Having seen success running diesels in the Dakar Rally, Baja 500 and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Volkswagen is entering a Touareg TDI in "the granddaddy of the desert races," the legendary Baja 1000.
The race-ready rig VW plans to unveil next week at the Los Angeles auto show will be the first clean-diesel trophy truck — the event's premier class — to compete in the 634-mile race formally known as the Tecate-SCORE Baja 1000. VW's entry underscores the rapid growth, and mounting success, of diesel engines in motorsports. Diesels have been cleaning up at Le Mans, where the closest gasoline-burning car finished 19 laps behind the first-place Audi R10, and Volkswagen sponsors the Jetta TDI Cup racing series that just wrapped up its inaugural season.
"This entry of a new, purpose-built Touareg TDI Trophy Truck is the next step in the evolution of our motorsport program and showcases our commitment to racing clean diesel vehicles," Clark Campbell, motorsport manager for VW USA, said in a statement.
The Volkswagen-Red Bull Baja Race Touareg TDI is one bad-ass machine. We've got more pics and video...
The truck is powered by the same 5.5-liter V12 that powers the Audi R10 Le Mans racer. It produces 550 horsepower and a stump-pulling 625 lb.-ft. of torque.
Hauling ass across the desert at speeds north of 120 mph requires a top-notch suspension. The Touareg TDI uses double A-arms with 25 inches of travel up front; the four-link rear suspension has a whopping 30 inches. Fox Racing shocks and Eibach springs absorb the abuse, and the 5,650-pound truck rolls on 37-inch BFGoodrich tires. The truck is 213 inches long with a wheelbase of 92 inches.
The diesel VW will start 14th on the grid — starting positions are selected by lottery — when the race begins Nov. 20 in Ensenada, Mexico. "We don't expect to win the first race," Kris Nissen, motorsports director, says, according to Baja Racing News LIVE. "It's a new vehicle, with rear-wheel drive; a heavier vehicle. We'll do our best to finish the race, then work hard in the winter — and I promise we'll be a winner in 2009."
VW has a storied history in the Baja 1000. The first-ever race was won by a custom Meyers Manx
VW, and Baja Bugs have been competing ever since. Volkswagen supports the tradition with a $5,000 bonus to
VW-powered racer that finishes highest in the race.
The race starts and ends (.pdf) in Ensenada and takes contestants through Mexicali then south to San Felipe and across the Baja Peninsula to San Vincente. Then it's a dash up the Pacific Coast back to Ensenada. More than 350 people from around the world compete on motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and four-wheelers of every description.
Images courtesy Volkswagen
Another rendering of the Baja 1000 racer:
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The race chassis:*
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The Touareg TDI that ran in the Dakar Rally:*
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The Touareg TDI that ran in the Baja 500:*
Video of the Touareg TDI pre-running the Baja 500 by YouTube user rdcklaus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxsUmQFgPH0
