Biodiesel Powered Toyota Landcruiser Competing In Dakar

Two days ago, the 35th annual Dakar Rally kicked off, with competitors from all over the world racing across some of the harshest conditions on the planet. Among the racers is a Toyota Landcruiser 200 powered by biodiesel, emitting 60% fewer emissions over the course of the 5,250 mile race across terrain that is as fragile as it is deadly.

The Toyota team is proudly all Japanese, and the Land Cruiser is an iconic vehicle all over the world. It’s the perfect candidate for a race like Dakar, which has racers zooming hundreds of miles per day across sand dunes, mountains, rivers, and barely-populated areas of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. It’s the ultimate off-road race, and the perfect place to test alternative drivetrains. Hybrid trucks have raced at Dakar before, but none have won just yet.

Also competing are several Toyota Hilux pickups powered by an even-more-powerful Lexus IS-F motor. The biodiesel Land Cruiser is the underdog I’m cheering for though, and we’ll know in about two weeks just how well this alt-fuel SUV handles the toughest race in the world.

Source: Autoblog Green

Biodiesel Toyota Land Cruiser 200 ready for Dakar 2014

A Toyota subsidiary is preparing to enter a Toyota Land Cruiser for a very long off-road ride while emitting 60 percent less carbon dioxide than its regular diesel competitors. Toyota Auto Body Co. has enrolled a team into the 2014 Dakar Rally that will race a biodiesel-fueled Land Cruiser 200 with fuel made from used cooking oil.

The Toyota team will ride the off-road track that covers about 8,500 kilometers (about 5,280 miles) through Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. The Dakar Rally will start January 4 and runs almost two weeks. Jun Mitsuhashi is looking forward to showing off his home country of Japan in the race by driving the biodiesel Land Cruiser 200. "I want to compete on the world stage in a Japanese car and with Japanese technology," Mitsuhashi told The Japan Times at an event in the city of Toyota, Japan, announcing the team's entry into the race.

Another Toyota Motor Company-sponsored team is the 2014 Toyota Imperial SA Dakar Team from South Africa that will travel the route in two Toyota Hilux customized pickup trucks (called a "bakkie" in their home country). The bakkies are well prepared and battle-ready, Toyota says.

The 2014 Dakar Rally will showcase off-road racers traveling over rugged ground – rocky canyons, dusty valley and the Atacama Desert dunes. Drivers will kick of in Argentina, wend through Bolivia and finish in Chile. The first rally took place in 1978 and ran from Paris to Dakar, Senegal in western Africa. It's been held in South America since 2009 due to safety concerns.