Report
British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has delayed the launch of its electric Range Rover and Jaguar models to allow time for more testing and for demand to pick up, The Guardian reported on Friday. JLR has told customers deliveries of the Range Rover Electric will not start until next year, the report said, while a source told the newspaper that Jaguar's first EV will start production in August 2026. Deliveries of the Range Rover Electric were originally supposed to begin late 2025. The models, which are the first electric models to be manufactured directly by JLR, required extended testing, which partly led to the delay, the report added. "Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands," the company said in a statement to Reuters, while maintaining that it would sell electric versions for all of its brands by 2030. The "Defender" SUV maker did not respond to any other details in the Guardian report. Earlier this month, the Tata Motors-owned automaker posted a 10.7 per cent drop in first-quarter sales, hit by a temporary pause in shipments to the US and a wind-down of the Jaguar brand's legacy models. Production of the Range Rover Velar's electric version, slated for production from April 2026, could also be delayed further, the report said. The company in June cut its target for earnings margin before interest and taxes for the fiscal year 2026 to 5 per cent-7 per cent, from 10 per cent, amid uncertainty in the global auto industry spurred by US tariffs.


Economic Times
a day ago
- Automotive
- Economic Times
Tata Motors-owned JLR delays launch of Range Rover, Jaguar EVs
British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has delayed the launch of its electric Range Rover and Jaguar models to allow time for more testing and for demand to pick up, The Guardian reported on Friday. JLR has told customers deliveries of the Range Rover Electric will not start until next year, the report said, while a source told the newspaper that Jaguar's first EV will start production in August 2026. Deliveries of the Range Rover Electric were originally supposed to begin late 2025. The models, which are the first electric models to be manufactured directly by JLR, required extended testing, which partly led to the delay, the report added. "Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands," the company said in a statement to Reuters, while maintaining that it would sell electric versions for all of its brands by 2030. The "Defender" SUV maker did not respond to any other details in the Guardian report. Earlier this month, the Tata Motors-owned automaker posted a 10.7% drop in first-quarter sales, hit by a temporary pause in shipments to the U.S and a wind-down of the Jaguar brand's legacy models. Production of the Range Rover Velar's electric version, slated for production from April 2026, could also be delayed further, the report said. The company in June cut its target for earnings margin before interest and taxes for the fiscal year 2026 to 5%-7%, from 10%, amid uncertainty in the global auto industry spurred by U.S. tariffs.


Time of India
a day ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Tata Motors-owned JLR delays launch of Range Rover, Jaguar EVs
British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has delayed the launch of its electric Range Rover and Jaguar models to allow time for more testing and for demand to pick up, The Guardian reported on Friday. JLR has told customers deliveries of the Range Rover Electric will not start until next year, the report said, while a source told the newspaper that Jaguar's first EV will start production in August 2026. Deliveries of the Range Rover Electric were originally supposed to begin late 2025. The models, which are the first electric models to be manufactured directly by JLR, required extended testing, which partly led to the delay, the report added. "Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands," the company said in a statement to Reuters, while maintaining that it would sell electric versions for all of its brands by 2030. The "Defender" SUV maker did not respond to any other details in the Guardian report. Earlier this month, the Tata Motors-owned automaker posted a 10.7% drop in first-quarter sales, hit by a temporary pause in shipments to the U.S and a wind-down of the Jaguar brand's legacy models. Production of the Range Rover Velar's electric version, slated for production from April 2026, could also be delayed further, the report said. The company in June cut its target for earnings margin before interest and taxes for the fiscal year 2026 to 5%-7%, from 10%, amid uncertainty in the global auto industry spurred by U.S. tariffs.


Time of India
a day ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Tata Motors-owned JLR delays launch of Range Rover, Jaguar EVs
British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has delayed the launch of its electric Range Rover and Jaguar models to allow time for more testing and for demand to pick up, The Guardian reported on Friday. JLR has told customers deliveries of the Range Rover Electric will not start until next year, the report said, while a source told the newspaper that Jaguar's first EV will start production in August 2026. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Project Management Digital Marketing healthcare Technology Design Thinking Leadership Finance Public Policy Degree MBA Artificial Intelligence PGDM Others MCA others Operations Management CXO Product Management Healthcare Data Science Data Analytics Management Cybersecurity Data Science Skills you'll gain: Project Planning & Governance Agile Software Development Practices Project Management Tools & Software Techniques Scrum Framework Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business Certificate Programme in IT Project Management Starts on Jun 20, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Portfolio Management Project Planning & Risk Analysis Strategic Project/Portfolio Selection Adaptive & Agile Project Management Duration: 6 Months IIT Delhi Certificate Programme in Project Management Starts on May 30, 2024 Get Details Deliveries of the Range Rover Electric were originally supposed to begin late 2025. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas Prices In Dubai Might Be More Affordable Than You Think Villas In Dubai | Search Ads Get Quote Undo The models, which are the first electric models to be manufactured directly by JLR, required extended testing, which partly led to the delay, the report added. "Our plans and vehicle architectures are flexible so we can adapt to different market and client demands," the company said in a statement to Reuters, while maintaining that it would sell electric versions for all of its brands by 2030. Live Events The "Defender" SUV maker did not respond to any other details in the Guardian report. Earlier this month, the Tata Motors-owned automaker posted a 10.7% drop in first-quarter sales, hit by a temporary pause in shipments to the U.S and a wind-down of the Jaguar brand's legacy models. Production of the Range Rover Velar's electric version, slated for production from April 2026, could also be delayed further, the report said. The company in June cut its target for earnings margin before interest and taxes for the fiscal year 2026 to 5%-7%, from 10%, amid uncertainty in the global auto industry spurred by U.S. tariffs.