Audi Sport presented its RS Q e-tron E2 today in Neuburg with which it will take part in the 2023 edition of the Dakar and the first thing that immediately jumped to the eye was the net … weight loss.
The new vehicle that the House of the Four Rings will field at the start of the most famous and toughest Rally Raid in the world, after the debut in January of this year, seems to be in excellent shape, as well as its three crews.
Confirmed Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz, Stéphane Peterhansel / Edouard Boulanger and Mattias Ekström / Emil Bergqvist, it is now clear that the goal – after a year of apprenticeship – becomes that of getting on the podium at the end of the race.
But to succeed in these 9 months, the Q Motorsport team and the technicians of the German manufacturer have worked hard on the data collected in Saudi Arabia in the past edition to arrive at today’s product, still being tested in some areas.
Motorsport.com was present together with other invited media at the Neuburg headquarters, where the RS Q e-tron E2 was previewed, and speaking with Peterhansel we tried to understand more about what was done in this period.
Audi RS Q e-tron E2
Photo by: Francesco Corghi
“The starting concept of the 2022 car was great, with two electric motors, converter and a rather small battery pack that proved to be the right direction. From there we started with small changes,” said the Frenchman.
“The car has improved a lot thanks to this, everything has made a difference, besides the aerodynamics clearly, as can be seen with the naked eye.”
As we said, the bodywork is much leaner than in the past and this guaranteed a reduction of about 80kg, as the German technicians say.
“The aerodynamic changes were made mainly to improve resistance rather than load. Now I feel the car freer and in acceleration it responds much better being lighter. And as a result we can go faster and handling has become easier.”
“Let’s say that I never felt I had to fight with the vehicle, it was pretty fluid and easy. But I had already noticed this when we raced in Abu Dhabi, where 80% are dunes. I felt good there. and had fun overcoming them, even sliding sideways. I’ve never had any problems or risked overturning “.
Audi RS Q e-tron E2
Photo by: Francesco Corghi
Peterhansel also underlines excellent growth in the management of the electrical system, with battery energy now being better exploited.
“At first it was strange as a car because you pushed the accelerator all the way down and kept the pedal down all the time. keep the caps because if you are not used to it it is very annoying “.
“Usually the whole system works automatically, we are not forced to turn off the heat engine to restart and so on. Among other things, when we are stopped, we have to think about navigation and a whole series of operations that can make you lose concentration. we’re on a circuit where you know the track and everything, so adding an operation to the engine system would waste time. “
“With the lightest car, in theory, consumption also changes, so we shouldn’t have problems managing energy and batteries. From a certain point of view it is also easier strategically because we will not be forced to always check the Road Book to see how much is missing, thinking about how much energy we need “.
“Last year the biggest problem was that in certain long stretches we had to lift our foot slightly to let the battery recharge system ‘rest’. And when you have stretches of 40-50 km all straight, you clearly lose.”
“We are now lighter and more aerodynamically efficient, so we can be more relaxed about the available energy. In such long stages, the more things happen automatically, such as energy recovery, the better.”
Audi RS Q e-tron E2
Photo by: Francesco Corghi
Mechanically, the Audi is similar to that of the past Dakar, even if with the weight loss it was necessary to look at the set-ups and the various tuning operations, as the transalpine veteran explains.
“The tank has been slightly enlarged, about 20 liters because the fuel we use has a very high density, but we will have to try everything in tests because it is different than in the past.”
“In the first week we had problems with the suspension, which were then solved. Let’s say that today the shock absorbers are from the same supplier, slightly modified also considering the reduction of the weight of the car, especially after the changes to the body”.
“The center of gravity has changed, so we had to figure out how to make the shock absorbers efficient in this sense, by changing the springs and the settings”.
Finally, an important aspect is that linked to … comfort. Like road vehicles, racing vehicles – especially for long-term races such as the Dakar – require comfort for the physique of the occupants.
“The cockpit has also improved a lot, it’s a bit wider. We remember that sitting in the car for 8-10 hours a day is really hard physically. Now there is also the new air conditioning system, which can be connected to the driver’s helmet . In fact we can count on air coming from the bottom, frontally and also directly on … the brain! “
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