VW has produced a very chunky looking vehicle called the Touareg that has the fashion-conscious, four-wheel drive brigade smitten. The five-seat Wolfsburg-built car is named after everyone’s favourite nomadic Saharan tribe, who are well known for handling the rough stuff.
The correct pronunciation is T-war-Egg (not ‘To-a-reg’ or my favourite ‘Toe-rag’) and roughly translates as ‘free people’. There is no denying that the car’s simple yet strong lines make it a desirable choice, but I can’t quite decide whether the big SUV is paying homage to the Audi Allroad or Passat Estate.
It has serious street cred as most of the Touareg’s under-bits are shared with the very OTT Porsche Cayenne.
Featuring VWs ‘4XMOTION’ system, the all-wheel drive VW can’t match BMW’s new ‘X-Drive’ four-wheel drive system for performance and engineering brilliance. That said, the big VW is handy enough and as refined as any luxury four-wheel drive out there. Touareg has a four-engine range with two petrol units, namely a 3.2 V6 and 4.2 V8, and two diesels displacing 2.5 litres (5 cylinder) and 5 litres (V10)!
The 5-litre produces 750 Nm of torque/pulling power: 750 Nm is simply massive and in real terms means the V10 could pull a Daniel O’Donnell fan away from a scone and nice cup of tea with the man himself – without breaking into a sweat.
The entry level petrol and diesel models have six-speed manual gearboxes as standard (six-speed automatic is optional) while the other two versions come with the six-speed auto that features ‘tiptronic’ and ‘sport’ modes.
A handy feature with the auto box is hill hold – if you stop on a hill the auto holds the car in place and won’t let it roll backwards.
The 4.2 and 5-litre cars get DSP (dynamic shift programme) that adapts gear shifts to the driver’s style. My test car is the 3.2 V6 and it rides on double wishbone suspension front and rear, a set-up usually found in sporty saloons.
If you want the ultimate in ride and comfort the 5-litre gets self-levelling air suspension with CDC (speed dependent electronic damping control) as standard. As with most posh air suspension set-ups the Touareg’s ride height adjusts automatically on the open road, ensuring the centre of gravity lowers the faster you go.
At the suspension’s highest setting you enjoy class leading ground clearance.
Air suspension is an option on the V6 (220 Bhp) and R5 TDI (175 Bhp).
Even though most Touaregs will never go off-road (deliberately), the car has the wherewithal to do the business (permanent all-wheel drive, central differential with electronically controlled mulitplate differential and gear ratio reduction, 4-wheel EDL).
The cabin is very posh for VW and has more than a hint of the German’s range-topper Phaeton saloon. The dials and instruments feel classy and there is lots of interior space. There are airbags galore plus ABS, ESP, EDL, TCS and EBC (three-letter acronyms are always good!).
There is more good news as the front passenger airbag can be deactivated, using a very obvious key slot next to the gear lever. A button switch illuminates in the dash if the bag is turned off.
My test car features a not so off-road friendly beige cloth trim that could easily get grubby, so leather would be advisable. A handy touch is the double sun visors (à la SAAB) that allow you to block the sun head-on and from the side. The boot holds 555 litres (55 litres more than a Mondeo) and the cargo area is versatile, if a little high for loading. And 1,570 litres is the maximum capacity of the load area with the rear seats down. The VW Touareg has an options list that BMW (of old) would be proud of, so you will be able to customise to high heaven.
Prices start at €57,105 (TDi) and rise to €103,000 (5-litre V10). In the US my test car (€62,335 here) costs just $34,900! In fact, in the States a V8 Porsche Cayenne S is just $55,900!
Isn’t VRT a complete b$!*%!d of a tax? Finland used to have viciously high car taxes, then the government slashed them and guess what? New car sales have boomed and the taxman is getting more in revenue from car sales than ever before.
Come on Charlie, cop on – all that our ridiculously high VRT does is deny people affordable new and generally safer cars.
- Michael Sheridan
RTÉ Guide
