Land Rover's new Defender Dakar D7X-R is ready for the 2026 rally scene
Land Rover just dropped the Defender Dakar D7X-R, built to take on the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship.
It'll make its first appearance at the Dakar Rally in January 2026, sporting a bold Geopalette paint job—think sand and earth tones with a bright aqua roof.
The look isn't just for style points; it's designed to show off Land Rover's desert racing ambitions.
Built for serious adventure
Underneath, this Defender runs on a restricted twin-turbo V8 engine and gets upgrades like the same eight-speed gearbox as the standard Octa, but with a lower final-drive ratio, beefed-up cooling, and Bilstein-supplied dampers developed in partnership with Defender Rally.
There's also a huge 145-gallon fuel tank for those marathon stages, plus an onboard 'Flight Mode' system that manages torque during jumps to keep things running smoothly.
With races lined up across Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Argentina, Morocco, and the UAE, Land Rover is clearly out to prove what it can do in extreme conditions.