A Dakar Racer for the Road

2012 VW Race Touareg 3 Qatar

Somehow, all the good stuff end up overseas. I guess it's because we have too many laws and restrictions and we, ourselves, are choosy, picky, buyers when it comes to cars. In Qatar, Dubai, or Abu Dhabi though, there are rules and restrictions, but buyers there don't care what car they drive, and here's a perfect example. The Qatar Motor Show was on recently and VW showed up with this race-ready VW Race Touareg 3 Qatar. This Touareg was specially modded so that it can be used on the road, therefore making it a road-legal rally machine. It still has the 300 horsepower 2.5-liter TDI engine, but the rest of car is about the same. On the outside, it's not that much different than the regular Dakar racer except for the gold-colored BBS rims, and gold-vinyled "Race Touareg" words across each side.

Interior View

Inside, there are some changes. First, the seats aren't regular leathers, but Recaro racing buckets. The steering wheel is a racing one as well. But, other than that, the car is still somewhat luxurious. There's even a Navigation screen on the passenger side of the car. So, if you want a rally racing SUV with real rally racing pedigree, and road-ready regulations, then this is the SUV for you. It's too bad that it's only available in Qatar.

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Energy Drinks + Dakar Dirt = VW

2011 VW Race Touareg 3

It seems Red Bull had a quite an affect on the VW Dakar Rally Team, not that they drank many of them before the races, of course. According to a report from CNN, the Team has won two of the Dakar Rally Events so far with Carlos Sainz behind the wheel of this VW Race Touareg 3. Even though it's diesel powered, don't doubt for a second that it isn't fast. Its Twin-Turbodiesel V6 produces 296 horsepower with 442 lb.-ft. of torque. 0 to 60 is done in a surprising 6.1 seconds and it will hit a top speed on tarmac of 117 MPH. On road, that's not really fast. On Dakar dirt, however, that's pretty fast. Not to mention that it's driven by a very good rally driver. Carlos Sainz of Spain was a former WRC rally driver for Ford, Toyota, Subaru, Citroën, and Lancia. He joined T1 rally in 2006 with the VW Race Touareg 2 and won the Dakar Rally in 2010. Another fun fact for all you soccer fans out there; he once ran for president of the Real Madrid F.C. He lost the election though.


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