For some reason yesterday, the topic of the Touareg V10 TDI popped up in my world. I drove one once years ago, as it was the 2nd press vehicle to which I’d ever been given keys. It made an impact on my brain and I definitely still think about it. I know it wouldn’t be the best vehicle to find for sale now in terms of reliability and repair costs. But I still occasionally think about what it would be like to own and eventually modify into something cool. Someone out there has already done that, as a UK outfit called Darkside Developments has fully turned one into a true off-road monster.

Over a bit more than a year, the tuning and fab shop has documented how it purchased the truck and brought it to where it is now. And where it is now is mighty impressive. With a remapped tune, this Touareg now sees 352 horsepower and 720 lb-ft of torque surging forth from its 5.0-liter 10-cylinder engine. Darkside created the tune and then set about applying a bunch of its own parts on the truck.

The exhaust has been modified. There’s a twin snorkel setup to keep the intake breathing dry air. A body lift has been fitted and 33″ all-terrain tires sit on 18″ wheels. Funny enough, the UK description for its AT tires is RT, which means Rough Terrain. I don’t know why I find that humorous but here we are.

The truck also wears full underbody protection, an aggressive front bumper with shackles, and a winch. I am a bit curious how those shackles are mounted, but this seems like a crew that knows what it’s doing.

In the video above, you get a ten-minute look at how the truck was purchased on forward through nearly a year of work. And there are a bunch more videos in their playlist if you want greater detail or to see even more of what’s been done to this rig.

As I said, I think about the V10 TDI from time to time. And now I’m probably going to think about it even more often.