Outlander PHEV Baja Portalegre rally car: the next evolution?
CONCURRENT to its brave new direction of focusing on EVs (electric vehicles), PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) and SUVs (sport utility vehicles), Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has built an Outlander PHEV crossover rally car to compete in some of the toughest, harshest conditions in the realm of rally racing.
The Outlander PHEV Baja rally car is built on a production chassis of the Outlander PHEV, but has been modified to comply with safety regulations. Modifications were supplied by the aftermarket industry’s best names: Recaro bucket seats for the driver and codriver, a raised suspension with a longer stroke from legendary suspension maker Tein, large and powerful multipiston brakes from Endless, the large 20-inch forged wheels from Work, and purpose-built rally tires from Falken. A multipoint roll cage is also included for safety enhancements.
The Outlander PHEV has considerable fender flares to accommodate the massive wheels and tires, plus a full-length skidplate underneath to protect its underside from the jumps and loose surface it will pass, and a vented hood similar to the Lancer Evolution rally cars to disperse heat from the engine bay faster.
Beneath the hood, the electric drive system receives a more powerful electric motor front and rear with a bigger, more powerful and higher capacity drive battery. The gasoline engine, a 2-liter gasoline mill, has a raised redline with slightly more power.
Interestingly, Mitsubishi chose to run the Outlander PHEV Baja rally car mostly on electric mode, only utilizing the gasoline engine as a generator to create electric charge for the electric motors. Since the electric motors are utilized, the gasoline propulsion system is rarely used, and thus, the transmission is the original automatic system.
The majority of the interior, such as the OEM dashboard, multimedia system and climate control system, is still intact, as well as the plug-in charging system for the road-going Outlander PHEV system.
The Outlander PHEV rally car also utilizes the OEM instrument cluster, and the center console with all the cup-holders still intact. It’s safe to assume that on transit stages, Baja rally driver Hiroshi Masuoka probably utilizes the climate control to help cool things down a bit, and turns on the multimedia system to help pass the time on public roads.
In total, the Baja Portalegre 500 covered a distance of 502 kilometers, with more than half being special competition stages and the rest being transit/transport stages in between the competitions.
Lessons learned from the Lancer Evolution X’s Super All Wheel Control system have been adapted into powering the two electric motors, one each for the front and rear axles.
Masuoka, two-time Paris-Dakar rally champion and veteran rally driver, says that thanks to the electric drive system, acceleration is smoother and negates the need for conventional shifting, which means the ace rally driver can focus on steering and braking, while having a more progressive and smoother acceleration response from the electric drivetrain.
It wasn’t easy, as according to Masuoka, speaking to the media in an interview days after the event, that on the first day, the Outlander PHEV had problems with the gasoline engine not charging the drive battery properly.
But on the second and third days, after the initial problem was sorted, the Outlander PHEV performed like a dream, despite placing poorly due to all the time lost and penalties incurred on the first day of rallying in the Baja Portalegre 500 in Portugal.
It was the lone competitor in the new TE (1) class, which will see more electric and alternative fuel vehicles competing in the future. Alongside Masuoka was codriver Pascal Maimon, the Frenchman who also served as Masuoka’s codriver during his 2002 Paris-Dakar win. It’s a winning combination, indeed.
But this isn’t the Outlander PHEV rally car’s first outing: It has already competed at the much longer Asian Cross Country Rally, and finished decently.
Yasuo Tanaka, the technical director for the team and an engineer for Mitsubishi Motors EV Component R&D Group, states that they have learned much from the Asian Cross Country Rally held in August earlier this year, and have fine-tuned and tweaked the Super All Wheel Control system, and improved the charging speed of the electric drive system. Tweaks made to the electric motors have increased output and response, making the Outlander PHEV more competitive and easier to drive.
While the Outlander PHEV program is in its infancy, and is more of a rolling test bed for Mitsubishi’s EV and PHEV technologies, it also points to Mitsubishi’s direction. Tetsuro Aikawa, Mitsubishi’s president and COO, has stated that while motorsports is not on the immediate agenda, he would like Mitsubishi to return to top-level motorsports in the near future, using perhaps a crossover SUV platform such as the Outlander for the base, and powered by an efficient, well-engineered EV or PHEV drivetrain to lead the way into the future.
Surely, that would indicate it to be Mitsubishi’s next evolution model?
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