For those who own a Volkswagen Touareg and don't follow motorsports, shame on you. What you're driving is related to a Dakar Rally winner. In fact, if you haven't seen the racing variant of Volkswagen's bruiser hopping dunes, go download some Dakar Rally torrents from the past, oh, six years. That's how long an iteration of the Touareg has been competing, and it's been consistently good.
Now, the Race Touareg 3 is upon us, and my money's on a top-three finish in 2011. Under the new and wind-tunnel approved carbon fiber and Kevlar body is a steel spaceframe, the necessarily tough suspension hardware, and a 300-horse / 442 lb-ft twin-turbo 2.5 TDI mill that VW has reworked to handle the current rally's significant shifts in altitude. Power hits the dirt through a 5-speed sequential gearbox and three limited-slip diffs.
VW says the Race Touareg 3 has the ability to accelerate to 62 mph (100km/h) in 6.1 seconds before reaching a top speed of 117 mph (188 km/h) "in nearly any conditions."
Expect to see the latest of VW's blue bombers wearing the new LED lights and 16-inch wheels shod in a set of specially developed BF Goodrich 235/85 R16 tyres while it's out having fun.
And fun it shall have, considering the hellish testing it's been through. VW says the truck has "undergone shakedown tests comprising 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) of simulated special stages" so far, which is twice as long as the rally. Looks like Volkswagen's in it to win it.
By Phil Alex
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