MINI Headed to Dakar in 2011

Sections: Motorsports | R60 (Countryman) Dec 7th, 2010 8 Comments

The translation is a bit rough, but BigBlogg is reporting that a MINI Countryman sponsored by Monster Energy [drink] and run by the X-raid team will compete in the infamous Dakar Rally desert race through Argentina and Chile come January. According to BigBlogg, the project was approved by BMW back in June and they’re under the gun to get the car ready for the January start. MINI worked with long-time partner Magna Steyr to design the car, which appears to be positioned as the successor to X-raid’s current fleet of BMW X3 desert racers â€” offering a lower center of gravity and better handling. The best part? Powering this little desert mongrel will be a twin-turbo diesel pushing 310 horsepower and twisting a massive 524 ft/lbs of torque!

[UPDATE] We’ve received the full press release (PDF) with lots more detail about the car.

Written By: Nathaniel Salzman

B-

I want my Countryman to look like that!!!!!!!!!!
Axel

I want one!!! 524 lb/tq ALL4 damn skippy I want one
Nick Dawson

If the car does well or better still wins, the payback will be huge!
JonPD

Will be interesting to see how it does. Still chuckle every time I hear that a race win helps the brand. Yes the publicly is good but cars in 90% of all race series are race cars dressed in production clothing. They have very little to do with the production car other than the general shape. The body is stiffened (in most cases changed in for a tube frame), every possible ounce of excess weight removed. New brakes, suspension, and motor. Sorry to be a downer but the days of road cars and huge race series are pretty much done. They still do exist of course but they are less prestigious races.

A favorite video of mine shows this pretty clearly, try to find a lot on the E 89 Z4 that is similar to the production vehicle.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/09/video-how-to-build-a-bmw-z4-gt3-in-600-hours/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1603186233 James Russell

I’ll take two. I will even let you detune to 250hp/ 400tq for reliability.
Glen

Can we at least get those wheels and tires as an option on the Countryman?
MINIme

This is BadAss! This is the look that I think would sell. I would settle for 200HP and 225 ft/lb of torque, but give us All4 and this stance!
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