January 2008 will mark the thirtieth running of the Dakar Rally in which competitors spend sixteen days racing thousands of miles across the Sahara. The course has been lengthened 3564 miles this time and Volkswagen is set to take another shot at beating the Mitsubishi Pajeros. The Mitsubishis have won nine of the last eleven races including all of the last seven. VW will be continuing their commitment to diesel engines in racing with the factory team entering four Race Touareg 2 TDIs. While the production Touaregs use a 3.0L V-6 TDI, the race version uses a 2.5L inline-five that puts out 285 hp in the 2007 race. The 2008 race starts on January 5.

[Source: Motoring.co.za, via GermanCarBlog, thanks to Christian for the tip]

The V6 now averages 9.6 liters of diesel per 100 km (24.5 mpg) while putting out increased torque and power (550 Nm or 405 lb/ft and 240 HP respectively). All this power and torque increase, according to VW, accounts for 0.8 liters less on the highway and even 1.4 liters to 100 km during the Euro urban cycle. The Touareg can make the jump form 0 to 100 km/h in 8 seconds, one second quicker than before.

The press release doesn't make any reference to CO₂ emission figures, which in the older model weren't that impressive: 283 g/km. Press release after the jump.

[Source: Volkswagen]

Volkswagen is really into diesels these days as an alternative to hybrids (but don't forget this announcement). Just like Lexus is doing with their so-called "performance hybrids", Volkswagen has decided to power up their Touareg TDI. As if the huge, and hugely powerful, V10 diesel engine that is available in the Touareg is not enough, they have decided to one-up themselves with the new R50. Boasting 350 HP at 3,500 RPM and peak torque of 627 lb.-ft. at 2,000 RPM, Big Blue can reach 50 mph in just 6.7 seconds while emitting plenty of spent hydrocarbons all the way up to 146 miles per hour.

Autoblog has a blogger at the Sydney 2007 Motor Show, and he was able to snap off a few pictures of the new R50.

Live photos ©2007 Siddharth Raja / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Autoblog]

Click the Touareg for high-res images of the Pikes Peak trucks

A trio of Volkswagen Touareg TDIs dominated the High Performance Showroom Stock division at the 2007 Pikes Peak Hill Climb taking the top three spots in their division. They also happened to be the only three vehicles in that division, something VW neglected to mention in their press release but let's not quibble over details. The Touaregs still set respectable times with Ryan Arciero setting a division record for diesel vehicles.

Ryan Arciero and Mark Miller were both running the now discontinued V10 TDI and recorded times of 13:17:703 and 13:25:247 over the 12.4 mile long 14,110 ft climb. Motorcycle racer Chris Blais was over two minutes behind in a V-6 TDI

[Source: Volkswagen]

Click on the image for a gallery of high-res images of the Volkswagen Touareg.

Truck Tend is reporting that Volkswagen has changed its plans to introduce a range of hybrid models including in its entry level vehicles. Apparently VW's recently ousted CEO was planning to introduce hybrid versions of relatively cheap models such as the Jetta and the Golf/Rabbit. The new head of VW, Martin Winterkorn, doesn't agree with the old strategy pointing out that high mileage diesel variants of these models already exist.

With hybrid powerplants apparently costing VW almost $2,600 extra per vehicle, its been decided that the Touareg luxury SUV can more easily absorb the additional cost and is a better candidate for improved fuel economy.

Currently the Touareg offers three engine options, a petrol V6 or V8 and a monstrous diesel V10. Fuel economy for the three is estimated by the EPA at 15 mpg city / 20 mpg highway for the V6, 14 mpg city / 18 mpg highway for the V8 and 17 mpg city / 23 mpg highway for the V10 TDI. Clearly the V10 TDI is the most desirable option, but you have to pay for all that torquey goodness - the V6 starts at $37,990 while the V10 TDI starts at $59,020 according to Volkswagen's website.

The higher cost of a Touareg means that offering a hybrid option on even the entry level model would add just 7 percent to the cost. In comparison, with the Jetta starting at $16,490, offering a hybrid option on the base model would add almost 16 percent to the cost.

Analysis: I'd love to see a hybrid Golf, especially a diesel-electric plug-in hybrid! But realistically, this updated plan for rolling out hybrid technology makes a lot of business sense for Volkswagen. Their diesel Golf for example already delivers fantastic fuel economy of 5.7 L per 100 km / 41.3 mpg (Australian rating) for a combined city/highway cycle. This way the people who can afford hybrid Touaregs also get to beta test the system for the rest of us!



Related:

• Car and Driver's first drive of the new 50-state-legal Jetta TDI
• VW Passat BlueMotion to debut in Geneva
• Volkswagen betting each way on powertrain technologies

[Source: Truck Trend]

Several years back, after Volkswagen and Porsche had announced their intentions to build the SUVs that ultimately became the Touareg and Cayenne, Volkswagen reavealed a concept pickup truck that showed off the styling of the Touareg. More important than the attractive - if non-descript - styling of the vehicle was the engine. The truck was powered by a 5.0L turbo-diesel V10. The TDI engine was a torque monster with over 500 lb-ft or torque. A few years later the engine became available in the production version of the Touareg.

The Touareg and several other VW diesels have been unavailable in recent months because of a gap between tightening diesel emissions standards and the availability of low sulfur diesel fuel. The latter is now available and so is the new 2007 Touareg TDi. The V10 diesel is now equipped with a particulate filter and, according to VW, is 50-state legal. The engine is rated at 310 horsepower and 553 lbs-ft of torque. Fuel consumption is rated at 17/23 city/highway which is not great but pretty good for a truck that weighs almost 3 tons. It's actually better than the 16/21 of the base 3.2L V-6 and provides better performance. The VW press release and more photos are after the jump.

[Source: Volkswagen]

Three 2006 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDIs will be competing at the 84th running of the Race to the Clouds, up to the summit of Pikes Peak, at a 14,100-foot altitude. The Touareg will run in the luxury SUV division piloted by professional drivers. Mark Miller, who competed in the 2006 Dakar Rally as a factory Volkswagen Motorsports driver, is one of the drivers. He is joined by well renowned Danny Sullivan and Baja and USAC racer Ryan Arciero. The Touaregs will be the first SUVs to use ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel for the Race to the Clouds. All three drivers boasted about the Touareg's abilities on the demanding surfaces of Pikes Peak.

[Source: Car.Co.Nz]

Volkswagen will not produce any diesel-engine Jetta, Golf or Beetle models in America in 2007 because the cars do not meet new federal emissions standards that take effect this fall, according to an article in Sunday's Detroit Free Press. Diesel model sales boomed for VW in 2006 and accounted for almost 23 percent of the company's sale in the first four months of the year. To fulfill demand, VW will build extra 2006 diesel Jettas, offer a 2007 diesel Touareg SUV, and will build a diesel Jetta that is compliant with emissions laws in all 50 states for the 2008 model year.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]