Ford Bronco DR: Desert Racer, from Canada

For the first time in its history, Ford is offering its customers a true racing SUV. But it was designed and manufactured by the Canadian firm Multimatic.

While the Europeans are training to make electric racing cars, whose motto has become “the quieter you drive, the longer you will be”, the Americans have built an all-terrain vehicle with an extra 5-liter petrol V8. of 400 hp. The Ford Bronco DR will hit the racetracks next spring, when the first round of the SCORE Overseas Championship kicks off.

This championship will culminate with the famous Baja 1000 race in the Mexican desert in November 2022. Then, anyone willing to pay $ 200,000 for a production car can buy the Bronco DR. Granted, only 50 of these uncompromising racing cars will be produced.

The Bronco DR was designed and built by Multimatic engineers from Markham, Ontario, Canada. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, they invented special racing shocks with distributors, and since then this design has been used more and more in motor racing around the world. And Multimatic has become one of the leading specialists in racing suspension, CFRP structural structures and space frames. Suffice to say that it was she who designed the monohull of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, the suspension and the chassis of the Aston Martin One-77. And since 2017, it has become a Ford partner in the manufacture of the GT supercar.

It was this successful experience that served as the basis for a new collaboration, when the management of the American automobile giant had the idea to manufacture a “public” all-terrain racing vehicle. It was therefore possible to combine business with pleasure – by incorporating the long-forgotten sporting successes of the very first Bronco into the advertising campaign for the new Bronco. Indeed, in 1969, the Ford Bronco made history as the first and only production SUV to win the famous Baja 1000.

Built the Bronco DR, ie the desert racer, “the desert racer”, based on the sixth generation Bronco with a 4-door body. But from the production car it only has round headlights, taillights, position lights and a grille. Underneath the fiberglass body panels – it has no doors – is a heavy-duty boron steel tubular frame. The Spartan cabin, which threw in everything to do with comfort including air conditioning and the rear sofa to save weight, has two racing bucket seats for the driver and co-pilot.

The powertrain is a Ford Coyote 8-cylinder V-shaped engine with a usable volume of 4951 cc and a 10-speed Ford 10R80 automatic transmission. The engine was developed for the Ford Mustang GT and now produces 460-480 hp. at 7000 rpm and a torque of 569 Nm at 4600 rpm. But for the grueling hours of racing in the desert, it’s likely to be downgraded slightly to increase reliability. That’s why the guys at Ford are talking about “over 400 hp”.

But the highlight of the car, of course, is the suspension, which is based on Multimatic DSSV racing shocks with a diameter of 80 mm and a length of one meter (rear) and 842 mm at the before. Two refrigerated tanks and a total of seven distributors per wheel provide 425mm of suspension travel at the rear and 260mm at the front. Most importantly, they offer three different damping zones on the compression stroke and two on the rebound. The boundaries between each of the zones are precisely defined, and the travel position at which different damping forces are applied is unlimited and selectable, giving the shock absorber the ability to precisely vary the damping characteristics over a constantly evolving field.

The ingenious design should provide the nearly three-ton colossus (the Bronco DR’s combat weight is 2,812 kg) with top speed in the toughest off-road conditions. And permanent four-wheel drive with electronic cross-axle differential lock, all-terrain “geometry” – 47 entry angle, 37 exit and 33 degree ramp, 1872mm front track and 1862 mm front rear tires and 37 inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T / A KM3 (37×12, 5R17) ensure exceptional off-road capability. To maximize range, the all-terrain racing vehicle was equipped with a 246-liter fuel tank.

And for all this splendor, only two hundred thousand dollars ?! And don’t think it’s expensive. After all, the RS Q e-tron electric racing car, developed by Audi for the Dakar-2022, is much more expensive. In addition, it is not for sale at all. And, yes, to climate advocates – the volume of its gas tank (yes, a gas tank!) Reaches 295 liters.