We asked Mr. Dirk von Zitzewitz, the co-pilot of Giniel de Villiers in Car No. 305 on Jan. 1^st, 2009 the following question on his blog:

Dear Mr. Zitzewitz. I champ as you at the bit for the Rally Dakar 2009. Yesterday we visited the arrival of the cars in the Exposition Center “Rural” in Buenos Aires. We have some short questions for you: How did you prepare yourself for the extreme altitude? You as person and the VW Touareg. I travelled personally various times in the Atacama Desert in an altitude up to 5200 m (17060 ft) above sea level (without oxygen mask). I was able to work 50 m (56 yards) away from my pickup. And this Toyota Diesel could run only in the second gear with 40 km/h (25 mph). We would appreciated your answer and we wish you the best for the Rally Dakar 2009 and we hope to see your Touareg tomorrow at the Obelisk or on Jan. 9^th, 2009 at the Aconcagua in Mendoza, when you are heading to Chile.

Regards.

On Jan 2^nd, 2009 Mr. Siems answered in the name of Mr. von Zitzewitz:

We have tested the conditions of the Andes in a combine climatic-/altitude-chamber where we simulated temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure together with the airflow of the car regarding different speeds on an integrated dynamometer. During the tests we observed an innovative component of the 2.5 turbo-diesel engine (TDI) over several days. Here we developed an engine map of the mode of operation of the bi-turbo in different altitudes, to prevent an over-rewing of the turbo that may occur because of the rare air. During the rally a sensor permanently is measuring the actual altitude and the electronics of the engine controls the maximum speed of the sophisticated turbo system. We have simulated altitudes up to 4000 m (13123 ft) and basing on these test data we recalculated the engine map for more extreme conditions. Beside testing the stability of the motor we also optimized the power of the engine. Because of the extreme conditions in the Andes the engineers of Volkswagen are estimating a loss of power of more than 20 percent. (Source: Volkswagen Motorsport).

Due to the rally and vacations we send a last greeting on Feb. 14, 2009:

First we thank you for your explanation and send our congratulations for winning the Dakar 2009. This result demonstrated clearly that the car and the team were perfectly prepared. We checked this personally on the road from Uspallata [Village in Mendoza] to Chile, as your Volkswagen Touareg No. 305 was passing us in an altitude of 3000 m (9843 ft) with a speed of 90 km/h (55 mph) while our Toyota 2.8 liter diesel engine (technology similar to the 1.6 liter engine in the Volkswagen Golf II (Rabbit II) couldn’t speed up to more than 50 km/h (30 mph). We were thrilled by the Rally Dakar, especially by Volkswagen. We hope that we have a chance to meet you personally in 2010.

Many thanks.

Remark: Would be great to find this technology in the new Volkswagen pickup Amarok. It would be launched in the beginning of 2010.

Look here the Volkswagen Touareg Car No. 305 at the start on the Podium on Jan 1st, 2009 in Buenos Aires.

Our readers can read the original blog interview in its original language German under: http://zitzewitz.com/dakar/vor-der-dakar-2009-in-argentinien#comment-80711