A Dacia like this has never been seen before: Here is the Sandrider

The Dacia Sandrider is the car with which the Romanian brand of the Renault Group will debut in Dakar in 2025.

The project has been developed in collaboration with Prodrive to be a protagonist in the queen of rally raid competitions in the Auto class, also due to the presence of prestigious drivers: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb, and Cristina Gutiérrez.

The team's objectives include winning the title in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (the W2RC), with a three-year commitment from the manufacturer until 2027.

Dacia Sandrider, technical characteristics

The Dacia Sandrider was designed to cope with the stresses of the Dakar and rally raid competitions, starting from the construction base of Prodrive's Hunter vehicle and developing the project with Alpine, the former Renault Sport racing department.

Dacia Sandrider 2024

Photos of: Dacia

The Sandrider's engine is a 3.0 V6 twin-turbo with direct injection of Nissan origin (still part of the Renault Group), without electrification, with 360 bhp of power and 398 lb-ft of torque. The fuel used is alternative petrol, supplied by official partner Aramco. It is a biofuel that could be replaced by synthetic fuels in the future.

Other technical features distinguishing the car are the tubular chassis, with a carbon fibre body and suspension with a double wishbone layout and 350 millimetres of travel for the shock absorbers.

The transmission is a 4-wheel drive with 17-inch BF Goodrich wheels and a 6-speed sequential gearbox designed to ensure optimum performance in all conditions. The brakes are by Alcon, with fixed 6-piston callipers and ventilated 355-millimetre discs. 

In terms of dimensions, we are talking about 4.14 metres in length (slightly more than a Dacia Sandero), 1.81 metres in height (about ten centimetres more than a Dacia Duster), 2.29 metres in width and 3.00 metres in wheelbase, with 59 centimetres of front overhang and 55 centimetres of rear overhang.

In the development of the Sandrider, work was done to reduce weight, improve reliability, optimise the car's balance, and experiment with an innovative thermal management system based on the use of infrared pigments in the bodywork paint. It lowers the temperature inside the passenger compartment and improves efficiency.

Dacia Sandrider

The drivers: Al-Attiyah, Loeb and Gutiérrez

The Dacia team can count on a very experienced group of drivers in the Ultimate T1 class+.

Nasser Al-Attiyah, a five-time Dakar winner, is one of the strongest in the specialty; Sébastien Loeb, a legend in the world rally championship and with a third place in the Dakar 2024, will be able to bring plenty of experience and speed to the table; Cristina Gutiérrez, the second woman in history to win in a Dakar category after Jutta Kleinschmidt, will also have the task of testing new solutions, such as the magnetic plate designed to prevent the loss of parts during the race.

Dacia Sandrider 2024

Photos by: Dacia

Testing and preparation

The Dacia Sandrider's preparation began with the first tests in April 2024, passing through the shakedown held in England. It culminated with the Morocco Rally held in October, where the Sandrider took first and second place, which bodes well for the team ahead of Dakar.  

To make the project evolve, technicians and drivers worked on aspects such as rethinking the wheel mounting system, strengthening the rear shock absorbers, and improving visibility with the use of anti-glare interior trim. Moreover, the team applied an antibacterial treatment in the passenger compartment, added moisture-absorbing padding on the Sabelt seats, and installed a modular dashboard. To stabilize the temperature in the passenger compartment, an infrared filter was added to the paint.

Dacia Sandrider

The long-term project

The Sandrider's debut at the Dakar 2025 is the start of a project that Dacia has planned until at least 2027. This commitment is part of a long-term strategy to make the Romanian brand a major player in the world of rally raids, a sector that requires very high-performance and robust vehicles.

Thus, the Dacia Sandrider aims to become a standard-bearer for the brand, which aims to be competitive in the Dakar and other races that will test the endurance of the cars and the skills of the drivers for the title in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). For the record, the route of the 47^th edition of the Dakar for 2025 is in Saudi Arabia, starting on 3 January from Bisha and finishing on 17 January in Shubaytah.

From Dacia racing to Dacia on the road

Dacia's involvement with the Sandrider in off-road racing will allow the racing experience to be transferred to production cars.

It is a step that is part of the brand's growth strategy, which has become increasingly evident over time as new Dacia models are introduced to the list. The most recent innovation was the Dacia Bigster, the big sister of the revamped Duster. Both share the brand's new styling language and a higher level of equipment. By participating in competitions, the intention is to further reinforce values such as robustness, solidity, and reliability to which the Dacia brand refers.

The Sandrider racing activity was also conceived as a laboratory to develop these aspects further and transfer them to the production models. By transferring technological know-how from racing to even the most sustainable fuels, such as petrol used in racing, the company aims to keep up with the diversification of solutions, such as the LPG and hybrid engines that are already on the list.

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