Road-Going Dakar Defender OCTA Spotted at the Nürburgring? It's Wild!

A potential road-going version of the Dakar D7X-R has been caught testing at the Nürburgring, and the spy shots say everything!

Photographers caught this prototype at the Ring this week and the details are hard to ignore! Flared arches, 35" Goodyear Duratracs, dual snorkels, a quad-exit exhaust on the 4.4L V8, and what looks like it could be coilover suspension potentially straight from the D7X-R Dakar race programme developed alongside Prodrive! The spy shooters on the ground described it as "even more extreme than OCTA" - and with 35s, we'd agree!

What We Think We're Looking At

One thing that stands out - it sits lower than you'd expect! Without air suspension, you'd think it would need more height, but this is early testing and there's likely a lot still to be dialled in! Whether this is purely a suspension and tyre test, or something more, is the question!

The Dakar Connection

Land Rover won the Dakar Rally Stock category back in January with the D7X-R! Shortly after, Defender MD Mark Cameron told PistonHeads that a road-going version was being actively explored following huge customer demand! That context makes these spy shots very hard to dismiss!

The writing is very much on the wall - but we'd say being able to actually purchase one is still a fair way off! We'll keep you updated on every development as it comes!

What Do You Think?

Would you daily this thing, or is it strictly a weekend weapon? What can you spot in the spy shots and what do you think is being tested? 

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Spy shot credit: AutoEvolution