Subaru Elaion Repsol-YPF
South American Subaru agent Barattero Motorsport Group have been developing a Subaru Forester for the Dakar rally in 2010, with the blessing of STi (Subaru Tecnica International). Officialy named Forester BaraTEC Raid T1 the car is dubbed the Subaru-Elaion. The development of the Rally Dakar vehicle is a joint venture of Indumotora, the Subaru importer, YPF Elaion lubricants (Repsol-YPF, the Spanish oil company) and the Barattero Motorsport Group. The cost for this project is estimated at about 1.8 million $US. The car is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine with 300 horsepower and 570 Nm of maximum torque. The suspension is developed by the Barattero Motorsport Group, a multi-link design with two shock absorbers, reinforcements on the studs and a maximum travel of 225 mm. Barattero statement: “We kept the Subaru symmetrical system, repeating the same components in each of the wheels. We use the same suspension, same disk brakes (ventilated 295 mm), the same calipers (AP aluminum), the same traction devices and the same tires (235/85 R16).
We did everything simple”. The cars fuel tank capicity has been enlarged to 480 liters, enough to cover 960 kilometers at full speed. The expectation is to cover around 15,000km of testing before the 2010 Dakar event. Argentine Gabriel Pozzo and Japan’s Yoshiu Ikemachi will drive the Subaru-Elaion on the Dakar which takes place from 1-17 January 2010, in Argentina and Chile.
The Barattero selected the Subaru Forester as base model for the development. The Forester has a reputation of robustness and durability. It is unlikely that this vehicle will be any competition for the factory Team of Volkswagen with five Race Touareg or the affords by Team x-Raid and Team Robby Gordon Dakar.
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Looking forward to the Dos Mares 500 race in La Paz Baja Sur.
