Audi and Ducati get it together

February 9, 2023 by Alastair Sloane

Ducati first showed off two Scrambler-based concept bikes, the Motard and DesertX, at its world premiere event in Italy in 2019.

The frenzied reception the DesertX received prompted the company to prepare the Dakar-inspired adventure bike for production in 2021.

It went on sale in New Zealand last year, priced at around $25,000. Now Ducati has tweaked it further for the 2023 model year, adding new livery.

It retains almost all of its specs and running gear – around 9” of suspension travel fore and aft, six ride modes, a 937cc Testastretta L-Twin, and off-road-friendly 21” front, 18” rear wheel-set – but gets a 13cm liquid-crystal navigation display that pairs with the rider’s smartphone.

The 2023 bike’s livery changes too. Unlike the existing DesertX’s white and red paint scheme — which itself pays homage to the Lucky Explorer livery worn by Edi Orioli’s 1990 Dakar-winning and Ducati-powered Cagiva Elefant — the latest DesertX comes adorned in the RR22 livery worn by Audi’s electric RS Q e-tron Dakar competitor.

The link with Audi is easily explained – Audi parent the Volkswagen Group owns Ducati. Using a black base, the RR22 scheme boasts a futuristic aesthetic with gray and red accents throughout.

The DesertX is still available in white and red. The updated 2023 Ducati DesertX 937 is available for order now, with pricing starting at $US17,695.

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Eight European Union countries are pushing to weaken new EU emissions limits for cars, saying they are overly ambitious and unrealistic for carmakers to hit. The eight countries – France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – said in a joint paper that parts of the proposed Euro 7 regulation, including curbs on exhaust pipe emissions, should be scrapped entirely. They said the limits would force carmakers to invest in improving exhaust emissions performance, money which would be better spent on developing zero-emission vehicles. Taken together, the countries would have enough votes to block the proposal.

A go-anywhere EV concept for the US military uses an onboard 12kW diesel generator to top up the batteries on the move. The all-wheel-drive has 800-volt technology and a 200kWh battery pack to power three electric motors, two in the rear and one up front. Claimed output is 745kW/15,590Nm, or 1000hp and 11,500 ft-lb of torque. The four-seater was developed by the defence division of General Motors and is based on the platform of the Hummer SUV. It rides on Fox performance shock absorbers and 37-inch tyres and comes with “exceptional” approach and departure angles for off-road mobility. Maximum range using the generator to keep things ticking over is said to be around 500km.

The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.