Tag: Dakar Rally

  • Audi RS Q E-Tron super SUV gets ready to rock at 2022 Dakar Rally

    It was less than a year ago that Audi announced its intention to enter the 2022 Dakar Rally with a bespoke SUV powered by electric motors, and on Friday we got our first look at the brand with the four rings’ contender.

    Called the RS Q E-Tron, the wild off-roader has been designed as a rally raid-style vehicle, much like Prodrive’s BRX Hunter which competed for the first time earlier this year in the 2021 Dakar Rally.

    The Audi is a much more sophisticated beast as it is powered by an extended-range electric powertrain that relies on a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 mated to a generator to keep the battery on the boil. The battery is a 50-kilowatt-hour unit that alone weighs 815 pounds.

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    The wheels are driven exclusively by a pair of electric motors, with a single motor at each axle to form an all-wheel-drive system and software controlling the torque distribution. The electric motors, which feature a single-speed transmission, can also act as generators under braking and help to top up the battery. Peak output is 670 hp, though this may be limited depending on the rules for the 2022 Dakar Rally.

    The electric motors are the same Audi uses in Formula E, a sport the automaker will quit after the current season. Audi said the motors needed only minor modifications for use in its Dakar contender. As for the range extender, it was lifted out of Audi’s former RS 5 DTM race car. It will operate between 4,500 and 6,000 rpm, which is the engine’s optimal band for efficiency, Audi said.

    Competing in the Dakar will allow Audi to stress test multiple components similar to what will feature in the automaker’s future electric road cars. Unlike Formula E, whose races last just 45 minutes, the Dakar Rally has multiple stages spanning two weeks, with some stages running close to 500 miles in length and lasting multiple hours. The 2022 rally will run through the deserts of Saudi Arabia next January.

    2022 Audi RS Q E-Tron Dakar Rally contender

    2022 Audi RS Q E-Tron Dakar Rally contender

    “What we are trying to do has never been done before,” Andreas Roos, head of Audi’s Dakar project, said in a statement. “This is the ultimate challenge for an electric drivetrain.”

    Audi has made a multi-year commitment to compete in the Dakar Rally. And while it has never competed in the event before, fellow Volkswagen Group brands Porsche and Volkswagen have experience to call on—especially VW which scored a hat track of wins between 2009 and 2011.

    Concurrent with the Dakar program, Audi plans to compete in the new LMDh class serving as the top class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and World Endurance Championship. LMDh’s first season will be in 2023.

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  • Deep dive: Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar

    It’s hard to imagine a modern supercar competing in the Paris-Dakar Rally, but that’s exactly what the Porsche 959 did back in the 1980s. This video from Porsche’s “Top Five” YouTube series explains how the 959 morphed from supercar to rally car.

    The all-wheel-drive 959 was designed with an eye toward Group B rallying, but the category was eliminated before the car was ready. Instead, Porsche shifted focus to the grueling Dakar Rally.

    After some success with all-wheel-drive versions of the 911 in the Dakar Rally, Porsche entered three prototype 959s in the 1985 running. These cars had similar bodywork to the road car (which didn’t start production until 1986), and a simplified version of its all-wheel-drive system, but with 911-spec engines. All three failed to finish.

    In 1986, Porsche returned to the Dakar with upgraded 959 rally cars. They sported a more sophisticated all-wheel-drive system with multiple modes, while a 2.8-liter twin-turbocharged flat-6 similar to the 959 road-car engine replaced the previous naturally aspirated 3.2-liter flat-6.

    1985 Paris-Dakar Porsche 959 to be sold at auction

    1985 Paris-Dakar Porsche 959 to be sold at auction

    The Dakar-spec engine made about 400 horsepower, down from the road car’s 444 hp. This was done to account for the unavailability of high-octane fuel along the desert race course, according to Porsche. The automaker also fitted larger fuel tanks, and reinforced suspension.

    Porsche once again entered three cars for the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally, which finished first, second and sixth. That was enough for the automaker which decided to then retire from desert rallying.

    With its emphasis on electronics and lightweight materials, the 959 road car helped set the template for the modern supercar. Meanwhile, the Paris-Dakar rally cars are now likely too valuable to ever see dirt and sand again. Even one of the unsuccessful 1985 cars sold for nearly $6 million at auction in 2018.

    If you want to delve further into Porsche history, check out the automaker’s “Top Five” videos for rally cars and secret prototypes.

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  • Audi quits Formula E to focus on Dakar Rally, Le Mans return via LMDh

    Audi on Monday made several major motorsport announcements.

    The brand with the four rings confirmed it will exit the Formula E Championship at the end of the 2020/2021 season, leaving Porsche to represent the Volkswagen Group in the electric open-wheel series.

    Instead, Audi will enter the Dakar Rally for the first time, using an electric SUV. It will be a bespoke SUV with a high-voltage battery and an internal-combustion engine serving as a range extender, the automaker said.

    2020/2021 Audi E-Tron FE07 Formula E race car

    2020/2021 Audi E-Tron FE07 Formula E race car

    Audi is making a multi-year commitment to the Dakar Rally, starting with the 2022 rally. The automaker said its aim is to use motorsport to improve the performance of its electric drive systems and batteries and transfer this knowledge into future road cars.

    We’ve already seen this in Formula E where Audi’s latest entry features an electric drive system that develops 335 horsepower yet weighs less than 77 pounds. The drive system also has an efficiency rating of 95%, and the efficiency of its motor-generator alone is 97%.

    And while Audi has never competed in the Dakar Rally before, fellow VW Group brands Porsche and Volkswagen have experience to call on—especially VW which scored a hat track of wins between 2009 and 2011.

    Markus Duesmann

    Markus Duesmann

    “We want to continue demonstrating the brand’s slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in international top-level motorsport in the future and develop innovative technologies for our road cars,” said Markus Duesmann, CEO of Audi. “The toughest rally in the world is the perfect stage for this.”

    Audi also confirmed Monday it is preparing to enter the new LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) category for prototype racers announced back in January. LMDh was announced jointly by IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) and ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), which sanctions the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the highlight of the World Endurance Championship. The rules are still being hammered out but LMDh could be introduced in the WEC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship by the 2022 season, essentially allowing a team to compete in races from both series with the same car.

    Audi said it will also continue to investigate other motorsport arenas, though don’t look for a new DTM entry. Audi in April said it will quit DTM after 2020.

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