The was airborne for what felt like an eternity, all four wheels spinning free above the rutted Baja-style course in Gateway, Colorado. When it landed鈥攚ith the kind of composed thud that suggests serious engineering鈥擨 realized this wasn’t the sanitized suburban warrior that prowls drop-off lines from the Hamptons to Malibu. This was something else entirely: a machine that looks like it drinks creatine, camps, and can quote T.S. Eliot.

The Octa represents Land Rover’s attempt to build a Defender that can haul ass as well as haul gear in style. With 626 horsepower, twin-turbo V8 fury, and a 0-60 time of 3.8 seconds, it’s genuinely impressive, especially for a 5,950 off-roader. A special “Octa Mode” optimizes suspension and braking for driving fast and hard on dirt鈥攅ssentially a doctorate in controlled violence. But it isn’t all specs and swagger. Land Rover invited us to drive it the way it was intended鈥攈ard, fast, and on gnarly trails where cell service is as scarce as the uranium once mined from these hills.

These weren’t roads in any conventional sense鈥攖hey were battle scars left by miners decades ago, serpentine ribbons of dirt and rock that would leave most vehicles with broken axles and wounded pride. The Octa attacked with predatory confidence. Where lesser machines would buck and complain, the Defender floated over washboard surfaces with supernatural smoothness. The suspension absorbed impacts that should have rattled my teeth loose, transforming punishment into poetry.

As we climbed higher, the landscape unfolded like a geological love letter written in sandstone and shadow. Century-old junipers, twisted by wind into natural bonsai, stood sentinel along ridgelines. These weren’t manicured suburban specimens; these were survivors, shaped by hardship into beauty. The views stretched to horizons that seemed to exist in another millennium, unspoiled and vast in a way that makes you remember why we venture into wilderness. I felt guilt for not using human power to earn this view. But would I have absorbed the poetic resonance of this panorama after hiking through 100-degree heat? Yeah, no. I sat back into the AC and felt less guilty. Sometimes enlightenment comes with climate control.

And then there was a river crossing.

The water was deeper than it looked鈥攊t always is. As we descended into the current, I felt the Octa’s weight shift, felt the river’s insistent push. The guides had briefed us: windows down, seatbelts undone, ready to bail. For a moment, as water crept up the sides, I wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake.

But the Defender proved it could wade up to 3.3 feet deep, even without a snorkel鈥攖wice the original’s wading depth. We emerged on the far bank with water streaming from wheel wells. If there was any justification for bringing a car into the wilderness, there it was on the grins plastered across our faces.

While most Octa owners will be content letting it one-up G-wagen owners at the Erewhon parking lot, it was built for moments when you’re wondering if you’ve finally bitten off more than you can chew鈥攁nd discovering you haven’t.

Technical Information: Land Rover Defender Octa

Engine

4.4L turbocharged V-8
8-speed automatic
626 hp @ 7000 rpm
590 lb-ft @ 1800 rpm

Speed

Top speed 155 mph
0-60 mph in 3.84 seconds

Price

The post Where the Road Ends, the Defender Octa Begins appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I don鈥檛 recommend stepping on a cactus in socks. But if you do, do it like Alexi Pappas.

We were out on the Malibu bluffs at the tail end of a long shoot day鈥攐ne that started at her cabin-y home in Topanga, wound through the canyons to a rustic theater, and ended in that golden-pink stretch of dusk that makes you understand why so many movies are filmed in California. Alexi was prepping for a shot when she, yes, stepped on a cactus. In socks.

Most people would鈥檝e cursed. But Alexi looked down at the offending sprout and said, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see that little one, but I鈥檓 proud of him growing there. Of asserting his space.鈥�

罢丑补迟鈥檚 the thing about Alexi. She doesn鈥檛 just show up for a shoot鈥攕he inhabits it. And like that little cactus, she asserts her space. Not just as a runner or writer or actor, but as a modern athlete鈥攐ne who鈥檚 as comfortable running a marathon as she is workshopping a poem or preparing for a role.

Sometimes, athletes are expected to exist in one sole gear. Grit. Discipline. Drive. And sure, there鈥檚 nobility in that. But there鈥檚 also joy in complexity. For a lot of us, fulfillment comes not from performing one role perfectly, but from giving ourselves permission to be a few things at once. To be both serious and silly. Strong and stylish. To step on a cactus and admire it.

国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 first Style and Design issue is all about those intersections鈥攚here sport meets art, where function gets a little flair. You鈥檒l read about the new cool kids of running gear, like , , and , who are borrowing from music, skate, and streetwear scenes to make clothes that feel as good as they perform鈥攁nd allowing new runners to more fully express themselves. You鈥檒l meet Nicole McLaughlin, a wizard of upcycling who can turn a climbing harness into couture. You鈥檒l learn about accomplished hiker Zelzin Aketzalli and her quest to build Baja鈥檚 first thru-trail. And you鈥檒l get a snapshot of America鈥檚 modern land art out west, where the awe of the mountains and new art become one and the same.

The most meaningful things in life鈥攐ur gear, our goals, our identities鈥攁ren鈥檛 meant to stay pristine.

But back to Alexi. Earlier in the day, we found ourselves onstage at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, a tucked-away, wooded amphitheater where she often ends trail runs (conveniently, there’s a bakery on-site). Wearing her blue Olympic blazer, she swung Tarzan-style from a rope tied to a stage-side tree. It was completely unplanned, like the best moments are. Later, she noticed the blazer had torn a little in the process.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 meant to be in a closet,鈥� she said. 鈥淭oday, it was meant to get messed up swinging on a tree in Topanga.鈥�

That line stuck with me. Just like Alexi鈥檚 blazer, the most meaningful things in life鈥攐ur gear, our goals, our identities鈥攁ren鈥檛 meant to stay pristine. They鈥檙e meant to see the world. To get a little torn up. To live.

See you out there,

Kevin Sintumuang
Editorial Director

Scout Report

My favorite finds of the season

The post What a Cactus Taught Our Editor About Style, Sport, and Living Fully appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Upon first sight, my younger daughter hugged the yellow . Arms draped across its cheerful face, she said, 鈥淐an we keep it?鈥� A reasonable question for a car that looks like it time-traveled from Woodstock to Haight-Ashbury via Pixar Studios.

The ID. Buzz is Volkswagen鈥檚 reinterpretation of its microbus鈥攁 car so entrenched in American counterculture that you would think it ran on patchouli oil. But this isn鈥檛 just an exercise in brute nostalgia that鈥檚 engineered to empty a former hippie鈥檚 pension. It鈥檚 a modern, all-electric machine that manages to embody the good vibes of its flower-power past.

Heading north toward Dillon Beach, the first revelation hit: Unlike its asthmatic ancestor, this bus moves. The all-wheel-drive version will get to sixty miles per hour in a very decent six seconds. And more than just my daughters loved it. Skiers returning from Tahoe slowed beside us, faces pressed against windows like kids at a pet store. At the Dillon Beach Resort, we became the parking lot鈥檚 main attraction. 鈥淚 used to have one of these,鈥� declared every old-timer. And then, the inevitable question after getting a good look at the car: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the range?鈥� I managed around 230 miles on a full charge and limited spirited driving. 罢丑补迟鈥檚 not a lot compared to, say, the 320-mile range of a Tesla Cybertruck. But no one wants to hug a Cybertruck.

The interior is comfortably utilitarian and stops short of luxe territory, with the exception of the gorgeous panoramic smart glass roof that can transition from transparent to opaque with a voice command. This isn鈥檛 quite a #vanlife vehicle. Despite its ancestral connection to cross-country odysseys, the ID. Buzz is, at its heart, an exceptionally cool minivan. There鈥檚 no built-in kitchenette, no pop-top for sleeping under the stars. It鈥檚 designed more for Costco runs and car camping鈥攖hough aftermarket conversion companies are already drafting plans.

After about a day, my older daughter had heard me answer enough questions about specs that she could fill in as ambassador. The first rule of ID. Buzz Club? You will talk about the ID. Buzz. Exasperated after fielding so many boomers鈥� car questions, she asked, 鈥淲hy does everyone want to talk to us?鈥�

Which brings us to the question: Who exactly is this for? You can get more mileage and utility out of a or a . Those are definitely more practical. But in an automotive landscape where everything is starting to feel the same, the ID. Buzz does something radical: It prioritizes joy. Perhaps that鈥檚 exactly the revolution we need.

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