Dakar Cancelled.

The 2008 running of the Dakar Rally has been cancelled due to terrorist threats. With organisers unable to guarantee competitors safety on as many as nine stages they were left with little option but to cancel the event. Works teams and privateers had invested massive amounts of time and money into preparing for the event but all agreed that terrorist threats made the planned event impossible.
The Red Bull Volkswagen Touareg team were amongst the favourites for outright victory and had been hoping to add the Dakar to their FIA championship victories of 2007. Team boss Kris Nissen supported the organisers completely believing that competitor safety is paramount. This despite Volkswagen having invested an estimated 23 million pounds on developing their Race Touareg and team for the cancelled event.
The future of the Dakar rally remains unclear; many privateer teams are unable and unwilling to commit the huge funds required to an event that may be cancelled due to terrorist threat again. Works teams like Volkswagen are also expected to view future events with a more critical eye before committing the resources required to compete in a 15 day desert marathon.

Volkswagen Touareg R50.

Volkswagen’s R50 Touareg is the first R edition to be a diesel. Naturally it is no ordinary diesel, it is a tuned version of the mighty 4.9 litre V10 TDI. Producing 350PS (instead of the normal V10’s 313PS) the R50 also has an astonishing 850Nm of torque available from 2000 rpm. This extra power and torque equips VW’s R50m with sprightly performance figures, especially when one considers that the R50 tips the scales at close to 2.75 tonnes!
The Touareg R50 isn’t a true performance vehicle though, it is after all a large SUV. Handling is not a weak point of the R50 but it offers more comfort than precision cornering. With adaptive dampers and adjustable ride height there isn’t an on-road surface that disturbs the R50, off-road and the handicap of 21” sports tyres hold back what could be a more than capable performance.
To take the Volkswagen Touareg R50 off-road is almost to miss the point of this special version. The R50 has been created to fill a small niche in the SUV market, the niche that requires excellent comfort, exclusivity, performance and economy. There is no other SUV that challenges the R50 as a complete package; faster SUVs are far more costly to run, more economical SUVs are far slower, most are less comfortable. It is fair to say that there are many SUVs that cost a lot less than Volkswagen’s range topping R50 though…
At around £70,000 the R50 is certainly not cheap, yet it offers a package that is highly appealing and remarkably well put together.
The most impressive aspect of Volkswagen’s Touareg R50 is that it proves that the R department are capable of producing remarkable cars giving great hope for the R36 Passat and future R models in the Volkswagen {link} range.

TECH SPEC Volkswagen Touareg R50:~ 5 seat, 5 door SUV. 4921cc 10 cylinder water-cooled diesel V engine producing 350PS @ 3500rpm. 6 speed automatic gearbox. Four wheel drive. Weight 2726kgs. Top speed 145mph. 0-62mph 9.8 seconds.