The combination of forces behind this Dakar Rally car is formidable. We’ve known this project was coming, however we get to see it in real-life photos. Prodrive, Ian Callum and Sebastian Loeb make up the star-studded lineup behind the car. As you'd expect, Prodrive engineered it; Callum penned it, and Loeb will drive it in the 2021 Dakar Rally.
The organizations are going under the name Bahrain Raid Xtreme, and the car is known as the Prodrive BRX T1. Its BRX acronym is self-explanatory, and also the T1 refers back to the class it's competing in – T1 may be the top level class at the Dakar Rally. Those photos already hint at epic things to come. Perhaps Ian Callum should take on more rally car and off-road designs, because this one looks superb.
As for that car itself, Prodrive is applying Ford's 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 to propel it forward. It's making 400 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque within this application. Loeb will shift it using a six-speed sequential gearbox that sends capacity to all four wheels through front, center and rear differentials.
The chassis is really a high strength steel tubular structure covered in carbon fibre body panels. Its dimensions are 177 inches in length and about 78 inches in width. Which means its footprint is near that of a Lamborghini Huracan EVO, but a little bigger in both directions (especially upward). It's a heavy thing, too, weighing 4,079 pounds for a dry weight. But keep in mind the territory this vehicle needs to pass through. It takes an amazing amount of durability and strength to even complete the Dakar Rally, not to mention win.
The rally begins in January, so watch out for news of how it performs. It'll need to traverse about 3,100 miles throughout the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 12 stages. The BRX team has tested for about a month at this time in Dubai. They've three more weeks, then it is go-time.
