Volkswagen building V12 TDI Touareg Trophy Truck

Off-road racing team Arciero-Miller Racing is preparing a new Volkswagen Touareg Trophy Truck for the SCORE International Racing Series. The new Touareg TDI is being propelled by the new 6.0L V-12 that will be used in the production Audi Q7 V-12 TDI later this year.

The new truck is a tube frame design currently by built by Arciero-Miller specifically for the SCORE Trophy Truck class. Volkswagen is creating a body patterned after the body style of the Touareg. The body will be about a foot longer than the production SUV.

The V-12 power-plant is based on the 60 degree V-angle block that has been shown in Audi Q7 and R8 concepts in 2007 and 2008. The engine used in the Audi R10 TDI Le Mans prototype uses a 90 angle between the banks of the block.

Aside from the block configuration, the two engines share much of the same technology including high pressure common rail injection and piezo electric injectors.

The Touareg Trophy Truck will debut sometime this fall. Drivers Ryan Arciero and Mark Miller will compete in the Baja 1000 with the Touareg V-12 TDI in November 2008. Arciero and Miller have previously won the diesel class at the Baja 500 with a 2.5L five cylinder Touareg TDI and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a 5.0L V-10 powered version.