Volkswagen's LA Auto Show Touareg racer has as much in common with the firm's production SUV as a typewriter has with a laptop but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Touareg TDI Trophy Truck is a purpose-built racer or to put it simple, the ultimate dune buggy and it will compete in the 634-mile long 41st Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. VW's professional dune buggy is powered by a 5.5 liter V12 clean turbo diesel engine that produces 550 horsepower and 625 lbs.-ft. of torque and is mated to an Xtrac 6 Speed Sequential transmission.
The Race Touareg TDI Trophy Truck features a wheelbase of 125 inches, overall length of 213 inches, width of 92 inches, an overall height of 78 inches and weighs in at a hefty 5,650 pounds or 2,562 kg for those that prefer the metric system.
The vehicle sports a double A-Arm front suspension that allows 25 inches of wheel travel, and a 4-link rear suspension that allows 30 inches of wheel travel, combined with Fox Racing Shocks and Eibach Coils while sitting on BFGoodrich Baja KRT 37x13.5x17 off-road tires