McRae Enduro rally car gets a Ford-built engine

The McRae Enduro rally car has been powered with a Ford-built engine, which is a 2.7 L V6 turbo. The diesel engine, assembled at the Ford Dagenham Diesel Centre in Essex, generates 220 horsepower.

Recently, the rally car won the prestigious ‘Idea of the Year’ at the 2007 Autocar Awards. Chas Hallett, Autocar’s editor, announced the award to an audience of 480 global motor industry leaders and celebrities.

Upon receiving the award, Christopher Bibb, commercial director for the McRae Enduro operation based at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex, said, “Rally driver Alister McRae, the younger brother of Colin, is our chief test driver.” “As soon as testing started, Colin was keen to drive the Enduro, but for many reasons that never quite happened, and sadly now never will. We therefore dedicate our award to Colin McRae – one of Britain’s greatest sportsmen,” he added.

On the other hand, Chris Harrison, director of Ford Component Sales, said, “As the supplier of the engine and other Ford components, we are proud to be associated with the Enduro … With an extensive portfolio of more than 100,000 components in Europe alone, Ford Component Sales offers an extremely attractive package to smaller companies … It makes sense for low-volume manufacturers to use the resources of a global giant by dipping into its extensive parts bin. Design and development costs are kept to a minimum, and reliability and quality at competitive prices are assured.”

The MCRae Enduro team is credited for the design of the car. Ford supplied the engine that comes with a six-speed manual ZF gearbox, helping in the transfer of 220 horsepower to the full-time four-wheel-drive system.

The rally car will be competing in races, including the 6,000 km cross-Saharan Dakar Rally. It will compete in its first event – the Saudi Arabia Baja – in February next year.