Land Rover Defender will race in factory-backed one-make rally series

Land Rover is steadily injecting more effectiveness into the next-era Defender selection. It lately included a supercharged, five.-liter V8 motor to the line-up, and in-property tuner Bowler Motors unveiled a level of competition-organized Defender 90 it created to race in a revamped 1-make rally series that will acquire location in the United Kingdom.

Bowler channeled more than 35 many years of rallying experience to flip the brief-wheelbase variation of Land Rover’s well-known off-roader into a rally car. It included more bracing to the chassis, strengthened the motor mounts, and installed a entire inner roll cage in the title of security. On-board electronic options (these as the security command and Abs techniques) were modified for level of competition as effectively, and the underbody is now shielded by a thick aluminum skid plate. Suspension factors created jointly with Fox and eighteen-inch wheels wrapped by meaty tires boost the experience height.

Inside of the cabin, it can be all rally, all the time. Long gone are the airbags, the glass, and the supple leather-based. What’s left is a pair of racing seats with 6-position harnesses, a a few-spoke steering wheel, and polycarbonate windows. 

Bowler selected to ability the rally-bound Defender with a turbocharged, two.-liter four-cylinder motor that sends three hundred horsepower and 295 pound-ft of torque to the rear wheels through an 8-velocity automatic transmission. It inhales by means of an intake method that is mounted substantially higher than on the regular Defender, and it exhales by means of a activity exhaust method. Not creating major mechanical modifications to the motor and the transmission keeps the price of racing in check by making certain the Problem-bound automobiles can be fixed with off-the-shelf factors. 

Where by the 2022 Defender Problem will acquire participants hasn’t been unveiled but. Bowler and Land Rover are preparing on hosting seven rounds in the United Kingdom, and there are only twelve spots obtainable. You can race even if you’ve got under no circumstances ventured off the crushed route just before: The celebration is open to the two expert and beginner pilots. Bowler notes it can be prepared to train new drivers and support them acquire the necessary licenses just before they get behind the wheel. 

Land Rover unveiled offers for the 2022 Problem will start out at £99,five hundred (about $138,000) such as a Bowler-organized Defender Problem vehicle, an entry into the series, and celebration assist. Additional facts about the series will be produced in the weeks leading up to the first race in March 2022. Until then, the Problem-bound Defender is scheduled to make its level of competition debut at the 250-mile lengthy Iceland Rally using location in August 2021.

Bowler has taken the Defender racing just before. In 2013, it transformed the first-era, turbodiesel-driven product into a rally car and arranged a similar 1-make series that also took location in the United Kingdom.