It didn’t take long for the bike and car entries for the annual Finke Desert Race to hit capacity. The Finke as they call it is the ultimate desert race in Australia and with the race just a few days away, our Australian distributor Race Wheel Australia and Team Taylor has been busy putting together the ultimate buggy to tackle the challenging multi terrain two-day race.
The chassis of this specific buggy comes from Tatum and is powered by a 600hp 3.5L twin turbo Cadillac engine mated to an Albins 5-speed sequential gearbox. The brains of the operation comes via MoTec 150 engine management. For the long straights at the Finke the buggy is fully capable to hit 210kph or roughly 130mph. For suspension, Race Wheels Australia went with King 4.5 bypass rear, 3.5 bypass front and 2.5 coilovers. Sitting on each corner of the buggy are some Toyo 37x13.5x17 MTR tires wrapping 17x6.5 -38 Method Race Wheels 103 beadlocks.
Crew Chief Michael Taylor says, " The best part of the build process was seeing the fully prepped race car load into the trailer. We're looking forward to watching the sunrise in the middle of the desert on race morning and then the crazy contrast of buggies and trucks coming past at warp speed through the big whoops. The big whoops near Bundooma and camping out under the stars at Finke is our favorite part of the race."
Piloting the Race Wheels Australia Buggy will be the talented driver Ryan Taylor and Adam McGuire. Taylor says "The Finke is the biggest event of the year, set in the heart of Australia, the entire lead up, the road trip, the journey is a two week campaign, but a two month plus preparation." When asked what his favorite thing about Finke Taylor responded, "I love the infamous Finke whoops. There is no better feeling than pulling top gear banging 5 feet whoops through the desert. It's what keeps us coming back. The Twin Turbo Tatum is fast, but we set up the King Shocks to best fast in the whoops."
Be sure to check out the main Finke blog page for daily content and Method Race Wheels Instagram for a behind the scenes look at the ultimate race down under.
- Buggy beadlock wheel designed with Class 1 and Pre Runners in mind
- Shorter spoke with a wide-five bolt pattern
- Material reduction in hub to reduce overall weight
- The next generation of the ultimate race wheel — Lighter. Stronger. Faster.
- Solid A356 aluminum construction with proprietary heat treatment
- Forged 6061 aluminum V.4 beadlock ring
- Grade 8 zinc-plated beadlock hardware kit included
- Redundant sets of threaded beadlock hardware holes machined into wheel
- Strong load ratings from 1900 – 3100 lbs. based on wheel size
