DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

If you could only have one car for the rest of your life, for everything, this is likely it: the supreme off-roader that doubles as a supercar and dances like nobody is watching

- DARREN STYLES

There are days that test a vehicle's limits and then there are days that test your soul. Driving the new Land Rover Defender Octa through the Cheviot Hills - an overlooked swell of border country wilderness between England and Scotland - proved to be a bit of both. This trip was one-part press junket, one-part personal pilgrimage and one-part weather roulette. Spring sunshine, summer haze, autumn drizzle and a full-on winter tantrum - served à la carte, sometimes simultaneously.

But we'd come prepared. The Defender flagship, Octa, is Land Rover's newest attempt to convince you that yes, you can be both a rugged outdoors person and someone who alphabetises their spice rack at home in the Cotswolds. Lest you should wonder, the name 'Octa' refers to the octahedral geometry of diamonds - apparently because this is the toughest, most precious Defender yet - though it's also a subtle wink to those of us who love a bit of sparkle and a bit of rough.

With a twin-turbo, mild-hybrid V8 sourced from BMW, be in no doubt the Octa has brought a gun to a knife fight. It delivers a whopping 635 horsepower, which is a touch excessive for a vehicle originally conceived to tow a horsebox or rescue stranded hill-walkers. But it's absolutely glorious.