www.racetechmag.com 52 NEW CARS Peugeot 2008 DKR PEUGEOT’S DESERT GAMBLE Having blitzed the Pikes Peak 20-kilometre asphalt sprint, Peugeot Sport is tackling the 10,000 km Dakar rally raid – with two-wheel drive. Chris Pickering finds out why ABOVE 25 years on from its last Dakar triumph, Peugeot is returning with this monster 52 www.racetechmag.com September 2014 Issue 166 Subscribe +44 (0) 208 446 2100 www.racetechmag.com NEW CARS 53 DEFY anyone with an ounce of petrol in their it was when Peugeot first entered the Dakar. blood not to be drawn to the new Peugeot MINI, in particular, is very strong, with a reliable I2008 DKR. Set high on its almost comically car and good crews.” large balloon tyres and kicking up a trail of dust It’s nearly a quarter of a century since the firm across the desert skyline, it looks like a Tonka toy last took to the dunes and much has changed, brought to life. but Famin says the engineers are still on familiar There is definitely a sense of fun at work here, ground: “Physically the machinery is very and not just in the aesthetics, but it also has different to what we’ve done recently – the DESERT GAMBLE a serious job to do. This is the car tasked with Pikes Peak car, for example, was basically a track taking Peugeot back to the Dakar. car with 908 suspension, steering and brakes The French brand’s previous exploits – back and a lot of downforce – but we still have a in the rally’s original African incarnation – have lot of experience of designing rally cars. The become the stuff of legend. Ari Vatanen and philosophy is not that different; rally raid is, first Juha Kankkunen traded wins for four years on and foremost, rallying.” the trot in the late Eighties, driving rally raid variants of first the 205 T16 and later the 405 TWO IS THE MAGIC NUMBER T16. Following on from the Group B rally era and coinciding with a string of notable victories The 2008 DKR differs from most of the recent at Pikes Peak, it cemented Peugeot’s status as a factory entries to the Dakar in one crucial detail: force to be reckoned with on the rough stuff. it’s two-wheel drive. Strange, you might think, But that was then and this is now. So why for an event that takes in 5,000 miles of mud, Photos: Red Bull return to rally raid? The answer is refreshingly sand and occasionally even snow over some of straightforward. “Following Pikes Peak we the most daunting terrain on earth. So why not were looking for another programme – a go for four-wheel drive? medium to long-term programme – that would The decision is not as daft as it seems. For present a very good return on investment a start, the Dakar rules feature considerable for communications,” explains Bruno Famin, concessions for two-wheel drive vehicles, director of Peugeot Sport. including a lower minimum weight limit and Not so long ago, the company’s endurance significantly larger suspension travel. They also programme had come to an abrupt halt due to allow two-wheel drive competitors to run those financial problems within the PSA group and gigantic 37-inch tyres (the wheels, incidentally, there simply wasn’t the budget for a return to are far more down to earth at 17 x 8.5) and something like the World Rally Championship. automatic re-inflation systems. To finish the race you have to put quite a big safety factor on all the parts, but at the same time you’re trying to reduce the weight” The Dakar, on the other hand, provided an Ultimately, however, there was also a conscious iconic challenge that could be contested on effort to do something a bit different, admits a relatively modest budget. What’s more, Famin: “We took the same approach as we did it seemed a good fit for PSA’s international with the 908. In that instance we thought a lot strategy, which sees the 2008 crossover about whether we should run a closed car or an marketed in territories ranging from South open car. We did a lot of simulations and it was America to Russia. very hard to choose a clear winner, so in the end “The 2008 is really our world car,” says it came down to a strategic decision: Audi had Famin. “With the Dakar in South America and already been there for 10 years in an open car, major rallies in Russia and China, it fitted in so the concept had been thoroughly optimised. well with our plans.” If we had chosen the same route then we would Those plans extend well into the future, it have needed a lot more time to be competitive, turns out. “We should be in rally raid for at so in the end we chose the other option. least three years,” he continues. “It’s quite a big “It was more or less the same thing with investment and it’s a big challenge, so it would the 2008 – there were pros and cons to both be very optimistic to say that we are going to approaches and we knew that some of the win from the first year. The race is very difficult stages would be better suited to two-wheel and level of competition much higher than drive, while some would favour four-wheel drive Subscribe +44 (0) 208 446 2100 September 2014 Issue 166 www.racetechmag.com 53 www.racetechmag.com 54 NEW CARS Peugeot 2008 DKR ABOVE & BELOW With cooling such Peugeot Sport an issue, CFD was used extensively cars. Given MINI is using four-wheel drive, at this stage, but he confirms it is indeed we decided to follow the other path.” possible. “Frankly at the moment our It’s a technical gamble that could well main focus is on reliability,” he says. pay off. Equally importantly, it establishes a marketing synergy with the 2008 road car, ENGINE which is only available in two-wheel drive. Unlike its road-going namesake, though, the Under the skin, the 2008 DKR uses 2008 DKR has a mid-engined configuration, a 3-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel engine, with drive sent to the rear wheels through a taken from the PSA parts bin. The same six-speed Sadev gearbox and differential. (DT20) base engine has seen service in the Intriguingly, the original press material Peugeot 407 and Citroen C5 road cars and on the 2008 DKR does mention the road features only relatively minor modifications car’s Grip Control system, which combines in Dakar form, despite producing a very intelligent traction control with the vehicle’s healthy 340 bhp and no less than 800 Nm in 2009. The reason lies with the technical ESP system. So does that mean we could see (590 lb ft) of torque. regulations, which allow turbocharging on some sort of active aid – possibly integrated Diesel engines have become a virtual diesel engines, while their petrol counterparts with the differential – making its way onto the prerequisite for the Dakar since the event must be naturally aspirated, leaving them rally raid car? Famin is remaining tight-lipped moved to its new South American home struggling for breath on the high altitude stages of the Andes and the Atacama desert. BELOW Beneath the skin “It’s crucial that the engine – in particular of the 2008 DKR in CAD the turbocharger – can work at all altitudes, but it also needs to work over a wide range of temperatures,” says Famin. “You need an effective intercooler, for example, otherwise you’re going to see a big loss of performance. Also, if you don’t control the temperature of the turbocharger and the exhaust the engine won’t last.” To that end, extensive CFD simulations were used to perfect the cooling flow around the heat exchangers. These also looked at the sheer sizes of the radiator and intercooler needed to provide the correct cooling capacity. The ability to cope with altitude isn’t the only reason for diesel’s popularity on the Dakar. A turbocharged diesel engine inherently Peugeot Sport produces a lot of low-down torque, which 54 www.racetechmag.com September 2014 Issue 166 Subscribe +44 (0) 208 446 2100 www.racetechmag.com 56 NEW CARS Peugeot 2008 DKR can be advantageous off-road. WRC. It costs a lot less and it’s Furthermore, naturally lean far more adaptable.” combustion means far less fuel has Off-road racing sees a wide to be carried onboard – something variety of different suspension that more than offsets the extra configurations in use, but weight of the diesel engine. Peugeot has opted for a relatively Perhaps surprisingly given the ABOVE Beneath conventional double wishbone savage outward appearance the carbon fibre layout on both sides. Each corner of a lot of Dakar vehicles, the body panels lies a is suspended by two remote substantial tubular technical regulations require the steel chassis reservoir coil-over damper units base engine to be an unmodified developed by ZF Sachs, while production unit. Changes are allowed to CHASSIS anti-roll bars are used front and rear. the turbocharger compressor, along with At 460 mm (18.1 inches) the maximum the intake and exhaust systems and the Beneath the carbon fibre body panels lies a suspension travel allowed on two-wheel engine management, but the internals are substantial tubular steel chassis. Like most drive cars is nearly twice that of their four- all standard. Even the camshafts and fuel Dakar racers it’s a true spaceframe, with no wheel drive competitors (capped at 250 injectors are straight from the production line.