VW Touareg TDI sets lonely record on World's Longest Highway [w/video]

[NewsFeed]

Volkswagen can now lay claim to another world record thanks to the efforts of off-road driver Rainer Zietlow and his team of adventurers. The crew packed into a Volkswagen Touareg TDI and covered the entire span of the Pan-American Highway from start to finish in 11 days, 17 hours and 22 minutes. The trip covered 14 countries and 16,000 miles of near non-stop driving. TÜV NORD Mobility verified the time, which beat out the previous record holder by a full three days.

The journey began on July 2 in the southernmost portion of Argentina and clipped through a variety of challenging conditions. The team faced a sandstorm in Chile and treacherous muddy roads in Alaska, but preplanned fuel stops helped cut the team's time down as much as possible.

Zietlow and his teammates also played a bit of a philanthropic role by donating 10 cents for every kilometer traveled to two Latin American villages to help combat childhood poverty. Continue reading VW Touareg TDI sets lonely record on World's Longest Highway [w/video]

VW Touareg TDI sets lonely record on World's Longest Highway [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jul 2011