The HINO500 Series Car 2 finished at 8th place overall in Dakar Rally 2017 and the team continues to upgrade the truck to evolve it even further. We spoke with Mitsuru Enomoto and Takashi Yamashita from Hino Motors Technical Research Center on some of the key upgrades that were made to the truck.

Early in June two men were on Hino Motor's Ibaraki test tracks observing the HINO500 Series Car 2 as the team conducted their shakedown of the truck. These two men were Mitsuru Enomoto and Takashi Yamashita from Hino Motors Technical Research Center, and members of the development team that launched the current model of HINO500 Series Dakar Rally racers. We asked them about the key upgrades made to the truck this year.

― What are some of the changes that you made to the truck this year?

Yamashita: Based on our experience from last year's Silk Way Rally, we boiled things down to two areas: Improve the durability of the transfer and the dog clutch on the center differential. We mounted the HINO500 Series Car 2 with a new transfer made in Austria. Currently, the oil temperature is running a bit high, but I think we can take care of that by installing an oil cooler. The dog clutch broke down last year, and I think we have been able to improve its durability by increasing its diameter. We also replaced the rear axle differential with a mechanical LSD (Limited Slip Differential). I was glad to hear that the driver got a good feel for the truck after he actually drove it.

― You say that you received positive feedback from the driver, that he got a good feel for the truck. What were some of the specifics of what he had to say?

Yamashita: He told us that the truck's attitude felt much more stable during turns. As average racing speeds go up, we need to eliminate behaviors that can cause nervousness for the crew as much as possible. Our most important aim was to enable the driver to keep the truck stable while maintaining speed without having to push the truck too hard.