Volkswagen pulled the wraps off its TDI diesel-powered VW Touareg Trophy Truck this morning. Not content with a mere class win, VW's Trophy Truck leaves no doubt that nothing less than an overall win in the Baja 1000 and other SCORE off-road events will suffice.
SCORE President Sal Fish (above) was on hand with drivers Ryan Arciero and Mark Miller for the announcement.
Powering this purpose-built two-wheel-drive machine is a 5.0-liter TDI diesel V12 engine that VW officials at the launch said makes "550 horsepower and nearly unlimited torque." Presumably the limit is whatever the custom-made driveline components can stand for 1,000 miles of abuse.
Like most SCORE Trophy Trucks, the Touareg is strictly a rear-wheel-drive machine. Like all Trophy Trucks, it's a one-off handmade affair with suspension travel measured in feet, not inches. Something like this can go 100-plus mph along dirt trails with 2-foot-deep whoop-de-doos without breaking a sweat.
Nothing you see here is a standard part, but VW has done a better job than most at keeping the profile recognizably similar to a production Touareg. VW's official line says that motorsport improves the product. But we're not sure what a rear-wheel-drive tube-frame Touareg with a solid rear axle is supposed to accomplish beyond convincing buyers that diesel power doesn't have to be boring and slow.
And here is that solid rear axle. The driveshaft angles sharply to the driver's side of the highly offset rear differential. This was done to make space for the midmounted engine. Yep, that's right, the V12 diesel mill sits behind the driver, and it sends drive forward to a transmission mounted on its front end that in turn sends power to the rear wheels via this driveshaft.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing
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it does look a lot like the regular Touareg from the side profile
but it's a total beat underneath
This vehicle, like NASCAR racers, are merely "funny cars" to me. They bear no relation to what you can buy at your local VW store. I mean, c'mon... a RWD solid-axle Touareg. Yeah right.
At least with the WRC (and production-based racing venues as well), the race cars at least resemble what you an I can buy.
Yep, no real relation to an actual Touareg, as hard as the shell tries to look like one.
Baja 1000 update: The race was run a few days after the LA Auto show introduction, but things did not go according to plan.
The custom racing transmission lost a seal partway through the race, requiring the whole tranny to be removed and replaced out at a remote desert service area. The job took several hours and the VW team dropped to 13th in the Trophy Truck standings.
Still, finishing a grueling race such as this in an unraced, all-new race vehicle is an accomplishment. They showed some speed and the team reported that the TDI V12 engine ran well. But their finishing time of 18:58:12 was almost 6 hours behind the wining pair of Roger Norman and Larry Roeseler in an F-150-appearing Trophy Truck.