Dodge Dart was conceived as a sporty mid-size sedan. So Dodge decided to give it a motorsport career by entering it 2012 Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) Series. The Dart rally car, a rendering of which is shown here, will be driven by four-time Rally America Champion and 17-time X Games Gold Medalist Travis Pastrana. Even if they’re not successful, it would be good press.
The rally Dart is powered by a 600hp and 550 lb.-ft. of torque 2.0 liter supercharged four-cylinder engine, mated to a Sedav 4-wheel drive system. To look at it’s pretty much the same as the road-going Dart, but features a massive aerodynamic pacakge.
The choice of motorsport is also good. Global RallyCross is a spin-off of the X Games rally races. It combines the skill of rally racing with the excitement of X Games. The series consists of seven racing events in closed-course rally tracks and incorporates bumper-to-bumper competition among 600 horsepower all-wheel drive vehicles.
2012 Global RallyCross Race Schedule:
- May 26 – Charlotte Motor Speedway
- June 10 – Texas Motor Speedway
- June 30 – X Games, Los Angeles
- July 1 – X Games, Los Angeles
- July 14 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
- Sept. 1 – TBD
- Sept. 29 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
