Top 3 things you need to know about the Volkswagen Touareg
When it first appeared in 2002, the Volkswagen Touareg made quite an impression on the buying public and motoring press alike. Here was a large SUV with genuine off-road prowess, which somehow also managed to offer the driving experience of a luxury car. The Touareg eventually established itself as the range-topping Volkswagen model, and continues as the brand’s vanguard in most world markets to this day.
What makes a Touareg so special? Well, apart from the fact that it generally costs quite a lot less than its premium-brand competitors, it’s also one of the first cars which marked the era when Volkswagen decided to move away from their “people’s car” roots and into a rather more-upmarket position.
Dr Ferdinand Piëch, then the chairman of the massive Volkswagen Group, decided that they needed to target the blossoming luxury SUV market with “an off-road vehicle which handles like a sports car”. That set the tone for all Touaregs to come, right up to (and including) the current model.
1. It’s very closely related to some rather more prestigious SUVs.
Right from the outset, the Touareg shared much of its under-the-skin hardware with the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, a fact which continues to this day. For its first two generations, the Touareg (and its cousins) were treated to a unique platform, but it moved over to an Audi-developed architecture for the third (current) generation. Switching to this new platform brought about a significant weight saving of more than 100 kg (compared to its predecessor), but it’s still a rather hefty beast with a kerb weight just on the far side of 2 tons.
The current Touareg (launched in South Africa in 2018) is related to a large variety of luxury-branded SUVs: the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 still shares many of its genes, but they’ve recently been joined by the Audi Q8, Bentley Bentayga, and Lamborghini Urus. All these (third-generation Touareg-based) cars employ the VW Group’s “MLBevo” component set, which also underpins all Audis from the A4 and Q5 upwards.
2. The local range comes in diesel flavour only.
Although some overseas markets receive petrol- and hybrid variants, the latest Touareg range is offered with only one turbodiesel powerplant in South Africa. Fortunately, the diesel is a good one: it’s a 3.0-litre V6 TDI, tuned to produce 190 kW and 600 Nm for local-spec Touaregs. This engine is well-known for its wide power spread and refinement, and perfectly matches the Touareg’s gentlemanly character.
Performance pretty good for a vehicle of this ilk, with a 0 – 100 km/h sprint in the mid-6 seconds range and a top speed of 235 km/h. And, as is to be expected from a TDI, it’s economical as well, with a claimed average fuel consumption of 7.1 ℓ/100 km. Real-world driving should see drivers returning mid-8 ℓ/100 km average figures, which is more than acceptable for a vehicle in this class.
Related: Previous Touaregs offered a wide variety of engines, including the mighty 4.2 V8 TDI.
3. There’s a host of high-tech options available.
The base-spec Touareg is not in any way close to spartan, with the standard equipment list including 19-inch alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, full-LED headlights, electric adjustment and memory for the leather-trimmed and heated front seats, a colour touchscreen infotainment display with navigation and smartphone mirroring, multi-zone climate control, and even a 230V inverter and power outlet, but you can add even more toys by ticking the appropriate option boxes.
Among those options are ambient lighting with up to 30 different colours, lane-keeping assistant, night vision, head-up display, air suspension, rear-wheel steering, audio system upgrades, a colour digital instrument cluster, panoramic roof, and a selection of cosmetic add-ons and alternative wheel designs. In short, if there’s a cutting-edge gadget out there, the Touareg is likely to have it either as standard, or on the option sheet.
Volkswagen Touareg Pricing (excluding options):
Touareg V6 TDI Luxury: R 1 074 600
Touareg V6 TDI Luxury R-Line: R 1 137 050
Touareg V6 TDI Executive R-Line: R 1 229 700
Included in the base prices:
- 5 year/100 000 km Maintenance Plan
- 3 year/120 000 km Manufacturer Warranty
*Prices and product availability were at the time of publishing and are subject to change without notification.