The 2024 Dakar Rally is set to begin in Saudi Arabia on 5th January, which isn’t very far now. So, in the build-up to the 46th edition of the gruelling rally raid, Audi has announced several updates for its all-electric contender, the RS Q e-tron. 2024 will witness the third outing of Audi’s electric off-roader. While its debut outing in 2022 can be deemed fairly smooth (all three RS Q e-trons saw the finish line), the 2023 edition opened up a big opportunity for Audi Sport to learn a lot about the vehicle. This is primarily because two of the three cars, driven by Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz, were ruled out of the rally due to accidents. With learnings from their previous outing, Audi says it has managed to update the RS Q e-tron for 2024 across five broad categories: safety, reliability, comfort, performance, and maintenance. Here’s a look.
Safety
With the above-mentioned accidents in mind, improving the safety levels has been a key focus area. Overall car control has been improved by tweaking the springs, dampers and the bump stop in the chassis. This has led to better load distribution. To reduce peak loads on the driver and co-driver over a longer period, the seat foam has been improved with respect to material stiffness, geometry, and how the cockpit temperature influences the foam stiffness. The carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) crash box at the front end of the chassis is now longer to better absorb energy from an impact, especially in the case of an accident.
Reliability
Audi claims in previous outings, penetrating stones getting caught between the rim bed, brake disc and upright (part of the wheel assembly which holds the hub) caused significant damage that necessitated time-consuming wheel changes more than once. To solve this problem, new fastening elements for the uprights have been employed to allow better clearance for the stones to be thrown out. More robust wheels and new BF Goodrich tyres with stronger sidewalls have also been opted for.
Comfort
To make the piloting crew’s life less strenuous during the rally, engineers have worked on improving the acoustic shielding and overall sealing of the cockpit. The bonnet has been modified to better repel swirled mud and water, to let the windshield remain cleaner for longer.
Performance
The shock absorbers and springs have been re-tuned to improve the overall setup. As the new tyres have added more weight, other components, like the rear bonnet, footrest for the co-driver, and brake callipers (smaller now), have been optimised. Following a change in the regulations, the maximum output from the electric motors has been raised from 263kW to 286kW for 2024.
Maintenance
Steps have been taken to make routine maintenance tasks during rally events simpler and less time-consuming. For example, improved tool holders, optimised filling caps for operating fluids, modified bolted connections, and new locking solutions for body parts and bolted instead of glued connections contribute towards more convenient and faster servicing.