Toyota Provides the New Hilux a Rally Makeover for 2026 Dakar

Nicely, that didn’t take lengthy. Toyota pulled the covers off the brand new Hilux final week, and it’s already introducing the rally model. As you may think about, it has been quietly engaged on the DKR GR Hilux for some time to have it prepared for the upcoming 2026 Dakar Rally. Based mostly on the ninth-generation truck, the DKR GR Hilux brings a number of main upgrades over its predecessor.

Toyota collaborated with Belgium-based Overdrive Racing to carry the venture to fruition forward of the 2026 Dakar Rally’s begin in Saudi Arabia on January 3. The brand new DKR GR Hilux incorporates a newly developed tubular chassis that reduces weight and will increase torsional stiffness. It additionally makes the rally-ready pickup simpler to service, saving treasured time in the course of the grueling race.

Moreover, the revamped rally truck receives a bolstered transmission designed to raised stand up to the abuse of the 15-day Dakar occasion, throughout which it’ll cowl greater than 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) of timed phases. Earlier than the primary race day, the 2026 DKR GR Hilux is finishing a check program to permit for any essential last-minute tweaks.

Particulars concerning the engine haven’t been disclosed, however the 2025 GR DKR Hilux Evo borrowed the Land Cruiser’s twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 with 354 horsepower and 457 pound-feet (620 Newton-meters) of torque. Output was despatched to all 4 wheels by a six-speed sequential gearbox.

Photograph by: Toyota

The TGR W2RC workforce will discipline the brand new rally truck earlier than Toyota makes it accessible to personal groups within the second half of subsequent yr. The DKR GR Hilux is clearly not going to be highway authorized, however a efficiency model with a license plate and wider tracks is probably going coming. When requested by CarExpert journal whether or not a GR Sport is deliberate, Toyota Australia chief designer Nicolas Hogios strongly recommended it’s an actual chance:

‘That’s, I suppose, sooner or later. However yeah, we’ll get to that – in the meanwhile, there’s sufficient information right here with this one. It could solely get higher from right here. So, we’re consistently evolving our product.’

Nevertheless, GR Sport is a step under a full-fat Gazoo Racing mannequin, which means there aren’t any engine upgrades. The previous Hilux GR Sport II did obtain a wide selection of mechanical modifications, from a suspension elevate and monotube dampers to greater brakes and lighter wheels with all-terrain tires.

However with the next-generation Hilux solely simply arriving, Toyota is in no hurry to launch the brand new GR Sport.