Clean-Diesel VW to Race in Baja 1000

Volkswagen is entering an all-new, purpose-built clean-diesel Touareg TDI in the 41st running of the Tecate Score Baja 1000. The driving team is motorsports veterans Mark Miller and Ryan Arciero

Miller has been a dominant force in off-road racing for two decades, including several wins in the Trophy Truck category of both the Baja 1000 and the Baja 500. Arciero won the grueling 1000, a 600 mile-plus race, in 2004. Currently, he is a VW factory driver and was instrumental in the inaugural season of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series, where he coached and mentored a group of thirty up and coming talented young drivers on what it takes to succeed in the world of professional motorsports.

A few years ago, I helped out in a so-called 'chase' car, which provides support for drivers, in the Baja 500, and let me tell you, this is no Sunday drive to grandma's house. We drove over blistering hot dry lake beds, bumped across severely rutted unpaved tracks, and hairpin turns on paved mountainous roads. And I was in a production-model vehicle, with comfortable seats and shock absorbers -- not like the specially adapted racing models these guys are driving.

The VW Touareg TDI is riding on BFGoodrich Tires. Other sponsors include Red Bull, , Dow Automotive, Oakley eyewear, KMC Wheels and Fox Shocks.

VW and BFGoodrich also are sponsoring a first-of-its-kind website to track the race with real-time information, inclusing by text updates to your mobile phone, and streaming video.

The 2008SCOREBaja1000 web site goes live on Nov. 19, 2008 with a countdown clock. Race tracking will begin at 6 a.m. PT/ 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 21.

Racers, start your engines. Viewers, keep your eyes protected from the dust.

Race Cars of the Future -- What Will They Look Like?

Today’s race cars have ground-breaking technology to improve speed, power, performance and safety. Many features we rely on today -- ABS, traction control, even lightweight aluminim engines -- were developed and tested on the racetrack and then trickling down to the automobiles we mere mortals drive. So, it's a good idea to peek into the future and see what designers and engineers are planning now, for the future.

Nine of Southern California’s automotive design studios have been busy predicting how auto racing will change by the year 2025. Their designs are part of the fifth annual Los Angeles Auto Show’s Design Challenge. Here's what the designers and engineers have come up with -- in alphabetical order --

Audi -- (photo right) The Audi R25 incorporates innovative features such as high-velocity banks and tunnels, which allow cars to race “inverted” and the opportunity to pass anywhere with aerodynamic racecars.

BMW -- The BMW Hydrogen Powered Salt Flat Racer reuses existing, ordinary materials such as old oil barrels and BBQ lids, and 'employs' goldfish as “co-pilots” to ensure that the vehicle is running clean emissions. This is a sustainable vehicle -- how it's built, and the fuel that propels it.

General Motors -- The GM Chaparral Volt collects and generates its own energy from three different clean, renewable and abundant California resources: Earth, Wind and Fire. The futuristic Volt creates what GM is describing as entirely new category of racing - the eco-triathlon.

Honda -- The Great Race 2025’s sonar/echolocation sensors can detect changes in speed, terrain, and altitude. That allows the vehicle to switch to any configuration to circumnavigate the globe in 24 hours on land, by sea or by air. Another triathlon -- it drives, it sails, it flies.

Mazda -- The MAZDA KAAN is an electric race car with a patented electronic tire system to reach 250 mph with no harmful emissions.

Mitsubishi -- The MMR25 is a multi-terrain vehicle with omni-directional wheels with eight independently-controlled motors. This allows for what Mitsu is calling “8 x 4” wheel drive, and it means you can drive the car forwards even while it's pointed backwards or sideways. Now, if they could design something that can get me sideways while pointed forwards, I could get in and out of a tight NYC parking space a lot easier.

Mercedes-Benz -- (photo middle) The Formula Zero Racer incorporates Formula One speed with the track dynamics of the bobsled or luge, and the grace and efficiency of yacht racing. So there.

Toyota -- The Le Mans Racer is the ultimate race car that never needs to stop. It is powered by highly efficient hydrogen fuel cell electric motors, and each of its body panels is embedded with photovoltaic panels that supply electricity when extra energy is needed. The world's first hydrogen-solar vehicle! It doesn't get more green. Even the Prius needs gas occasionally. This could solve the world's energy crisis.

Volkswagen -- (photo left) In the Bio Runner, the driver is positioned inside a protective cage on a motorcycle-like saddle, with controls attached to the hands and feet. The controls manipulate all wheels via synthetic muscle-based suspension which offers unparalleled control and traction. Sounds like fun to drive.

And which of these futuristic designs is the best? The competition winner is being announced at the LA Auto Show on Nov. 20, 2008. I'll be there.

Callaway C16 is a Street-Legal Racecar

Talk about great drives! The Callaway C16 Speedster is not for the timid.

This hand-made speedster is packed with a massive super-charged intercooled 6.2-litre 700HP (yes, 700!) engine, it begs to stretch its legs on the open road or, better yet, a closed racetrack driving day. Possible, now that those other speeders have left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until the next Indianapolis 500 next Memorial Day weekend.

This street-legal racecar is filled with track-style, space-age technology, including carbon wheels that weigh some 40-percent less than the lightest aluminum wheels, for improved acceleration, cornering and braking. Did I mention yet that top speed is over 210MPH, and an astounding zero-to-sixty in just 3.2 seconds?

Reeves Callaway knows a thing or two about fast cars. He has built engines for Indy cars. He has designed turbo-chargers for Porsche, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. And let's not overlook the legendary C4 Callaway Twin Turbo Corvette.

Fast is an understatement. So is calling the C16 Speedster a sleek and sculptured beauty. Much like its predecessors, the 1990 Callaway Speedster and 1998 C12 Speedster, this is a visceral open air driving experience. As we said – not for the timid.

And, as J. Pierpont Morgan once said when somebody asked him about the price of his yacht, if you have to ask you can't afford it.

But you asked. It costs $305,000, but the price includes two silvery helmets for when you take this street-legal racer on the track. Don't ask its MPG rating. You really don't want to know.

Dream on.