Winner without a driver

The GPS system of this four-wheel-drive Touareg, aka Stanley, plotted a route across the desert.

A Volkswagen Touareg completed a 210km desert race in record time - without a driver.

The product of a collaboration between the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) and Stanford University, the driverless four-wheel-drive Touareg (nicknamed Stanley) covered the course in 6 hours, 53 minutes and 8 seconds - 11 minutes and 42 seconds faster than the nearest finisher.

Twenty-three driverless vehicles using only on-board sensors and satellite navigation equipment entered the challenge in California's Mojave Desert.

Stanley's GPS system plotted the safest route and computers fed the information to drive-by-wire electronics, which operated the brakes, accelerator and steering.

The desert challenge is a US Department of Defence initiative, which carries prize money of US$2 million ($1.4 million).

VW says the research involved in creating Stanley will lead to safer vehicles, rather than a completely autonomous vehicle.

Components used in Stanley are not far removed from current vehicle technology. The short-range radar system is a development of the Adaptive Cruise Control available in some markets on the new Passat, which will be launched here next month.