A small team of dedicated engineers from Nissan’s technical centre in Barcelona entered and completed the Baja Aragon Rally in a modified X-Trail e-4ORCE, powered by Nissan’s unique e-POWER system.
The X-Trail successfully finished the rally after two gruelling days, during which it covered more than 310 miles over demanding, unforgiving terrain.
The vehicle was modified and prepared by a team of seven engineers from the powertrain function at Nissan Technical Centre Europe – Spain (NTCE-S).
Highly trained
It was driven by Jonatan Gijón, from the chassis dynamics team and Cesar Fernández from the powertrain tuning team – both of whom are experienced and highly trained Nissan test drivers.
The X-Trail was entered in the “Open” category, with a view to possible participation in the “Stock” category next year – a category for vehicles based on standard production specification, including hybrids.
Miquel Sasot, manager of the NTCE-S Powertrain Group, said: “We are so happy and proud to have achieved our target for entering the Baja Aragon Rally, which was to simply finish. The conditions were very demanding – with high temperatures and difficult terrain.
“The fact that we finished is a great recognition of e-POWER and the e-4ORCE twin motor all-wheel system. It’s a credit to the passion and commitment of this small group of engineers who worked so hard to bring this crazy idea to reality.”
The X-Trail’s unique powertrain, named e-POWER, was unmodified versus the standard production version.
The only modifications for the Baja event consisted of updated cooling capacity, the installation of uprated suspension, the fitment of a roll cage, competition fuel tank, stripped-out interior and the installation of mandated safety equipment.
A great platform
David Moss, Senior Vice President for Research & Development in Nissan’s AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe & Oceania) region, said: “In the research and development function at Nissan, we place a high value on a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Therefore, when the team presented us with the results of the work they had carried out on the feasibility to modify an e-POWER X-Trail, with its advanced e-4ORCE all-wheel drive system, to compete in a rally, we were fascinated. It didn’t take long to agree that it represented a great platform to demonstrate how robust the powertrain is.”