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chance
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christian garcia
July 19, 2023
The Spanish brand has prepared three very special units of the Seat Ateca to participate in a regular rally raid next September. Is there a better plan to celebrate the more than 100,000 units sold in our country?
The Seat Ateca has already exceeded 100,000 units delivered in Spain and almost 500,000 worldwide. With a single generation born in 2016 and a slight redesign carried out recently, achieving such figures means talking about a resounding success… even more so if we add to the equation the fact that, so far this year, it ranks second Best-selling model within our borders, very few units from the leader among individuals, the Dacia Sandero. As we can see, Seat has many reasons to celebrate the existence of its compact SUV. And the truth is that it has done so… or, rather, it will do so next September. As? Well, nothing more and nothing less than modifying three units of the Ateca in version 2.0 TDI 150 CV 4Drive to give rise to a new Seat Ateca Marathon that will accompany the mythical Toledo Marathon of the early 90s in an epic adventure: the four will run the regular Rally Classics Africa that will take place after the summer in the Moroccan town of Merzouga.
Mythical cars: Seat 850 Special, utility, family and SUV
Toledo Marathon: a heart of Audi origin
emulate the Toledo Marathon It is not an easy thing: it is a very special version that the people from Martorell developed to compete in rally-raids and, as such, boasts a tubular chassis, specific Öhlins shock absorbers for the desert, BFGoodrich studded wheels, a bodywork fiber… and an engine inherited directly from the Audi Quattro S1 rally! How does that five-cylinder sound… The Toledo Marathon already demonstrated its conditions in the Baja Aragón in 1993 and in other events in Portugal and Greece. Now he will feel young again, and what better company than the aforementioned Ateca Marathon on his return.
Differences between a normal Ateca and the Ateca Marathon
The Ateca Marathon, as we say, is nothing more than an Ateca with a 150 CV diesel engine and all-wheel drive to which the brand’s team has added some improvements to condition it to the demands of Merzouga. These include, of course, studded tires on Braid rims, additional light grill, front bumper, Hi Lift jack, rescue plates, upper roof rack to transport all this extra equipment and a suspension raised by 40 mm with respect to a standard Ateca. With this they intend to play a great role in the Open category of the Classics Africa Rally 2023 and properly pay homage to the myth that already carries a whopping three decades on its back. As a letter of introduction, it seems unbeatable… and you? Good luck in the dunes!
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