When it comes to racing, Dacia might not be the first name to come to mind. But as a brand in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Dacia comes from a good family with strong motorsport pedigree. So to shed its low-rent image, the Romanian automaker has been stepping up its racing activities. Dacia has already found considerable success racing on ice in the Andros Trophy, and even modified its Duster to compete at Pikes Peak. But now it's heading for dry tarmac with this Logan touring car.

Set to compete in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship against the likes of Volvo, BMW and Honda, the STCC-spec Dacia Logan packs a 400-horsepower V6 mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox and driving the rear wheels. In other words, it may look something like the production Logan sedan, but the similarity is no more than skin deep. It weighs less than 2,500 lbs, and hugs the track with extreme aero, and is scheduled to make its race debut at Knutstorp (which we're pretty sure is the name of a kitchen cabinet we saw at Ikea) on May 3.