Audi RS Q E-Tron E2 rally automotive evolves for Dakar

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A brand new evolution of the Audi RS Q E-Tron rally automotive is heading to the 2023 Dakar Rally.

Now bearing the suffix E2 in reference to Audi’s Group B rally vehicles of the Eighties, the RS Q E-Tron will get redesigned bodywork, tweaks to optimize vitality effectivity, and a few ergonomic upgrades, Audi stated Thursday in a press launch.

“The Audi RS Q E-Tron E2 doesn’t undertake a single physique half from its predecessor,” Axel Löffler, the automotive’s chief designer, stated in an announcement. The cockpit has been widened, and exterior panels have been redesigned to enhance aerodynamics. The entrance fenders now sit up and away from the physique as an alternative of mixing into the doorways, and the physique itself has a brand new form just like a ship’s hull. These adjustments scale back the coefficient of drag by 15%, and also needs to make tire adjustments simpler, Audi claims.

Audi RS Q e-tron E2

Audi RS Q e-tron E2

Revised class guidelines have raised the minimal weight from 4,409 lb to 4,629 lb, however because the earlier RS Q E-Tron was chubby, engineers nonetheless aimed for weight discount. The brand new entrance fenders helped with that, as did adjustments to the rear hood that did away with some air ducting. Modifications to the carbon-fiber lay-up of the physique panels additional lowered weight, in response to Audi.

Like the unique model, the RS Q E-Tron E2 is powered by one electrical motor per axle, with an internal-combustion engine appearing as a generator. However, having famous short-term surpluses of vitality whereas racing, Audi modified the vitality administration software program to wring extra effectivity out of the powertrain.

The air-con system was additionally tweaked to run extra effectively. Audi discovered that it was operating so usually that coolant was truly freezing, so it has been dialed again to an intermittent mode. The revised system makes use of much less vitality whereas nonetheless protecting the cockpit cool.

Audi RS Q e-tron E2

Audi RS Q e-tron E2

As earlier than, the cockpit has a number of show screens and a panel with 24 switches. However to reduce confusion, engineers added a rotary knob with 4 settings—Stage, Street, Error, and Settings—that cowl an important capabilities.

The Audi RS Q E-Tron E2 will make its competitors debut on the 2022 Morocco Rally, scheduled for Oct. 1-6, with three driver pairings: Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist, Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger, and Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz. The Moroccan occasion will function preparation for the 2023 Dakar Rally, scheduled to start out on New 12 months’s Eve in Saudi Arabia.

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