The Peugeot 2008 DKR was the return of Peugeot to the Dakar rally in 2015. The return was not successful in the race, but the concept was. Its successor owned the Dakar in the following years because of the following innovative idea: Rear wheel drive instead of the usual 4 wheel drive. This allowed the car to enter in the buggy category with less restrictions.
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Features
- Independent suspension with pushrods on the rear
- Real wheel drive
- V6 fake engine and detailed engine bay
- 4-speed sequential gearbox with D-N-R selector
- built-in car lifts
- everything can be opened, with lock function
- HOG steering and working steering wheel
- Full rollcage
- Spare wheels
Design process and challenges
In some regards it was a new process for me, mainly because I was inactive for five years and some things changed in the Technic world, and partly because I don't have as much spare time as I used to have. For example this was my first model apart from my very first MOCs that was completely designed without CAD. No proper computer, no time for digitizing the build. Also I did quite a lot of work in my head, without actual parts.This was the first time I used system parts that defined the looks and I think the end result turned out to be pretty balanced.
The colors were especially hard to design, unfortunately it was not possible at the time of the designing to recreate the proper Red Bull Racing livery. The model was way too developed to change completely or call it a "custom model", so I decided to go with a custom livery. Making it all black was also an option (the prototype of the real car was also black). I tried it but it didn't look good with Lego at all.
Spare wheels is the "main feature" of the model because it was the biggest challenge in the whole model. I had to ditch adjustable suspension, wheel wells (which is a characteristic visual feature in such high cars and without those, the model has some wierd spots where you can see through it), advanced suspension geometry and a stiffer chassis in order to make space for the spares. I redesigned the front suspension from zero at least five times. The only advanced feature is positive caster achieved by tilting the whole front frame slightly.
The gearbox isn't working perfectly, in first gear when pushed backwards, there is too much friction, stressing the transmission elements.
Overall I'm (more or less) satisfied with the model, it is unusual but not weird and balances looks, playability and building experience quite well.
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