Lots of goodies and brilliant engine
Uniform looks, loud gearbox
Volkswagen’s big SUV gets an overhaul, with new drivetrains, more speeds, more oomph and less fuel consumption.
Touareg V6 TDI Engine
Volkswagen make particularly beautiful diesel engines; though they are still loud and somewhat tractor-like from the outside, in the driver’s seat all you hear is the whoosh of torque transferring to the road.
Currently the biggest of the diesels (R50 12-cylinder, where are you?), the V6 pushes out an admirable 180kW and a stonking 550Nm at 2000rpm, sent through an eight-speed automatic to all four wheels. This is more than enough to pull three tonnes, and also gets the two-tonne brick to 100km/h in 7.8 seconds.
Yet the fuel consumption is a meager 7.4L/100km claimed; add about a litre onto that in real-world driving.
Touareg V6 TDI Interior
Uniform and Germanic, the Touareg follows strict styling guidelines of form and function to perfection.
The seats are super supportive, there’s a tonne of adjustment for comfort, the controls soft to the touch and in easy reach, and with seven seats as standard, it’s a tempting draw card for families looking at vans and MPVs. The two rear seats fold flat into the floor for a very long boot, but of course this is quite compromised with the seats up and a space saver spare tyre is all that fits underfloor.
There aren’t too many options that would leave you wanting, though a Driver Assistance Pack which includes a blind spot/lane departure warning and radar cruise control with distance and braking function (plus a heated steering wheel) is an unfortunate and expensive option at $5400.
Touareg V6 TDI Exterior & Styling
The Touareg has finally gone under the knife after what seems like an interminable length of time, and inherits the nose and front fascia of its Golf sibling, Every sibling, really. And while we all can see what VW is doing with its brand identity – bringing it into line as a global face and instantly recognisable down-the-road graphic (DRG), the new Touareg now looks like the new ‘everything else’.
While styling is obviously subjective, many of us admired the snub nose and chromed upright grille of the previous generation, particularly in R50 guise. Now, its hard to differentiate it from its Tiguan and even Golf brethren at a distance and DRG, despite the obvious size difference. The old face and squared bumpers with separated flared guards had character – the new car looks like any other SUV from the rear three-quarter, and looks like a fat Golf from the front.
The options are getting up there, too: while metallic paint is a well-priced option on such a big car at $1500, air suspension is $5900, bi-Xenon cornering headlights are $3500 and 20-inch alloys are $4900.
Touareg V6 TDI On The Road
The Touareg is sophisticated, well-mannered and easy to manouevre, despite its considerable size and length. The torque of the diesel is truly sumptuous, and rather addictive, particularly with eight speeds in the ‘box. The first four gears are short and punch out the power, while the changes are seamless.
Unfortunately, the transmission itself is loud, humming through its gear set like a kid on a harmonica. It is the most unrefined intrusion in what is otherwise a well-damped and well-appointed cabin.
The steering is heavily assisted at low speeds, but only loses out in feel and not actual accuracy. But the turning circle is simply excellent, rivaling a front-drive mid-sized sedan, and super-surprising for its size. Parking and placing the car on the road is also simple, due to its compact design and visibility.
But while this car is very, very good, there is a better and cheaper alternative… Read on.
Touareg V6 TDI Challenges
Apart from the nagging similarity in styling to the baby Tiguan and even the Golf, the main differentiator in the Touareg updates is its drivetrains. However, sitting $15K beneath this V6 diesel is another, albeit less powerful V6, the 150TDI, and this will no doubt cannibalise sales.
Why? Because the 150TDI, named so for its 150kW, may have 30kW and a full 150Nm less, but its more than enough for most drivers, has stop-start technology to compensate for less power and therefore sips less fuel, and has an awesome level of spec for a ‘base’ car. It’s hard to justify the extra dosh for the V6 TDI…
And we still await the lovely, fat, torquey 12-pot turbodiesel – where are you, R50 Mk II?
Touareg V6 TDI Verdict
You get a huge amount of bang for buck in the Touareg, there’s no doubting its value equation. The styling is admittedly clean and linear, the interior polished, and its on-road performance is excellent. But this model is simply not the best car in the range – that goes to the base boggo 150TDI.
Touareg V6 TDI The Competition
The obvious big three are the VW’s competition, as it steps up to the plate and bats it out with the BMW X5, the Mercedes-Benz ML and its sibling Audi’s Q7. The latter is a far bigger car, however, though it does have the third row of seats as a no-cost option. The X5 is by far the superior drive, with excellent handling and on-road characteristics.
Then there are the Mazda CX-9 and Subaru Tribeca, also offering three rows of seating and at a lesser price, though with less power and spec. In other words, the VW is nicely filling the niche between the high ranking Germans and the more affordable Japanese… Smart, VW. Smart.
