BMW powered Range Rover Evoque to enter 2012 Dakar Rally

BMW powered Range Rover Evoque for 2012 Dakar Rally

The Dakar rally is regarded as the toughest motor race on Earth and each year it brings new challenges for the daredevils of speed who tackle thousands of kilometers in a matter of days over some of the most rugged terrains. Next year, the rally will take drivers and riders over some really unforgiving terrain in South America. The Volkswagen works team has dominated the sport for some time and this year they will face a new opponent.

The Range Rover Evoque, the stylish off-roader that Land Rover launched earlier will feature in the 2012 edition of the Dakar Rally. The car has been commissioned by RaBe Race Cars and racing the cars will be the British Excite Rally Raid Team. The Evoque has proved to be brilliant on and off the track but it will need some serious heavy-duty modifications before been let lose over the stages.

Of course, the suspension will need to be toughened-up and powering the car will be a 3.0 litre, 6-cylinder, turbodiesel engine from BMW. The engine puts out 275 horsepower and 650 torques and has been the engine of choice for its reliability, performance and economy. The power is transferred to the road via a 6-speed ZF transmission and a dual-speed transfer case. The Dakar rally spec Evoque will ride on BF Goodrich G Series rubber.

The British rally team will race three cars in the 2012 event and here is what team manager, David Jones had to say-

“We’ve been working on this project for a long time”, he said. “We were approached by a manufacturer, RaBe Race Cars, whose staff has been around the sport for a long time. Seeing our professional approach, they asked if we could work together. We have goals we can assist each other with, so we have now set our sights a bit higher.”

Source: Indian Cars Bikes