RE: Peugeot 3008 DKR revealed

RE: Peugeot 3008 DKR revealed

Saturday 17th September 2016

Peugeot 3008 DKR revealed

Peugeot won the Dakar Rally this year: here's the machine it hopes will do the same in 2017



Peugeot's first triumph in the Dakar Rally since 1990 happened earlier this year, and has clearly buoyed the French firm - because it's going to try and do it again in 2017. But not with the 2008 DKR 16 that won this year: instead, it's over to the new and even more bonkers-looking 3008 DKR.


This Red-Bull-backed car, you'll note, is based on the new 3008 that won't even make its public debut until the Paris Motor Show later this month. Now, crossovers aren't really PH fare, but crossovers with 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel engines mounted amidships certainly are.

Savour those wild looks, which designer Sebastien Criquet says have been "the dream job for any designer: when you create a car, you always have a competition version at the back of your mind". Despite this, the 3008 DKR is still an evolution rather than a revolution: "Our goal was to take the weaker points of the existing car and make them stronger, while capitalising on all the existing strengths to improve them still further," said team director Bruno Famin.

Peugeot says the engine is more driveable for 2016, despite the imposition of a smaller air restrictor that costs it 20hp. Because the power's available lower down the rev range, it's easier to drive and "potentially even faster". Such drivability is all the more important when it's only driving two wheels as opposed to four. Reliability and serviceability on the world's toughest two-week-long endurance event are why Peugeot is continuing with the rear-drive layout. Well, that and the fact that it's still clearly quick enough to win...


Indeed, Peugeot says reliability should be even better for 2016, with extra focus on mechanical integrity and electronic robustness to shrug off the Dakar's 10,000 high-altitude kilometres. And it should be comfier for the drivers as well: Peugeot's improved the air conditioning system it introduced on the 2008 DKR 16 to help keep cockpit temperatures of up to 60 degrees at bay. Not nice when you're in there for 12 hours a day.

Sebastien Loeb will have another attempt at winning the event in 2017, along with this year's winner Stephane Peterhansel (who now has 12 Dakar Rally victories to his name), Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres (who won on two wheels for the first time in July on the Silk Way Rally). Peugeot has won the Dakar five times: place your bets on the 3008 DKR, which has been eight months in development, making it six...

 


 

 

Author
Discussion

redroadster

Original Poster:

1,729 posts

231 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
looks the biz ,good luck and winning with just 2 wheel drive in an off road race impressive.

caelite

4,273 posts

111 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
redroadster said:
looks the biz ,good luck and winning with just 2 wheel drive in an off road race impressive.
Many teams do tackle it with 2wd, helps keep weight down in a big way. The wierd thing about this is I believe it is one of the first major players to attempt it with a diesel.

TerryBarr

8 posts

106 months

Wednesday 14th September 2016
quotequote all
A road going version of this might be a diesel car worth looking at.

The Kesselchen Kid

2 posts

90 months

Sunday 18th September 2016
quotequote all
caelite said:
Many teams do tackle it with 2wd, helps keep weight down in a big way. The wierd thing about this is I believe it is one of the first major players to attempt it with a diesel.
Apart from the Diesel support trucks that every manufacturer has competed with for years...........................................

irocfan

40,160 posts

189 months

Monday 19th September 2016
quotequote all
how can something that looks so good translate into something so boring on the road?