Prodrive has modified the jewel that raced the ‘Dakar’: a supercar has come out, with 600 HP of power. Beautiful and for nabobs
Maurizio Bertera
19 March
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It almost goes without saying that where a very expensive car is built for the first time, there is no enthusiast ready to buy it in the United Arab Emirates. And in fact, the first road Brx Hunter T1, developed by the famous Prodrive, is now in the garage of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain, who paid about one and a half million euros. Among other things, he will not be able to boast of having bought a unique object, given that the factory in Banbury (Oxfordshire) has announced that 24 units will follow in the next two years. One of the many happy intuitions of David Richars, president of Prodrive, who after having created one of the most extreme off-road vehicles in history, has seen fit to create a road variant. The British patron called it “the Ferrari of the desert” underlining that it wants to be the production cross country. With many differences from the original variant – driven in the ‘Dakar’ by Sebastien Loeb, Nani Roma and Orlando Terranova, but a similar driving feeling and above all the same bodywork, designed by former Jaguar design chief Ian Callum
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SPACE FOR THE TRUNK
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The T1 + is 4600mm long and 2300mm wide, with an aerodynamically oriented fastback shape and a high wing above the rear window to generate downforce. The height is 1850mm, 100mm lower than its rally sister. Tires are 38-inch in diameter on a 17-inch wheel, twin-shock coil suspension (designed by Prodrive), ultra-long travel at the front and rear, plus integrated air intakes. In the cockpit of the road variant, which is as soundproof as possible, the competition seats have a slightly more comfortable design and the new dashboard has been configured so that the car can be driven by non-professionals. The huge 480-liter rear fuel tank can be shrunk to give extra boot space given the vehicle’s tourist destination.
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0/100 KM / H IN 4 SECONDS
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The heart of the Hunter T1 + is a Ford 3.5 V6 engine modified by the British Prodrive to be 50% more powerful than the rally car and to generate over 600 hp and 700 Nm of torque. It is not outlawed for one simple reason: the ‘Dakar’ has a clear regulation on powers, the tuned cars do not … The twin-turbo engine pushes the off-road vehicle from 0 to 100 km / h in less than 4 seconds and up to almost 300 km / h. These are science fiction numbers, especially considering that the car’s set-up is not exactly that of a traditional supercar. Despite the overwhelming power at its disposal, the Hunter continues to be a vehicle ready for any terrain, not surprisingly it has 400 mm of travel for each wheel, even 50 mm more than the competition variant. It also boasts three differentials (front, center and rear) combined with a 6-speed steering wheel gearbox and four-wheel drive. Richards said Prodrive already has three or four buyers, and when they pointed out that he intends to build 25 units he stressed “they know where to find us.” Effectively.
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