Renault-owned Dacia has announced a Rally-Raid programme incorporating the Dakar Rally, using a Nissan V6. On its behalf, Renault and Prodrive are developing a vehicle for the T1+ category.It admits one-off cars that can use a bespoke, tubular-frame chassis, but they must have a production-based engine.
Of late, Prodrive has entered T1+ with its Hunter off-road supercar, which has a 3.5 litre Ford V6 twin turbo and four-wheel drive. In the hands of Sebastien Loeb, the car put up a formidable challenge to victor Audi at this year’s Dakar.
The Dacia will be known as the Sandrider and Loeb will be one of its drivers, along with Cristina Gutierrez Herrero and Nasser Al-Attiyah. Demonstrating the seriousness of the Dacia bid, Al-Attiyah, with co-driver, Mathieu Baumel, took Toyota’s T1+ car, the GR DKR Hilux, to outright victory in 2022 and 2023.
The design of the Sandrider is reported to have focused on agility and weight, and the requirements of its crew through gruelling Rally-Raid events. Dacia notes the drivers and co-drivers have been involved in its development from the start, through hands-on design sessions that included the use of virtual reality.
It is claimed that the Sandrider will be 15% lighter than a comparable T1+, obviously having the Hunter as its benchmark. Dacia reports that this is not only in the chassis design, but also because the “engineers opted for a more compact and lighter engine”.
Dacia says the weight distribution has been improved and the car will be “more aerodynamic, to reduce fuel consumption while improving performance. Engineers were able to reduce drag by 10% and lift by 40% in relation to comparable prototypes. As part of their work, they focused particularly on the air inlets that cool the engine.”
The engine will be a 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6, supplied by Nissan, with direct injection of synthetic petrol from Aramco. Maximum power is quoted as 360 bhp at 5,000 rpm with maximum torque of 539 Nm at 4,250 rpm. This will be fed through a four-wheel-drive transmission incorporating a six-speed, sequential shift gearbox.
The Sandrider is due to debut at the Rallye du Maroc, on October 5-11.
