GKN has enjoyed a fantastic performance at the gruelling 2017 Dakar Rally with all 10 of the top 10 car relying on GKN driveline components.

The event covers 2,900 kilometres across some of the toughest roads and driving conditions imaginable. GKN achievement is made all the more remarkable because as the top 10 cars feature many different vehicle concepts, which impose a huge variety of requirements on their design.

For example, the three-time winner Peugeot opted for a buggy using a rear wheel drive only, which offers maximum spring deflection and reduces the vehicle weight significantly. The joints have thus been designed for GKN side shafts: plunging joints on gear and fixed joints on the wheel side, which weigh very little and allow extreme bending angles. These joints also offer the advantage of relatively low running temperatures with a special grease developed by GKN also helping to reduce heat.

Finishing in 7th and 10th place, Mini opted for four-wheel drive. The design requirements for all-wheel drive vehicles and the shorter spring deflection make GKN VL-RF joints first choice. To offset the concept-related weight disadvantage in 4x4s, these joints are weight-optimised and positioned on GKN intermediate shafts made of steel smelted in a double vacuum. This design ensures optimum strength combined with a low weight while deep drill holes reduce weight in the shafts even further.  The Dakar Rally can quickly cause fatigue in prop shafts, especially in all-wheel drive vehicles a reason why Mini chose GKN shafts, which feature greater resistance to fatigue thanks to the use of specially alloyed tubes.

Coming in at 4th, 5th and 9th place, Toyota designed its Hilux pick-ups in a similar way to Mini. It therefore also chose the time-tested GKN plunging joints on the gear side, which were adapted to the different balance on the Hilux.