2005 Holden Adventra Dakar T3 Prototype

[Jamie]

The car was built to comply with the FIA Rally Raid regulations as they were written in the mid 2000 era.

 

The car was designed to run in the 4WD class but was also designed to be run as a 2WD if needed to take advantage of the extra freedoms this category allows and to take advantage of rule changes that were happening in that period.

 

The design brief embodied a racing car that was sophisticated in architecture yet simple in detail to provide the right blend of performance potential and reliability for a private team taking on the massive factory outfits.

 

The car is based around the shape and dimensions of the 4WD Holden Adventra, the model that Holden were promoting at the time, but uses a bespoke full spaceframe chassis with non stressed composite outer panels, the same format still used to this day by all outright Dakar cars.

 

We wanted a car that was very responsive to drive and that meant keeping a very low polar moment of inertia and a low centre of mass. A central engine location was devised with the engine mounted ‘backwards’ just behind the crew and running forwards to the gearbox, mounted within a large tunnel between the seats. The multiple fuel tanks are also located within this vicinity. This resulted in all of the major masses, engine, drivetrain, crew, fuel, being as centralized as possible leading to a very favorable polar moment. The only major items located outside of the axle centerlines are the spare tyres, one fitting under the front bonnet and up to three at the rear. This setup achieves an ideal 50/50 axle weight distribution.

 

 

The above information was taken from the Brock Dakar/ProRace Engineering web site.

 

 

Link to technical information

 

Due to the death of the project head in 2006 in another motor racing event, the car was never completed (the engine has never been installed), and it is currently up for sale.

[Drew Dowdell]

Neat!

 

And Welcome Back JamesB!

[Z-06]

Beaut. Gotta give credit to those GM engineers from down under.

[Susimi]

That thing looks pretty wicked. Would have been nice to see it completed and see it racing.