The new car is equipped with the latest version of the robust five-cylinder TDI-engine.

The 2.5-litre power unit is fitted with a four-valve cylinder head for the first time.

Because of the 39 millimetre diameter intake-air restrictor, stipulated by the regulations, the absolute power climbs by approximately 10 hp. However, the new cylinder-head architecture allows a better gas flow rate, which improves the power and initial response throughout the rev range.

The torque delivered by the engine climbs correspondingly to over 600 Nm, "In spite of the greater power output the engine is actually more thermally efficient”, emphasises Donatus Wichelhaus who was responsible for the engine development.

The induction and exhaust tracts on the four-valve engine differ from its predecessor in that they are no longer mounted on one side of the engine, but opposite one another. The test engines that ran on the dynamometer and in the car during 2006 have already completed several Dakar Rally distances without problems.