It takes a perfect combination of technological expertise and first-rate driving skills to successfully master the legendary Dakar Rally; and it takes an optimal balance between the courage to use innovation and the reliance on proven strengths.
Thanks to these virtues Volkswagen has been setting standards with its TDI technology at the Dakar Rally and is the first and only car manufacturer to date to have won the world’s longest and toughest off road race with diesel power.
On 1-15 January 2011, Volkswagen will attempt to achieve the Dakar hat-trick following South African Giniel de Villiers’ success in 2009 and Spaniard Carlos Sainz’s win in January this year.
Volkswagen is leaving nothing to chance in this endeavour. Crucial to the task is the new Volkswagen Race Touareg 3.
“The two past Dakar victories are the greatest successes Volkswagen has so far achieved in motor sport, but this doesn’t make the task of a achieving a hat-trick of wins any easier,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “Our rivals will do everything within their power to defeat us, plus the entire squad will be in for 14 tough days. This is why we didn’t rest on our laurels but have systematically optimised the Race Touareg on the proven base. Mechanics, engineers, co-drivers and drivers, as well, have been working on many details to be prepared better than ever. It will again be a difficult task but we’re tackling the 2011 Dakar Rally with confidence. Our aim is to win for the third consecutive time.”
For the hat-trick mission Volkswagen relies on the newly developed third generation of the Race Touareg. The four 228kW “Dakar” race cars will be piloted at the cross-country rally from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and back by proven driver/co-driver pairings. Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz are the defending champions. Their closest rivals will be team-mates and 2009 Dakar Rally winners Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and Germany’s Dirk von Zitzewitz, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk (who were second in 2010) and American Mark Miller and South African co-driver Ralph Pitchford (who were the narrowly beaten runners-up in 2009 and were third in 2010)
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The Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 is both an evolution and a revolution. A proven core subjected to further development and new aerodynamics. The minds behind the successor to the cross-country rally cars from Wolfsburg that had been victorious in both the 2009 and 2010 Dakar Rallies pursued three aims: a more efficient cooling system, more power output at high altitudes and improved driveability were the key topics driving the development of the four-wheel vehicle that now delivers 310 hp. Between the beginning of the design of the third-generation Race Touareg in April and its competitive debut and first victory at the Silk Way Rally through Russia in September no more than about 150 days passed: a tightly packed programme which, in addition to the concept design, included the body of the first prototype, numerous rig tests and quality inspections, the roll-out plus long-run tests covering the simulated double Dakar distance.
Although it accounts for less than three per cent of the Race Touareg 3’s total weight, the body is the crucial component of the third generation RT3.
The outer skin of the Dakar race cars made of carbon fibre reinforced plastics merely tips the scales at near-50 kilograms. But in terms of shape it is a milestone achievement in which Volkswagen has realised a new cooling concept in addition to visually adapting the rally prototype to the model change of its production counterpart. The radiators located behind the cockpit were enlarged and receive an optimal supply of fresh air thanks to a double air inlet in the roof.
The fuel, brake and damper cooling systems were perfected as well. The new air flow routing reduces the accumulation of air underneath the carbon skin. Especially on hot desert stretches driven at relatively low speeds where the amount of air supplied is accordingly low while the required engine power is high nonetheless this leads to a notable plus in performance.
Another area in which the engineers focused their attention was the power train components of the new Race Touareg 3. In addition to numerous detailed improvements, a new gear ratio improves driveability. A new intercooler, developed in collaboration with the prototyping department of the Volkswagen brand, which replaces the supplier component that has traditionally been used in many motor sport categories with a proprietary part, delivers a significant efficiency increase. Less pressure losses in the entire intercooling system enable a higher power output of the 2.5-litre TDI engine. The five-in-line unit with a two-stage turbocharger now delivers 228kW.
The Dakar Rally will cross the mountain ranges of the Andes twice on its way through Argentina and Chile. The highest elevation to be mastered by the four Race Touareg 3 cars is the San Francisco pass between Chile and Argentina at 4,726 metres above mean sea level. The height factor plays a crucial part in the battle for overall victory in the Dakar and Volkswagen has left nothing to chance. The altitude application developed for the 2009 and 2010 Dakar Rally received a software update for 2011 which keeps performance losses in thinner air as low as possible.
From fast gravel sections to soft, deep desert sand conditions on the Dakar Rally change continuously on the special stages. This poses an enormous challenge particularly to the versatility of the suspension components. The suspension used in the Race Touareg 3 is state-of-the-art thanks to many years of detailed developments.
Friction in the suspension has been permanently reduced ever since Volkswagen entered cross-country rally sport and launched the Race Touareg programme. Due to the use of special mounts the suspension of the RT3 generates a maximum of traction. In addition, the RT3 owes a plus in driveability to the use of high-performance dampers – two per wheel – which were developed in collaboration with technology partner ZF Sachs Race Engineering.
Facts and figures on the Dakar technology of the Race Touareg 3
Did you know that …
… a total of 132 sensors are installed in the Race Touareg 3? They record temperatures, pressures and mechanical movements.
… that 250 MB of sensor data is read and analysed by the engineers every day on location? The data volume corresponds to about 16,500 A4-size pages of pure, single-spaced information.
… every minute detail of the Race Touareg 3 must have been run in tests over at least one and a half of the “Dakar” distance without any problems before being fielded? The approval tests concern single components and component assemblies.
… the quickest deflection motion of the suspension amounts to about nine metres per second? The regulations limit suspension travel for Class T1 “Dakar” prototypes like the Race Touareg 3 to 250 millimetres. The suspension travel of other vehicles, such as those in the Buggy category, may amount to about 1,000 millimetres.
… the damper pistons cover a distance of about 150 metres of cumulated movement per kilometre at the Dakar Rally?
… the Dakar Rally, in addition to soft desert sand, also features fast gravel sections? On the penultimate leg of last year’s event between San Rafael and Santa Rosa the longest flatout distance driven by Volkswagen “factory” driver Nasser Al-Attiyah without lifting was 30,013 metres. In 2011 special stages in “La Pampa” will be part of the route again.
… the Race Touareg 3 with a weight of 1,787.5 kilograms prescribed by the regulations is lighter than the vehicles of its direct rivals but that instead its engine is limited to a displacement of 2.5 litres?
… the typical maximum levels of braking pressure generated by a driver amount to about 70 Bar? This equates to the atmospheric pressure that exists, for example, at a water depth of 700 metres.
… Carlos Sainz in January 2010, on the special stage between Antofagasta and Copiapó, changed gears a total of 2,066 times? In 2011 this leg – albeit with a new route – will be on the agenda again
Volkswagen Race Touareg 3
Engine:
Design Five-cylinder in-line TDI diesel engine, two-stage turbo-charging
system with two exhaust turbo-chargers and intercooling,
longitudinally mounted behind the front axle
Displacement 2,500 cc
Power output Approx. 228 kW (310 hp)
Torque Over 600 Nm
Air restrictor 38 mm (FIA/ASO regulations)
Engine management Bosch
Power transmission:
Gearbox Sequential five-speed racing gearbox, longitudinally mounted
Final drive Permanent four-wheel drive, three mechanical differentials with viscous locking options
Clutch Hydraulically actuated ZF Sachs three-place ceramic clutch
Chassis:
Front/rear suspension Double wishbones, two ZF Sachs spring/damper units per wheel
Suspension travel 250 mm, according to regulations
Steering Power-assisted rack and pinion steering
Braking system Disc brakes with all-around inside ventilation (Ø 320 mm),
aluminium brake callipers (six pistons front and rear)
Rims 7 x 16 inches
Tyres BFGoodrich “All Terrain” 245-80/16
Chassis/body:
Body Steel space frame, two-door carbon fibre body
Dimensions and weight:
Length/width/height 4,171/1,996/1,762 mm
Track width 1,750 mm front/rear
Wheelbase 2,820 mm
Minimum weight 1,787.5 kg
Performance:
Acceleration 0–100 km/h in 5.9 seconds (on hard ground)
Vmax Approx. 190 km/h
– Credit: Volkswagen of South Africa.