When Dakar Rally specialists Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres tackle the 2015 Dakar Rally next January, they'll be doing in the insane Peugeot 2008 DKR, which unlike some of its rivals will be two-wheel drive.
Technical details of the hulking desert dueller reveal the two-seater will channel power to the rear-wheels via a six-speed manual sequential gearbox, which is hooked up to a 250kW (340hp) 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel V6 that redlines at 5000rpm.
Torque generation from the mid-rear-mounted V6 is a colossal 800Nm, and top speed is rated at 200km/h.
The fact that Peugeot and running partner Red Bull have chosen to attack the world's toughest rally with a 2WD vehicle is somewhat of a risk. But it's a calculated risk, says Peugeot Sport Director, Bruno Famin.
"When it comes to cross-country rallying, the biggest question is whether to run with four-wheel drive or just two. After a detailed study of the question, we decided to go for two-wheel drive transmission which presents a number of interesting benefits," he said, which include a lighter overall vehicle weight and larger tyres.
If Peugeot's high-stakes gamble pays off, and it wins the 2015 Dakar Rally, it will be the first to win the race with a 2WD vehicle.
"In motorsport, weight is counter to performance. However, in the case of cross-country rallying, two-wheel drive cars are allowed to be significantly lighter than 4x4s. They are also entitled to use bigger wheels which provide them with a certain advantage when it comes to coping with the many pitfalls associated with this type of terrain," said Peugeot's Technical project manager, Jean-Christophe Pallier.
"On top of that, they allow us to minimise the front overhang. The 2008 DKR can practically climb vertical walls! And that’s not all. Longer suspension travel – 460mm instead of 250mm – enhances its ability over dunes and when soaking up uneven ground. That's a key asset on an event like the Dakar," declared Pallier.
The Peugeot 2008 DKR also features an adjustable tyre pressure system, operated from the cockpit, which will be of benefit when crossing from sandy dunes to hard-packed rock, for instance.
The beefy-looking French rally car features a tubular steel frame wrapped in a carbon body shell, has double-wishbone suspension with adjustable dampers, hydraulic power steering and a quartet of 355mm vented disc brakes at all four corners.
Calipers are light-alloy four-piston jobbies, and wheels are two-piece aluminium units with a 17-inch diameter shod with chunky 37-inch Michelin tyres.
It's not a particularly long vehicle, measuring just over four meters in length, but it is thick, more than two metres wide. It has a 2.8 metre wheelbase and its 400 litre fuel tank is about 1000 per cent larger than that of a typical small car.
The Dakar Rally – originally called the Paris-Dakar Rally because it ran from Paris to Dakar in Senegal – was first run in 1979, but the route was moved to South America in 2009 amid safety concerns relating to terrorism. In 2015 it will start and finish in the Argentine capital, Beunos Aires.