# new kind of Touareg racing



## gobanzai (Jun 13, 2005)

Just in the news... two Touareg teams have been invited to the National Qualifying Event (NQE) of the DARPA Grand Challenge 2005. This is a 150 mile off-road desert race of autonomous vehicles driven completely by on-board computers with no human driver and no remote-control.
The prize is $2 million for the first car across the line in under 10 hours. Of the over 200 teams from around the world that competed in earlier regional qualification rounds, only 40 teams have been invited to the NQE.
Team Banzai racing with a stock V6 Touareg (nicknamed "Dora") and Stanford University has a donated R5 Touareg diesel (nicknamed "Stanley").
There's more info at our website.  [URL]http://team.gobanzai.com/touareg.html[/URL] 
In the coming weeks, I'll post additional updates and questions. I'm hoping that this forum can help us tweak our off-road capabilities. So, if you have any suggestions on how best to lift the suspension or recommendations for skid plating, please post here. Thanks.
_Modified by gobanzai at 8:17 AM 6-13-2005_


_Modified by gobanzai at 8:18 AM 6-13-2005_


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## 4x4s (Dec 18, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*

Very cool. Info about Stanley has been posted here before (it's an R5, btw, not a V10). I didn't know about the V6 - good luck, we'll be rooting for the Touaregs! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## 4x4s (Dec 18, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_...
In the coming weeks, I'll post additional updates and questions. I'm hoping that this forum can help us tweak our off-road capabilities. So, if you have any suggestions on how best to lift the suspension *or recommendations for skid plating*, please post here. Thanks.


Forum member orttauq is having custom skid plates built. Perhaps the fab shop he's using would like some publicity in exchange for sponsorship? See the thread: http://forums.thecarlounge.net...07564 for some details.


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## gobanzai (Jun 13, 2005)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (4x4s)*

excellent. thanks.
Anybody know where I can get a roof carrier similar to the one those guys took to the top of the world? It doesn't have to be as massive, but we want something more off-road designed than the regular Thule or Yakima racks that tregCentral carries.


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## aircooled (Jul 30, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*

Try the Surco line of racks. Many hardcore offroaders swear by them.
http://store.summitracing.com/...S4560


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## gobanzai (Jun 13, 2005)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (aircooled)*

excellent. thanks.
We're looking at full underbody protection with maybe special Kevlar re-inforcement for the gas tank area. Having no human-driver and no-remote control, Dora is probably going to go over a lot of brush and rocks that a decent human driver would easily avoid. 
Dora has air suspension, so the first thing we'll try is to use VAGcom to lift the balance point an inch or two. During the race, we will lock her into "off-road" mode which will give us a top speed of 45 mph. That should work for this race, I doubt we will need to go over 35 or 40 mph. 
I've also been trying to find a way to lock the suspension in the "x-tra" mode, but that mode resets if you go over 15 mph or so. Anybody know of any hacks for disabling or resetting the speed limit setting on the ar suspension modes? 
Then Dora will need new shoes... kevlar belted, run flats with 20-22 inch wheels ? $$$ ???


_Modified by gobanzai at 8:09 AM 6-15-2005_


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## Bullit (Aug 14, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_
Then Dora will need new shoes... kevlar belted, run flats with 20-22 inch wheels ? $$$ ???

Did you guys ever consider going with Mattracks instead of wheels ? Here's the web site for product info. This stuff's been around for 10 years.








http://www.mattracks.com/ 


_Modified by Bullit at 3:25 PM 6-15-2005_


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## tedpark (Apr 12, 2004)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (aircooled)*


_Quote, originally posted by *aircooled* »_Try the Surco line of racks.

Yup. That's what I did. Love it. Got the "safari" model from http://www.autoanything.com
Here is a photo:








The mountings to the rails on the roof of the Touareg are quite strong and in some sense "adequate", but they are difficult to line up and tighten - and hence, makes it difficult to conveniently switch from racked to rackless. I made some better attachers. If anyone is interested, I can explain what I did and post a picture.


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## tedpark (Apr 12, 2004)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_Then Dora will need new shoes... kevlar belted, run flats with 20-22 inch wheels ? $$$ ???

Go with the smallest rims that will clear the brakes. In the VW line, that would be Canyon 17". Then get the tallest tires you can. The biggest really good ones I know of (thanks to advice from Aircooled and others) is the Bridgestone Revo Dueler AT 265/65r17. These will clear the wheel wells in all settings of ride height. If you can keep it locked in offroad level, then you can go much taller and fatter. See picture of these wheels and tires in my other post in this thread re Surco Safari rack.


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## 12johnny (Oct 28, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_ Anybody know where I can get a *roof carrier *similar to the one those guys took to the top of the world? It doesn't have to be as massive, but we want something more off-road designed than the regular Thule or Yakima racks that tregCentral carries. 
If you have any suggestions on how best to lift the suspension or *recommendations for skid plating*, please post here. Thanks.


If money was not an obstacle, the guys at VW individual (Germany) sell these skid plates:








And this roof carrier:








That would fit great in your project. I have a .pdf with the prices, (about 6 mbs) with all the information, pics and prices, but not reference numbers (you should contact them), and if you give me an email address I can send it to you. The prices are "a bit" massive too, and here you have them:








I have no idea of German, but using this:
http://translate.google.com/translate_t
You can, more or less, understand it...
Good luck! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## tedpark (Apr 12, 2004)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (12johnny)*

I want the "sun sails & eddy support"!

















_Modified by tedpark at 12:06 PM 6-15-2005_


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## 12johnny (Oct 28, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (tedpark)*


_Quote, originally posted by *tedpark* »_I want the "sun sails & eddy support"!






































"velas del sol" in Spanish...


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## gobanzai (Jun 13, 2005)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (12johnny)*

excellent. thanks.
I had a friend of mine translate....
off road equipment:
. plastic coating / shield for wheel well, ~ door jams: 1600 euros
. running board (silver anodized): 1600 euros
. winch assembly: 2900 euros
. underbody for the motor, gas tank, etc (this is the skid plate): 3200 euros
off road accessories:
. aluminum box with toolkit and bag (?): 650 euros
. tent for the car and aluminum folding table: 3900 euros
. ?climbing help? for the roof rack ('roof cage'): 120 euros
. roof rack-fastening system including 2 reserve canisters: 340 euros
. 2 sand plates (?): 340 euros
. sun sail/canvas (maybe the thing people put in front windows when parked): 270 euros
. (no idea) - it's like a 'turbulence rack' -- maybe the thing people put on the front of their roof racks?: 250 euros
. additional spare wheel - "canyon" ... with tire ... including mount bracket: 590 euro


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## 4x4s (Dec 18, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_...
. sun sail/canvas (maybe the thing people put in front windows when parked): 270 euros
...


In some of the pictures posted here, it showed a tent erected on the roof rack, and an awning that extended out of the side. I bet the "sun sail" is the awning.


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## 12johnny (Oct 28, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (4x4s)*


_Quote, originally posted by *4x4s* »_
In some of the pictures posted here, it showed a tent erected on the roof rack, and an awning that extended out of the side. I bet the "sun sail" is the awning.

Those are some of the pics:


The roof rack is "heavy duty"














































































http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## 12johnny (Oct 28, 2003)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_excellent. thanks.
I had a friend of mine translate....
off road equipment:
. plastic coating / shield for wheel well, ~ door jams: 1600 euros
. running board (silver anodized): 1600 euros
. winch assembly: 2900 euros
. underbody for the motor, gas tank, etc (this is the skid plate): 3200 euros
off road accessories:
. aluminum box with toolkit and bag (?): 650 euros
. tent for the car and aluminum folding table: 3900 euros
. ?climbing help? for the roof rack ('roof cage'): 120 euros
. roof rack-fastening system including 2 reserve canisters: 340 euros
. 2 sand plates (?): 340 euros
. sun sail/canvas (maybe the thing people put in front windows when parked): 270 euros
. (no idea) - it's like a 'turbulence rack' -- maybe the thing people put on the front of their roof racks?: 250 euros
. additional spare wheel - "canyon" ... with tire ... including mount bracket: 590 euro


You're welcome!








And thanks for the impeccable translation! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## tedpark (Apr 12, 2004)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (gobanzai)*


_Quote, originally posted by *gobanzai* »_
. ?climbing help? for the roof rack ('roof cage'): 120 euros


I'm sure this must be a ladder, of sorts. Perhaps the same one 12johnny posted for getting into the bed. Even with my smaller roof rack (ahem, "cage"), it is a be-otch getting that heavy wheel up there. Even in "kneeling" position.


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## NefariousVW (May 21, 2002)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (tedpark)*

Good news















After spending a good hour on the phone with John(gobanzai) he asked me to be a part of the team to help with making Dara more offroad worthy as well as help with marketing.
I'm meeting with John and Dara this weekend to get a look at her. Lucky me, she's being stored 15 minutes from my house http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
I'll keep you guys posted as we make progress.


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## 4x4s (Dec 18, 2003)

For anyone as intruiged by the DARPA Grand Challenge as I am, I found that there is a discussion forum on the DARPA site where the teams talk about the challenge itself.
DARPA Grand Challenge team discussion forum
You can't post there unless you are a registered team member, but you can read the discussions. Some interesting topics. Many of the posts are from last year, but it still makes for interesting reading.


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## gobanzai (Jun 13, 2005)

*Re: new kind of Touareg racing (4x4s)*

If you're interested in getting involved...
Club Touareg has set up a special forum to help design the off-roading modifications for 'Dora, the self-driving Touareg' team.gobanzai.com
The Totally Off-Road Touareg forum is an open-source style partnership sponsored by Club Touareg and Team Banzai to research, design, build, and field-test components to make your Touareg x-treme off-road capable.
Here's a 'before' shot of Dora. We should have some progress shots in the next few weeks.










_Modified by gobanzai at 2:54 PM 6-20-2005_


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