2015 marked the return to Dakar for Peugeot after a very long absence. The motorsport team put together a very impressive rally machine that looked like the 2008 crossover and with racing finally over, it's time to take advantage by making a targeted advertising campaign.
The next video is titled "Tamed for Tarmac" and is part of a multi-channel marketing campaign where the spicy 2008 DKR is turned into a vanilla 2008 crossover that you can actually buy from a dealership.
The video effects are pretty spectacular. The car shrinks, sprouts roof rails and gets rid of all its go-fast bits. It's a bit like Transformers and even has the same sound effects, but instead of becoming cooler, the 2008 is made more boring and average.
We don't see the connection
As is usually the case with modern motorsport, there's literally no connection between the race car, that's built with tubular steel and carbon fiber, and the road-going version. What Peugeot sells is a front-wheel drive glorified MPV with between 82 and 120 horsepower, while the racing machine is powered by a V6 twin-turbodiesel engine generating around 350 hp.
That's something no production Peugeot has ever had. The 2008 DKR is not only the first Peugeot to race in the famous rally after a 25 year hiatus, but also the most original racer in its class. It's not a 4x4, but a rear-wheel drive 2x4. To compensate for this disadvantage, the officials have allowed them to use a longer 460mm suspension travel (instead of 250mm) and install larger tires which are about twice the height of those on the road car.
What's amusing is that sister car Citroen is famous for being the first to show a car that transforms into a giant robot. Everybody remembers the dancing C4 that was "alive with technology" and showed its killer moves to "Jacques Your Body" from "Les Rythmes Digitales".
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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