Following an early reveal on racing driver Jean-Philippe Dayraut's website, Renault today released official photos of its PikesPeak contender, the 850HP Dacia Duster “No Limit”. The name comes from the “Unlimited” class of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which imposes no restrictions on the size or power output of the engine, maximum power or torque. In addition, there are no restrictions concerning the transmission or the aerodynamic characteristics. Looking at the size of the Duster's rear wing, it is obvious the car competes in the “Unlimited” class.
The one-off prototype was built by Tork Engineering (which handled the design, production, assembly and development) and Sodemo (engine), in association with Renault Sport Technologies, which supplied certain components.
Under the glass-fiber skin (the car weighs 950 kg or 2,094 pounds), the Duster “No Limit” features a 3.8-liter V6 engine specially built by Sodemo and based on the Nissan GT-R's VR 38 DETT powerplant. However, instead of the GT-R's 530HP, the six-cylinder unit has been tuned to deliver no less than 850 horses at 7,000 rpm and 900 Nm (663.8 lb-ft) of torque at 5,000 rpm. The engine is linked to a six-speed sequential gearbox specially developed by Sadev.
The man that will drive the monster up the hill is Jean-Philippe Dayraut, three-time Andros Trophy winner and six times French champion in single-seater and touring car racing. He convinced Renault to take part in this endeavour, with the team aiming for a win on June 26, despite the fact that both the car and the driver are facing their first Pikes Peak event.
"The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is the only event where you get to keep a monster like this in check while drifting at speeds of 200 km/h on a course which features a mix of asphalt and dirt," said Jean-Philippe Dayraut. "I can't think of any other form of motorsport where such cars are authorised," he added.
By Dan Mihalascu
