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http://www.driving.ca/ottawa/research-car/roadtest/Road+test+2011+Touareg/4038140/story.html
Road test: 2011 VW Touareg TDI
By Graeme Fletcher and David Booth, Postmedia News
December 29, 2010
2011 Volkswagen Touareg TDI.
Photograph by: Graeme Fletcher, For National Post
Postmedia auto writers Graeme Fletcher and David Booth don’t always agree on things automotive, but they find some common ground when it comes to the new diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg.
Graeme Fletcher: The second-generation Volkswagen Touareg is an enigma to be sure. It is the Jekyll and Hyde of the automotive world. The question is, can anything with such a split personality be worth its salt? You bet!
Certainly, the Touareg’s style mirrors the stereotypical two-box SUV, but that’s where just about any similarities end. In fact, the Touareg’s underlying sweetness is such that it doesn’t take long behind the wheel to pick up on the pluses and be convinced there is so much more to its makeup than a well-conceived cabin, comfortable seats and plenty of space (cavernous 70.9 cubic feet of cargo room with the seats folded flat).
It is equally obvious that VW’s engineers went a little overboard. First, the horseshoe-shaped LED daytime running lights are a tad too quaint for me.
Surely, this isn’t a cheap marketing ploy aimed at the equestrian set? Second, a page that shows up on the navigation system screen made me want to turn in my Goggles Pisano-inspired driving gloves — it shows how much steering the driver has dialled in to the degree! However, as with most things in life, judging the whole by a few of its parts is a bad move.
The reality is that the Touareg is a serious rig that straightens twisty tarmac as effortlessly as it trudges through knee-deep muskeg. The suspension is right on (there are on- and off-road settings) and the steering is refreshingly sharp and alive to the feel. In short, the Touareg’s road manners are well above the SUV norm.
This, however, is not what really separates it from the crowd; it’s the powertrain and the bits that comprise it. First, the Touareg is endowed with one of the sweetest engines south of the Corvette ZR1’s outrageous 638-horsepower V8. In this case, it is a delightful turbocharged 3.0-litre direct-injection V6 diesel (TDI). It has it all.
Sure, the turbodiesel puts only 225 horsepower at the driver’s disposal, but that matters not a whit. It is the mesa-like torque plateau that makes the real difference — the TDI twists out 406 pound-feet of torque at just 1,750 rpm. The twisting force is enough that the Touareg ambles up impossibly steep grades without ever getting off idle. On the flip side, the total lack of turbo lag puts true sport in the Touareg’s drive. It takes all of 8.6 seconds to accelerate the 2,256-kilogram sport-ute to 100 kilometres an hour. Need to pass a slower vehicle? No problem; the Touareg accomplishes the 80-to-120-km/h passing move in 5.8 seconds.
This, however, only paints half the picture. The Touareg TDI delivered its enviable performance while returning a test average fuel economy of 10.9 litres per 100 km. Compared with many SUVs, this is so miserly it’s Scrooge approved.
Power is directed to the wheels through an eight-speed manumatic transmission (sadly, it does not come with paddle shifters) and VW’s accomplished 4Motion all-wheel-drive system. The transmission’s wide array of ratios not only maximizes the TDI’s sweetness in terms of performance, it also makes highway cruising a noiseless venture. At 120 km/h, the engine is turning at a leisurely 1,850 rpm. Likewise, the all-wheel-drive system is seamless and efficient in all it does as the power is put to pavement with minimum fuss and maximum traction. Even when off-roading, it works well enough that the driver doesn’t need a low-range gear set.
All of this left me with but two questions. First, why bother offering the base 3.6L V6 gasoline engine? It cannot touch the diesel in any meaningful way. Second, why would anyone pony up the extra dollars for the Porsche Cayenne? After all, the Touareg is essentially the same vehicle right down to the Porsche’s soon-to-be-available diesel engine.
David Booth: The intention behind providing a second opinion on any road test is to provide a counterpoint. One might be able to fool one autojournalist all of the time, goes the fable, but surely it is more difficult to fool two.
Sadly for those looking for controversy, I can’t fault most of Graeme Fletcher’s conclusions. Oh, sure, hearing our resident Gear Head commenting on stylistic faux pas is a little like me giving sensitivity lessons, but his evaluation of the new Touareg’s performance is pretty much spot on.
Indeed, he may not have lauded that 3.0L turbodiesel enough. Its surfeit of power is quite amazing, the feeling that it always has more in reserve worthy of the seemingly outrageous comparison with the supercharged Corvette engine. Our own Fletch (I’ve always wanted to use his Chevy Chase-film nickname in print) wondered why anyone would consider buying the gasoline V6 also offered in the Touareg.
I’ll go further and wonder why anyone buys a hybrid when such perfectly serviceable diesels offer greater simplicity, better performance and all but equal fuel economy in real-world circumstances. Come on, all you enviroweenies, get with the program!
Thankfully, I do have a nit to pick with Fletcher’s conclusion. He wonders why anyone would buy the Porsche Cayenne version (for the Touareg and the Cayenne are based on the same vehicle). Although they hardly justify the price difference, I can think of two (besides the obvious bragging rights).
Having recently driven the Cayenne diesel (and who would have thought we would ever see Porsche and diesel in the same sentence), I found it to be a little quieter and the handling a bit sharper.
Since they share the same engine, the former is likely due to better sound insulation and the latter is simply a matter of suspension tuning, neither of which justifies the approximately $13,250 price difference in Germany.
This points to the Touareg as being something of a bargain.
THE SPECS
Type of vehicle: All-wheel-drive full-sized SUV
Engine: 3.0L V6 turbodiesel
Power: 225 hp @ 2,500 rpm; 406 lb-ft of torque @ 1,750 rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed manumatic
Brakes: Four-wheel disc with ABS
Tires: P275/40R20 (optional winter)
Price: base/as tested: $48,440/$63,135
Destination charge: $1,580
Transport Canada fuel economy L/100 km 11.1 city, 7.0 hwy.
Standard features: Dual-zone automatic climate control, power door locks, windows and heated mirrors, dual-panel power sunroof, steering wheel-mounted cruise and audio controls, heated leather seats, 12-way power bucket seats with memory, power tilt and telescopic steering column, 620-watt AM/FM/six-disc CD/MP3/Sirius satellite radio with 12 speakers and auxiliary input, navigation system with eight-inch screen, sonar-based park assist system with backup camera, rain-sensing wipers, rear washer/wiper, Bluetooth, trip computer, outside temperature display, compass, keyless entry with push-button start, power tailgate.
automotive@sympatico.ca
dbooth@nationalpost.com
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
Road test: 2011 VW Touareg TDI
By Graeme Fletcher and David Booth, Postmedia News
December 29, 2010
2011 Volkswagen Touareg TDI.
Photograph by: Graeme Fletcher, For National Post
Postmedia auto writers Graeme Fletcher and David Booth don’t always agree on things automotive, but they find some common ground when it comes to the new diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg.
Graeme Fletcher: The second-generation Volkswagen Touareg is an enigma to be sure. It is the Jekyll and Hyde of the automotive world. The question is, can anything with such a split personality be worth its salt? You bet!
Certainly, the Touareg’s style mirrors the stereotypical two-box SUV, but that’s where just about any similarities end. In fact, the Touareg’s underlying sweetness is such that it doesn’t take long behind the wheel to pick up on the pluses and be convinced there is so much more to its makeup than a well-conceived cabin, comfortable seats and plenty of space (cavernous 70.9 cubic feet of cargo room with the seats folded flat).
It is equally obvious that VW’s engineers went a little overboard. First, the horseshoe-shaped LED daytime running lights are a tad too quaint for me.
Surely, this isn’t a cheap marketing ploy aimed at the equestrian set? Second, a page that shows up on the navigation system screen made me want to turn in my Goggles Pisano-inspired driving gloves — it shows how much steering the driver has dialled in to the degree! However, as with most things in life, judging the whole by a few of its parts is a bad move.
The reality is that the Touareg is a serious rig that straightens twisty tarmac as effortlessly as it trudges through knee-deep muskeg. The suspension is right on (there are on- and off-road settings) and the steering is refreshingly sharp and alive to the feel. In short, the Touareg’s road manners are well above the SUV norm.
This, however, is not what really separates it from the crowd; it’s the powertrain and the bits that comprise it. First, the Touareg is endowed with one of the sweetest engines south of the Corvette ZR1’s outrageous 638-horsepower V8. In this case, it is a delightful turbocharged 3.0-litre direct-injection V6 diesel (TDI). It has it all.
Sure, the turbodiesel puts only 225 horsepower at the driver’s disposal, but that matters not a whit. It is the mesa-like torque plateau that makes the real difference — the TDI twists out 406 pound-feet of torque at just 1,750 rpm. The twisting force is enough that the Touareg ambles up impossibly steep grades without ever getting off idle. On the flip side, the total lack of turbo lag puts true sport in the Touareg’s drive. It takes all of 8.6 seconds to accelerate the 2,256-kilogram sport-ute to 100 kilometres an hour. Need to pass a slower vehicle? No problem; the Touareg accomplishes the 80-to-120-km/h passing move in 5.8 seconds.
This, however, only paints half the picture. The Touareg TDI delivered its enviable performance while returning a test average fuel economy of 10.9 litres per 100 km. Compared with many SUVs, this is so miserly it’s Scrooge approved.
Power is directed to the wheels through an eight-speed manumatic transmission (sadly, it does not come with paddle shifters) and VW’s accomplished 4Motion all-wheel-drive system. The transmission’s wide array of ratios not only maximizes the TDI’s sweetness in terms of performance, it also makes highway cruising a noiseless venture. At 120 km/h, the engine is turning at a leisurely 1,850 rpm. Likewise, the all-wheel-drive system is seamless and efficient in all it does as the power is put to pavement with minimum fuss and maximum traction. Even when off-roading, it works well enough that the driver doesn’t need a low-range gear set.
All of this left me with but two questions. First, why bother offering the base 3.6L V6 gasoline engine? It cannot touch the diesel in any meaningful way. Second, why would anyone pony up the extra dollars for the Porsche Cayenne? After all, the Touareg is essentially the same vehicle right down to the Porsche’s soon-to-be-available diesel engine.
David Booth: The intention behind providing a second opinion on any road test is to provide a counterpoint. One might be able to fool one autojournalist all of the time, goes the fable, but surely it is more difficult to fool two.
Sadly for those looking for controversy, I can’t fault most of Graeme Fletcher’s conclusions. Oh, sure, hearing our resident Gear Head commenting on stylistic faux pas is a little like me giving sensitivity lessons, but his evaluation of the new Touareg’s performance is pretty much spot on.
Indeed, he may not have lauded that 3.0L turbodiesel enough. Its surfeit of power is quite amazing, the feeling that it always has more in reserve worthy of the seemingly outrageous comparison with the supercharged Corvette engine. Our own Fletch (I’ve always wanted to use his Chevy Chase-film nickname in print) wondered why anyone would consider buying the gasoline V6 also offered in the Touareg.
I’ll go further and wonder why anyone buys a hybrid when such perfectly serviceable diesels offer greater simplicity, better performance and all but equal fuel economy in real-world circumstances. Come on, all you enviroweenies, get with the program!
Thankfully, I do have a nit to pick with Fletcher’s conclusion. He wonders why anyone would buy the Porsche Cayenne version (for the Touareg and the Cayenne are based on the same vehicle). Although they hardly justify the price difference, I can think of two (besides the obvious bragging rights).
Having recently driven the Cayenne diesel (and who would have thought we would ever see Porsche and diesel in the same sentence), I found it to be a little quieter and the handling a bit sharper.
Since they share the same engine, the former is likely due to better sound insulation and the latter is simply a matter of suspension tuning, neither of which justifies the approximately $13,250 price difference in Germany.
This points to the Touareg as being something of a bargain.
THE SPECS
Type of vehicle: All-wheel-drive full-sized SUV
Engine: 3.0L V6 turbodiesel
Power: 225 hp @ 2,500 rpm; 406 lb-ft of torque @ 1,750 rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed manumatic
Brakes: Four-wheel disc with ABS
Tires: P275/40R20 (optional winter)
Price: base/as tested: $48,440/$63,135
Destination charge: $1,580
Transport Canada fuel economy L/100 km 11.1 city, 7.0 hwy.
Standard features: Dual-zone automatic climate control, power door locks, windows and heated mirrors, dual-panel power sunroof, steering wheel-mounted cruise and audio controls, heated leather seats, 12-way power bucket seats with memory, power tilt and telescopic steering column, 620-watt AM/FM/six-disc CD/MP3/Sirius satellite radio with 12 speakers and auxiliary input, navigation system with eight-inch screen, sonar-based park assist system with backup camera, rain-sensing wipers, rear washer/wiper, Bluetooth, trip computer, outside temperature display, compass, keyless entry with push-button start, power tailgate.
automotive@sympatico.ca
dbooth@nationalpost.com
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
