High five

Norwegian returnee pioneers five-cylinder motor.

One ERC newcomer we did not catch up with at Lydden was Norwegian Svein Roger Andersen who drove his first ever European event at the ‘Home of Rallycross’.

The reason to bring this to your attention now is that Andersen is forging a unique technical path by running a five-cylinder engine in his Volvo C30. Constructed by noted Norwegian tuner Alf Eng, the five-cylinder motor is a production option in both the C30 and the Ford Focus, the two cars also sharing the same ‘platform’ [floorpan]. According to Andersen the five-cylinder is very similar in performance terms to the older four-cylinder Volvo motor. “At the moment I think we have nearly the same power and torque as the engine in Frode Holte’s car [a four-cylinder also built by Eng], but we are at the beginning with this engine and I hope we can develop it more,” said Andersen who, hailing from Spydeberg, is a neighbour of the Solberg brothers Henning and Petter.

Formerly a Supernational driver in Norway, Andersen had been away from Rallycross for more than a decade before commissioning his Volvo C30 from Gunnarsson Motorsport. The car also features a Maktrak transmission. Andersen is not yet sure how many more ERC rounds he will contest this year. “I don’t have much sponsorship so it’s tough. I plan Norway and Sweden, of course, but after that I will see how things are going before I decide about more races,” he said. For now, the distinctive exhaust note of the five-cylinder Volvo is a welcome addition to the field.

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