Click
here for 2000 Technical specifications
2002 Vehicle Technical specifications
TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 90 - STD 3L TURBO DIESEL - short wheelbase
| DIMENSIONS
& WEIGHT |
| Overall
length in mm |
4305 |
| Overall
width in mm |
1730
|
| Overall
height in mm |
1855
|
| Wheelbase |
2365 |
| Tread
Front / Rear in mm |
1475
/ 1480 |
| Ground
clearance in mm |
230
|
| Kerb
weight in kg |
1840
|
| Gross
vehicle weight in kg |
2510
|
| |
|
| CHASSIS
|
|
| Suspension
Front |
2
Bilstein single shockabsorbers and double wishbone |
| Suspension
Rear |
Double
Bilstein schockabsorbers and 4-link type suspension |
| Brakes
Front/rear |
Ventilated
discs |
| Steering |
Rack
and pinion |
| Fuel
tank capacity liters |
Fuel
Safe 250 liters |
| Tyres |
Pirelli
Scorpion Dakar 270x16 |
| |
|
| ENGINE
3.0 TD |
|
| Type |
TD,
4-cyl. In-line OHC |
| Piston
displacement in cc |
2982
|
| Max
output (SAE net) kW/rpm |
120
(163) / 3400 |
| Max
torque (SAE net) Nm/rpm |
343/1600-3200
|
2000 Vehicle Technical specifications
Vehicle Details re Isuzu Trooper used in 1997 and 2000
The car we used for the 1997 and 2000 events was a 1990 Isuzu
Trooper short wheelbase with a 2.6 litre petrol engine and manual
transmission, much modified from standard. We used a similar Trooper
for our earlier Dakars, and in that time learnt a lot about the
car and its weaknesses. It certainly has shown its fair share of
weaknesses, but we managed to overcome them!
Modifications.
Engine.
The engine
has been balanced and gas-flowed, but otherwise left fairly standard.
The air filtration system has been enhanced and the cooling system
upgraded. There are also oil coolers fitted and air vents in the
bonnet to make the cooling fans more effective.
Tramsmission.
We used a standard
clutch, mainly because a competition version is not available. A
little extra care in its use allowed us to get by quite well, but
we did carry a spare. The gearbox was standard apart from the addition
of an oil cooling system. On our previous Trooper we had problems
with hard plastic bushes in the gearbox melting in the extreme conditions.
The rear axle was re-inforced by means of steel triangulation, and
its oil capacity was increased. There was also a rear axle oil cooler
installed. The front transmission was standard except for the front
hubs. These were replaced with the more reliable manual locking
type rather than the auto locking type. We have found the front
transmission joints to be weak on Troopers, and for that reason
we tried to use four wheel drive only when really necessary, and
we carried the more fragile parts as spares.
Brakes.
We used the
cars original braking system. The Dakar is a long distance race,
nothing like a circuit race where great advantage can be gained
through aggressive braking before every turn. We have found the
standard brakes to be adequate, and while we maybe would have liked
to improve in this department it was not a high priority on our
very limited budget.
Body
The body was
lightened as much as possible. All superfluous trim was removed,
and all the glass except the windscreen was replaced, with aluminium
in the rear window openings, and polycarbonate sheet in the door
windows. This allowed the removal of window winding mechanisms and
also the inner skin of each door, which adds up to a good weight
reduction. The dash was replaced with a light weight aluminium panel
which also carried extra switches and instrumentation. To achieve
the required range an auxiliary fuel tank was added giving us a
fuel capacity of around fifty gallons.
Chassis
and suspension.
The known weaknesses
of the chassis were re-inforced, particularly around the steering
box mountings and body mounting outriggers. We added an extra set
of shock absorbers, but otherwise the suspension was standard. All
the suspension bushing was renewed with standard parts. Although
some performance advantage may have been gained by using harder
materials for these bushes we decided to stay with the original
to avoid any further stresses on the chassis. This is a long race,
and we know that the chassis only just hangs together as it is!
Wheels and
tyres.
The standard
15 inch wheels were replaced with 16 inch steel rims. This gave
a little more ground clearance, but more importantly allowed us
to use 7.50 x 16 sand tyres, which were not available as 15 inch.
Tyre choice was rather difficult, because most of the route is not
usually sand, but is often rocky. We decided that we could, with
care, cross rocks with sand tyres better than we could cross sand
with rock tyres, and as we could not physically carry two sets of
tyres we use those designed for sand. Because of the low pressures
required at times to cross the softest of the sand we opted for
tubed tyres, and to prevent tyre slippage on the rims (which would
pull the valves out of the tubes) we drilled the rims and pegged
the tyres by means of short self tapping screws. To facilitate quicker
reflation of the tyres after pressures have been reduced for sandy
sections we retained the air-conditioning pump and modified it to
act as an air compressor.
Safety and
navigation.
The car was fitted with an approved roll cage, which was welded
rather than bolted into the vehicle. The auxiliary fuel tank was
foam filled to F.I.A. specifications, and re-inforced fuel lines
were used. Light weight seats were fitted along with six point harnesses,
again all to F.I.A. requirements. A firewall was built just behind
the seats, which also kept the cab a little more comfortable by
separating it from the load space behind. For navigation purposes
we had a very accurate trip meter which displayed total distance
covered in a stage and intermediate distances to use between landmarks.
We had a magnetic compass, and also had a relatively simple Global
Positioning System installed. This had to hired from the organisers,
to avoid the wealthy teams using equipment so sophisticated that
the art of navigation, an integral part of the race, did not become
too easy. Fire protection was by a plumbed in extinguisher which
would discharge into the engine bay and the cab if it was activated.
We also carried hand held extinguishers, and for further protection
we also fitted Firetrace, which is an automatic system. This could
have been useful in the event of a fire while the car was unattended,
or if the crew were incapacitated. To further enhance safety on
the event all vehicles carried a distress radio beacon to assist
search and rescue if it became necessary. We also carried adequate
water and first aid supplies. The organisers of this race place
very heavy emphasis on safety, and the emergency cover that they
provided was excellent.
İDakarrally
2002
