The Defender D7X-R Dakar only has 390bhp, but that doesn't matter

The Dakar Rally is underway for 2026 and we're here to see the action

The Defender hot kit is one of the only SUVs to make it into Evo car of the year

And now there's a race car. The stock category of the Dakar Rally has become a bit stale in recent years

with Toyota the only real competitor. But Defender hopes to change that with the D7XR

It's for this reason that Defender worked together with the ASO and FIA to rewrite the rules of the stock category alongside Toyota

Being in the stock category, this is a car that needs to closely resemble a car that sold for the road

and so this is based on the Otka. Its engine is the same BMW-derived 4.4-litre twin-turper-charged V8

with its hardware untouched for this application. The engine bay looks identical to a standard road car

even down to the airbox that uses the same production-spec paper filter. One significant change is power output

as it's knocked down from the 626 of the road car to 390 brake horsepower

to comply with the regulations. This car also features a side exit exhaust system that happens to be free of pesky catalytic converters and as we experienced for ourselves on the start line that makes for a rather great sound

This change isn't just for this purpose though, as it also helps minimise the risk of damage

to a standard rear exit exhaust that can result in an increase in back pressure and subsequent

reduction in engine output. There are some unusual modifications made to the Defender

to bring it up to Dakar's spec, including the use of smaller brakes than the road car

There's good reason for this though, as the largest sides that are fit behind the D7X are smaller 17-inch wheels, chosen to allow for the fitment of huge 35-inch tyres

Even its transmission and transfer case are the same as in the road car, but a new control unit allows for the use of a hydraulic handbrake and nifty features like flight mode, preventing damage to the drivetrain in the event of a hard impact

The Octa's e-DISO also swap for fully mechanical units, and a short to final drive brings top speed down to 105 mph, as per the regulations

The Trix 6D dynamic chassis tech of the Octa is swapped for more conventional shock absorbers from Belstein

To go with the huge weight of its 500 litre fuel tank, it employs a twin-damper system for redundancy and performance

After all, this is a car that weighs near enough three tonnes fully fuelled