The Dakar Rally is famous for the grueling terrain and rugged machinery that teams must bring to the race in order to even finish. Even though there are numerous classes in the Dakar Rally, one of the more fascinating classes is the T4 class, which is the truck class. And the dominant make in the truck class, having won 8 of 10 class wins, is the Kamaz brand from Russia.
Currently, the chassis being used by the Kamaz Team is the type 4326-9, which is a 20,000 pound 4X4 truck. Its designers have favored reliability to withstand the torturous stages, which is why it uses leaf springs and solid axles front and rear, with competition shocks from Reider in Holland being utilized. The cab section has an FIA-spec cage and it has space for the driver, mechanic and co-driver. As befits its racing nature, two fuel cells with a maximum capacity of almost 250 gallons are placed low and center in the chassis. This fuel capacity is necessary to keep the 17-liter, twin turbo, 730 horsepower V8 engine fed. A 16-speed ZF transmission feeds that power to the front and rear diffs. Top speed is 170 km/h hour, but bear in mind that this velocity is achieved in unpaved terrain. To provide the best balance possible, the engine and transfer case are relocated towards the center of the vehicle.
Seeing these trucks perform day in and day out in the rally is amazing because these trucks keep on going whereas their competitors from companies like MAN from Germany often fall by the wayside. It’s not useful to do our normal performance calculations because the power-to-weight ratio of this behemoth is very far compared to, say, a Porsche or even an M5. But what makes this design a winner is its consistency and reliability in a race that demands stamina and speed in equal measures.
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