[AUTOHOME Official New Car Images] Recently, the official images of the Land Rover Defender Dakar Edition have been released. It can be regarded as the road-legal civilian version of the Land Rover D7X-R, the champion car of the 2026 Dakar Rally Production Category. This hardcore SUV derived from professional motorsports not only fully inherits the architecture of the championship racing car, but also boasts stronger power parameters, making it more powerful than the Defender OCTA. It made its first appearance at Monterey Car Week, bringing the hardcore strength of professional rally events directly to the civilian market. Intentional registration for the new vehicle is now open, and the booking channel will be officially launched in early 2027.
In terms of appearance, the Land Rover Defender Dakar Edition highly replicates the aggressive combat stance of the D7X-R championship racing car. The body is equipped with riveted widened wheel arches, roof-mounted competitive spotlights, high-position carbon fiber air intake, carbon fiber hood, professional fenders and full-coverage chassis guard, which comprehensively enhances off-road protection capability and visual impact. The exclusive two-tone body paint of Dakar Desert Yellow and Green is a direct tribute to the championship racing car.
The new car has a wider body track and higher ground clearance than the standard Defender, and is equipped with 20-inch forged wheels plus 35-inch all-terrain off-road tires, paired with exclusive coil springs and Bilstein competition-grade shock absorbers.
In terms of interior, the cabin adopts a 2+2 four-seat layout, comes standard with customized professional racing seats, supports optional four-point competitive seat belts, and reserves storage space for helmets, fully restoring the atmosphere of a racing cockpit. The trunk is equipped with an exclusive spare tire fixing bracket and air pump installation interface, completely eliminating the embarrassment of breakdown caused by tire blowout during off-road trips.
In terms of power, the new car retains the body structure, transmission system, four-wheel drive architecture and core powertrain of the D7X-R racing car. It is equipped with a 4.4T twin-turbocharged V8 engine sourced from BMW. Restricted by racing regulations, the maximum power of the racing version is capped at 400 horsepower; the civilian version, free from racing restrictions, sees its power directly surge to 635 horsepower, with a peak torque of 750 N·m. This power output not only fully surpasses that of the championship racing car, but also retakes the throne of the brand's most powerful model compared with the current facelifted Defender OCTA, whose horsepower has been reduced to 540.
At the same time, the vehicle is equipped with an exclusive terrain mode system, which provides two professional off-road modes for desert and gravel, as well as a flight mode derived from racing cars, specially adapted to extreme driving scenarios such as high-speed off-road, airborne landing and so on. (Compiled by Qin Chao, AUTOHOME )