The Dacia Sandrider it is the car with which the Romanian brand of the Renault Group debuts in the 2025 Dakar.
The project was developed in collaboration with Prodrive to be a protagonist in the queen of rally raid competitions in the Car class, also due to the presence of prestigious drivers: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez.
Among the team’s objectives there is also the conquest of the title in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (the W2RC, the World Rally Raid Championship), with a three-year commitment by the manufacturer until 2027.
Dacia Sandrider, technical characteristics
The Dacia Sandrider it was designed to face 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.
Photo by: Dacia
The Sandrider’s engine is a 3.0 V6 biturbo with direct injection from Nissan (which is still part of the Renault Group), without electrification, with 360 CV of power and 539 Nm of torque.
The fuel used is an alternative petrol, supplied by the official partner Aramco: a biofuel which could be replaced by synthetic fuels in the future.
Other technical features that distinguish the car are the tubular chassis, with a carbon fiber body and suspension with a double triangle layout and 350 millimeters of travel for the shock absorbers.
The transmission is a 4 wheel drive – with 17″ wheels from BF Goodrich – and with 6-speed sequential gearbox, designed to guarantee optimal performance in all conditions. The brakes are from Alcon, with 6-piston fixed calipers, with 355 mm ventilated discs.
In terms of dimensions we are talking about 4.14 meters in length (just over a Dacia Sandero), 1.81 meters in height (about ten centimeters more than a Dacia Duster), 2.29 meters in width and 3.00 meters in height. wheelbase, with 59 centimeters of front overhang and 55 centimeters of rear overhang.
In developing the Sandrider, work was done to reduce weight, improve reliability, optimize the balance of the car and experiment with an innovative thermal management system based on the use of infrared pigments in the bodywork paint, capable of lowering the temperature inside the passenger compartment and improve efficiency.
Pilots: Al-Attiyah, Loeb and Gutiérrez
The Dacia team can count on a group of pilots very experienced in the Ultimate T1+ class.
Nasser Al-Attiyah, 5 times winner of the Dakar, is one of the strongest in the specialty; Sébastien Loeb, legend of the world rally championship and with a third place in the 2024 Dakar, will be able to bring a lot 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, as in the case of the magnetic plate designed to prevent the loss of pieces during the race.
Photo by: Dacia
Testing and preparation
The preparation of the Dacia Sandrider began with the first tests in April 2024, passing through the shakedown carried out in England. And culminating with the Morocco Rally held in October, where the Sandrider took first and second place which gives the team hope ahead of the Dakar.
To evolve the project technicians and drivers worked on aspects such as rethinking the wheel fixing system; the strengthening of the rear shock absorbers, improving visibility with the use of anti-reflective internal coatings; the tantibacterial treatment in the passenger compartment; the moisture-absorbing padding of Sabelt seats; the modular dashboard; containing the temperature in the passenger compartment by adding an infrared filter in the paint.
The long-term project
The debut of the Sandrider at the 2025 Dakar is the beginning of a project that Dacia has planned until at least 2027. It is a commitment that is part of a strategy in the long term, to make the Romanian brand a protagonist in the world of rally raids, a sector that requires very high-performance and robust vehicles.
The Dacia Sandrider thus wants to become a standard-bearer for the brand, which aims to be competitive in the Dakar event and in other races that will test the resistance of the cars and the skills of the drivers in order to win the title in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). For the record, the route of the 47th edition of the Dakar for 2025 is located in Saudi Arabia, starting on January 3 from Bisha and finishing line set for January 17 in Shubaytah.
From racing Dacias to road Dacias
Dacia’s commitment with the Sandrider in the world of off-road competitions will allow it to capitalize on its racing experience and transfer it to the production car.
This is a stage that is part of the brand’s growth strategy, which has become increasingly evident over time with the introduction of the new Dacia models in the price list. The most recent innovation was the Dacia Bigster, older sister of the renewed Duster, both sharing the new stylistic language of the brand and an increase in the level of content. By participating in the competitions the intention is to further strengthen values such as robustness, solidity and reliability to which the Dacia brand refers.
Sandrider’s competitive activity is also conceived as a laboratory to further develop these aspects and transfer them to series models. With a transfer of technological know-how from racing as regards even the most sustainable fuels, such as the petrol used in competitions, and which aims to maintain the diversification of solutions as in the case of LPG and hybrid engines already present in the price list.
Source: it.motor1.com
