Volkswagen Touareg
Good stuff
Sophisticated and high-tech interior plus engines for all situations in the pipeline
Bad stuff
Same-price rivals wear more premium badges
Overview
What is it?
VW’s new flagship. The most intelligent and technologically advanced production car to come out of Wolfsburg, no less. Now in its third-generation, Volkswagen’s big SUV has sacrificed its off-roadyness to become more of a premium, hi-tech SUV for the road.
Put simply, it’s Volkswagen’s incredibly stylised answer to the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, Mercedes GLE and BMW X5. Now, that’s a heavyweight battle if ever there was one.
Built off the incredibly flexible ‘MLB Evo’ parts matrix, the Touareg uses the same architecture as the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus. That means there’s aluminium suspension, a body that’s largely aluminium too, and a whole lot of other weight-saving in the powertrain, cooling, exhaust, electrics, seats, whatever.
The Touareg’s somewhat dumpy looks have been sharpened up with more powerful and svelte lines that add an air of sophistication and modernity. Thanks to the new platform-sharing, the car has actually increased in size but dropped 106kg. Compared to the last car, it’s 44mm wider and 77mm longer but lower than its second-generation brother; helping its proportions and making it a bit easier on the eye. Another win is that there’s even more boot space, up 113 litres to 810 in total with the rear seats in place. So you can lob pretty much all you can think this side of a medium-sized elephant back there and it’ll probably fit.
Back in 2003, when the first Touareg was launched, it was the outrageously torquetastic V10 TDI that had everyone talking. As well the choppy ride quality. This time it’s all about the tech. Inside has seen one of the biggest cabin overhauls from VW in decades, repositioning the Touareg entirely and bringing it bang in-line and even ahead of its fiercest competitors. Some interior materials feel like they’ve suffered in quality to help finance the incredible dual screen display, but you’ll forgive it, as it looks fantastic, is incredibly minimalist and has a tech artillery to back it up.
These include: ‘Night Vision’ to detect (and hopefully avoid) humans and animals in darkness via a thermal imaging camera; Roadwork Lane Assist, to steer, brake and accelerate for you up to 37mph; four-wheel steering to make it feel nimbler than it actually is; active roll stabilisation, to magically reduce body roll, and a head-up display projected directly onto the windscreen. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but will start at £49,000 and, we suspect, will go rapidly north from there.
Volkswagen Touareg R
Good stuff
Comfy, plush, quick and a company car bargain
Bad stuff
Not as nimble as a Cayenne
Overview
What is it?
Welcome to the most powerful production car in Volkswagen’s long history. It’s also the first R model to utilise electric power. It’s the VW Touareg R, and it’s a car chockful of ‘mosts’, ‘firsts’ and ‘biggests’ baked into its lengthy equipment list.
Good job, really, as it’s also £71,995 before options, of which the Lapiz Blue paint you see here is among the more expensive at £1,235. It’s undoubtedly the signature R colour, yet it costs more… Unfair?
To help make sense of it all there’s an eight-speed automatic gearbox and 4Motion all-wheel drive, which allows the R to tow 3.5 tonnes even when you’re only being hauled along by the 134bhp electric motor. Around half of Touareg buyers regularly latch stuff onto the back, we’re told, so it’s a genuinely useful party trick. There’s a fancy Trailer Assist system to help with parking too.
There are seven different driving modes, and within each, the choice of e-mode or hybrid. And beyond that, the choice of how much battery energy you’d like to save if you’re unable to charge up via a cable but desperately need (or want) some EV range at the end of your journey. Nestled amongst those is a Sport mode to bump the powertrain and air suspension to their most assertive levels. And unlike the latest Golf R, you can loosen the stability control without circumnavigating several sub-menus.
A pair of 400mm front brake discs – the biggest fitted to any VW – sit behind stonking 22in Estoril alloy wheels to help keep the Touareg R’s 2,465kg in some sort of order should you decide to see just how deserving of the R badge its chassis is.
Which given it sits atop a range of five Rs – only one of which is currently a traditional hot hatchback – feels like something we ought to address first and foremost. Read on to see how the VW Touareg R actually drives…
What’s the verdict?
It’s a curious fish, this. Neither a truly efficient hybrid nor an enthralling performance SUV, it lives somewhere in the middle. Its true strong-suit is comfort – no different to any other (and cheaper) Mk3 Touareg, but those bonus electric miles bring additional peace and quiet.
Extracting the power necessary for an R badge from a hybrid powertrain makes sense in a stocky SUV, where the battle with weight was already raging, and not least when promoting a diesel flagship might have been tough. It’s just not as exciting as the other cars with an R on the back – even the diddlier SUVs. It’s a decent fast SUV, but it doesn’t trouble the class benchmarks if it’s fun and performance you’ve come for.
It’s the new Volkswagen Touareg!
VW’s flagship SUV enters its third generation. It’s huge, and it’s posh. Here’s how
Just in case we weren’t already spoilt for large luxury SUVs, VW has added another. This time its new flagship – the third-generation Touareg – based round the same aluminium and steel modular architecture and box of bits as the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. This bodes well.
Smart, isn’t it? Albeit in the slightly humourless, starched-collar way all modern VWs are. But the design’s not entirely without talking points – just look at the way the new IQ Light LED matrix headlights blend into one with the grille. Yep, that’s a first. Then there’s the way the crease above the door handles flares over the rear wheel arch… nice touch.
But the real advances are inside. That’s where you find the new ‘fully digitised Innovision Cockpit’, or as you and I would call it two enormous screens stitched together to look like one big one, with a notable absence of buttons. Nevertheless, VW is proud of the way the 12-inch digital instrument panel flows neatly into the 15-inch central screen, and it does look thoroughly modern, minimalist and has the tech artillery to back it up.
These include: ‘Night Vision’ to detect (and hopefully avoid) humans and animals in darkness via a thermal imaging camera; Roadwork Lane Assist, to steer, brake and accelerate for you up to 37mph; four-wheel steering to make it feel nimbler than it actually is; active roll stabilisation, to magically reduce body roll, and a head-up display projected directly onto the windscreen. So far, so VW.
And then there’s the size. This new model is longer, wider and lower than the old one, so its stance is meaner, and there’s more space inside for people and things. Keep the rear bench in place and there’s 810-litres of luggage room, up from 697-litres before. Handy for all your windsurfing kit and parachute equipment if you’re one of the “sporty, active people” VW insists buy the Touareg.
To begin with, a 362bhp plug-in hybrid version will only be offered in China – the Touareg’s most important market – although it’s fairly inconceivable that it won’t be offered in Europe at some point down the line. For now, we’ll have to make do with a pair of V6 diesels producing either 228bhp or 282bhp… fine by us. Later a 335bhp V6 petrol will be added… even finer by us.
So what do we think? Has VW upset the apple cart and outdone its posher siblings, or is the this new Touareg a move upmarket too far? Thoughts on a digital postcard below.
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