The old normal
Neither electric nor autonomous, here’s the latest version of VW’s big diesel SUV.
The last time we ran a Touareg on our long-term test fleet it was one of only two SUVs in VW’s range. That was in 2011. Now the family has mushroomed to five.
Fortunately, my family hasn’t got any bigger in the same period, because this third-generation Touareg sticks firmly to a five-seat layout when competitors like the BMW X5 and the VW’s in-house rival, the Audi Q7, both offer, or give the option of, seven seats.
But a third row of chairs is about the only thing you can’t have on the latest Touareg. It might be the least glamorous of the VW-AudiPorsche-Bentley-Lamborghini SUVs to use the Group’s MLB platform, but kitted out like this it feels every inch a proper luxury car.
There are more of those inches than last time, the new car measuring 77mm longer and 44mm wider, yet the kerbweight has fallen by over 100kg. There goes the justification for ordering ours with the 282bhp version of the 3.0 TDI instead of the stock 228bhp motor, but we did it anyway.
The extra horses push the base price up from £49,135 to £51,735, but that still undercuts the £52,675 we’d have paid if we’d ordered the sole petrol engine option, the 335bhp 3.0 V6. The petrol car’s a touch quicker off the line (5.9sec versus 6.2sec) but not so much speedier that it justifies the 8mpg increase in fuel consumption.
Besides, we’d already busted the budget upgrading from entry-level SEL trim (heated leather seats, adaptive cruise control, 9.2-inch touchscreen) to R-Line Tech. Sporty-themed R-Line trim ups the wheels to twenties, and adds four-zone climate control, wireless phone charging, an electric tailgate, park assist and a rear-view camera for £3500. And for £3100 on top of that you step up to R-Line Tech. From the outside only a different style of 20in wheel gives the game away, but you don’t notice the rest of the changes until you open the door. The ‘Tech’ tag means keyless entry, high-beam assist, 14-way electric seats, a 12-inch Digital Cockpit instrument panel and a stunning central 15-inch navigation screen. My first television had a smaller screen.
Last time out I kept the spec fairly simple to more accurately reflect the kind of car you might buy – and regretted it the minute I realised ⊲