Holset Turbochargers Key to Dakar Success

With 14 stages of dust, gravel, sand and mud totalling 4500 kilometres, the Dakar Rally is the world’s toughest endurance race.

The 2009 race marked the 30 year anniversary of the event that was initiated in 1978. The original race event began in Paris, France and finished in Dakar, Senegal but due to the unfortunate risk of terrorism, the 2009 event was moved away from Africa to South America and was routed from Buenos Aires, on the eastern coast of Argentina, to Valparaíso in western Chile and subsequently back to Buenos Aires.

Cummins Turbo Technologies was approached by Fiat Powertrain, who manufactured the engine for Dutch driver, Gerard de Rooy’s Iveco Cursor 13 truck. The engine manufacturer requested a turbocharger that was both durable and capable of maximising the power of the application in these most testing conditions.

The power output of the Dakar engine is greater than that of a standard on-highway Iveco Cursor 13 and because of this, Applications Engineers at Cummins Turbo Technologies’ UK facility recommended the use of a larger Holset HX60W turbocharger, instead of the Cursor 13’s standard Holset HX55W turbocharger. This larger turbocharger was required to provide the increased boost pressure needed for the high powered engine.

Cyclicality is the pattern in which a turbocharger’s speed cycles up and down. The nature of the Dakar rally means that the trucks in the race are subjected to much higher than average duty cycles. These high duty cycles place a strain on the turbochargers rotating parts, in particular the impeller wheel. In order to counter this issue, Cummins Turbo Technologies selected a Machined from Solid (MFS) aluminum impeller wheel. MFS wheels are more durable than their cast equivalents; this is mainly due to the superior base metal properties of solid forged aluminum. As a result of this, MFS is often the best option for applications with high duty cycles.

The driver, Gerard de Rooy guided his Holset powered Iveco to an impressive third position, only one hour behind the leading Kamaz drivers Kabirov and Chagin who both completed the rally in under 50 hours, breaking all previous records. The impressive de Rooy finished almost seven hours in front of his nearest rival, who was also a Kamaz driver.

For more information on the Dakar rally, please visit www. dakar.com.

For further information please contact:
Alison Smith, Central Marketing Services,
Tel: + 44 1484 422244, Fax: + 44 1484 452623
E-Mail: alison.j.smith@cummins.com