Packed with a multitude of features and proven VW quality, the newly face-lifted Touareg is closer to being called ‘luxury’ than ever before. But will a meteoric rise in price be cause for concern?
If you were looking for a premium SUV at an affordable price a while ago, the Volkswagen Touareg pretty much had you covered; at least, that used to be the case. Looking back into the not-so-distant past, we recall VW ambushing the SUV scene in 2004 alongside its half-sibling and Porsche’s bestseller, the Cayenne. In 2011, VW re-profiled and re-engineered the Touareg, helping it drop 208kg on the scales and adding a host of improvements. Four years since, VW has given its flag-bearer SUV a major face-lift and, this week, we take the revamped car out for a spin. And best of all, this one came equipped with the wonder of a V8 and V-Dub’s sporty-esque R-line kit.
Design & Aesthetics
We’d like to begin our dissection of this family automobile by looking at its name — Touareg. Yes, it’s been around for a decade, yet people have trouble spelling and pronouncing it. The name ‘Touareg’ originated from the Berber people — the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa who have a traditionally pastoralist nomadic lifestyle. Quite apt a name then, for an SUV with aspirations of going beyond the tarmac and onto dirt, sand and stone.
About the matter of size, this is a reasonably large SUV that gets around without being too socially awkward. If you put a measuring tape to it, it will read 4,795mm front to back, 1,940mm wide, and stands reasonably tall at 1,709mm. The wheelbase is a long 2,893mm. The VW designers abide by the book of safe designs and so cars like the Touareg don’t do much to draw desire. Clean geometry dominates all angles, but at least it isn’t something that irks the eye. And even in this face-lifted second generation Touareg, it continues to be a Passat on stilts with a truncated rear end.
The double U-shaped daytime running lamps have been replaced by a single U and a long stretch of LED lights underlining it, while the frontal grille is trimmed with four transverse chrome fins instead of the previous two. Below it are three sporty-looking large intakes that direct air to the brakes and engine bay. The profile is a little less slab-sided than its predecessor — VW have beautifully carved out surfaces in the door panels. The tail lamp clusters are sharper and smaller; and the in-cluster design follows a dot-matrix style.
The base car runs on 17” wheels, but it can be optioned with something as large as five twin-spoke design 21” wheels, like on our car. As for exterior paints, 12 body colours are available, including a new silver, gold, metallic blue and brown. What we really liked was the key fob — a mix of plastic and metal finish gives it a very ornamental look that will look pretty in your purse or pocket. Click it open and you can get aboard the Touareg — a space with a genuine sense of craftsmanship and quality that presents itself in the most understated manner possible — that’s very much like an Audi.
Even though higher models come with a push button start, I like that VW gives you the option of an insert and twist key mechanism. It just feels more organic… Or is age catching up? Who knows?
At the helm is a nicely crafted 3-spoke leather wrapped steering wheel with piano black trims. There’s horizontal panelling with wood and aluminium that goes across doors and dash and aluminium rotary knobs for the radio and climatronic system, running gear adjustment, air suspension, radio-navigation system and mirror adjustment. They all are put together quite well, both aesthetically and ergonomically.
The front seats are available with 14-way power adjustability with a memory function. You can adjust lumbar, recline and even side bolster to suit your style. Add to that a steering column with power adjustment for height and length, and things get very easy for the user. The selling point, however, is the equestrian view from the driver’s seat, which gives you a great look down on the subjects that are travelling alongside. The rear seats slide back and recline, so that is good, but the middle seat is more of a perch than an individual chair. And the panoramic sunroof is amongst the largest we have in recent times, a plus for those who want to gaze at the sky-sculptures of Dubai.
The R-line grey upholstery has a soft natural texture, but is lacklustre and has a rather worn look. You also have dark brown, black, beige and natural brown to choose from. What the Touareg offers is not a home couch comfort that you lose your motor skills to, but sufficient space and suppleness to help negate the repercussions of everyday road travel.
Powertrain & Performance
Our test car wasn’t powered by the commonly seen 3.6L FSI V6; instead, it came with more potent 4.2L V8 under the hood. All engines are linked to an 8-speed tiptronic slushbox with small, but usable, paddle shifters behind the wheel. The 7th and 8th gears are fuel saving overdrive gears and at 120km/h, you’re hardly grazing 2,000rpm.
It’s a given that the V8 is a smooth revving engine with a gratifying delivery of power, but the power benefits are not substantial, and yes, it is quicker than the V6, clocking 7.5 seconds in a dash to 100km/h, but not by much. In a nutshell, the 355 horses it makes looks better on paper.
Aside from aesthetic add-ons, the R-line attempts to pamper the spirited driver with sports suspension. Unfortunately, the centre of gravity and weight of this car are a little too much to handle. And yes, this shares the underpinnings with the Cayenne cousin, but is nowhere near as agile. In the city, however, the 11.9m turning circle means that it is easy to manoeuvre around town and parking lots.
The Touareg is best suited for tarmac, but it can bash dunes if need be. To accompany the massive traction from VW’s 4MOTION permanent four-wheel drive system, you have 30° approach and departure angles and a breakover angle of up to 27°. There isn’t a true-blue low range gear system, but there is an electronically lockable differential and hill descent control.
On the road, there isn’t a marked difference between the ride quality or handling when the drive mode is switched from normal to comfort to sport. It’s more a gimmick. The optional air suspension provides a comfy ride, but is nowhere near as composed as the A7 we drove earlier. But the good thing is that it allows for ride height control, which allows you to adjust ride height by up to 300mm. The lower setting is best suited for the road, while the higher one keeps the car’s underside from getting damaged in tough terrain and improves wheel articulation.
The V8 Touareg isn’t the kind of vehicle that you fill up at the pump, shut it and forget about. It’s a bit of a ‘petroholic’. The 12.8L/100km fuel economy is expected, but you’d cringe when you see the fuel gauge drop. VW was smart enough to option it with a 100L tank, thankfully. The V6 on the other hand, may not be a messiah for ecology, but at 9.9L/100km, is a whole lot cheaper to run without losing much at the drag strip.
Features & Functionality
There is as much as 580L of luggage space behind and when you drop down the asymmetrically split seats electrically — at the touch of a button — you get a vast expanse of 1642L. Add to that are hooks to hang your groceries and a power button for lowering the suspension to load luggage easier. Also, this Touareg can tow as much as 3,500kg — a boat or a bunch of quad-bikes maybe?
Our test car came with the optional 620W 10-speaker Dynaudio and you’d be sure of it because they have their nameplate pasted on all speakers. Good quality sound reverberates even at high decibels. The 8” colour multimedia screen is accompanied by a DVD navigation system with a 60GB hard drive. Big points for having larger on-screen buttons, but none for the lag in touch response.
There’s a four zone climate control that, unlike the weak air conditioners usually associated with V-Dubs, provides a enough of a chill even when the sun strikes down hard at noon. Funny enough, they give you heated seats, but no seat cooling — some manufacturers never learn!
The people’s car looks out for its people well, offering an array of safety features like electronic stability control, ABS with brake assist and hydraulic brake booster. The multiple-collision avoidance braking system, in theory, is a gem of a feature — after a collision is detected, the brakes are automatically held in order to keep the car from rolling further unintended. You also get the bird’s eye view camera to help you with your parking manoeuvres along with the regular rear view camera. And while on the move, the adaptive cruise control will keep you a car’s distance away from danger.
Even in base V6 trim, the new Touareg comes with bi-xenon, all-wheel drive, 17” alloy wheels, cruise control, stop-start system, and climate control, to name a few, so you can be assured that you are pampered enough, regardless of the model you choose. The base V8 adds plenty more!
Verdict
The 2015 Volkswagen Touareg is a high-fidelity expression of a VW SUV. However, judging by the price hike, the makers seem to have turned capitalist, leaving the Touareg sitting confused on a line that demarcates premium and regular. And not in a good way. That being said, the Touareg is a well rounded family SUV and if equipped with the V6 in the right kind of trim, it can represent value for money. This V8 though, costs more, drinks more, and doesn’t provide the gut-wrenching torque to offset its ‘luxury’ price tag.
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