It appears that Bentley has big plans with its upcoming SUV as Car magazine reports that the British manufacturer is planning to enter the 2013 Dakar with a production version of the EXP 9 F Concept. As expected, this move will be made to give its EXP 9 F a 4x4 motorsport pedigree in order to smoothe its arrival. Same sources said that Volkswagen is currently buying back the Race Touaregs used in the Dakar and these vehicles will be updated in order to be ready for competition in early 2013. Although Bentley admitted that the upcoming SUV will not be as good as the Range Rover off-road, the Dakar will definitely help to promote the EXP 9 F. The new vehicles which will be used in the 2013 Dakar will not reveal the final design of the upcoming SUV but will definitely drop hints of how the vehicle will look like. For those who don’t know, the Race Touaregs were powered by a 2.5-liter twin-turbo diesel engines delivering around 300 hp, while the Bentley SUV will run a twin-turbo 6.0-liter E12 delivering around 600 hp. The production version will also use a twin-turbo V8 engine with 500 hp, as well as a plug-in hybrid version powered by a V6 engine. A V8 TDI engine is also under consideration.
Rumor: Bentley to enter the 2013 Dakar with its new SUV
by Andrew Christian, Email, 17 May, 2012
Bentley EXP 9 F SUV Concept
