New Touareg exudes quiet confidence

When the original Volkswagen Touareg was introduced in March 2004 the king of the SUV hill was the Hummer; most SUV's looked like concrete bunkers on wheels and even the Touareg, based as it was on the Porsche Cayenne platform (itself no lightweight), had immense presence.

However, the automotive world has undergone enormous changes in the intervening six years; the Hummer has gone the way of the dinosaur and every automaker on the planet has begun to emphasise eco-responsibility, purely as a survival measure.

SUV's are smaller, more car-like and greener. It's time for a new Touareg - and it's here now.

At first glance it looks smaller than its predecessor but it's actually 41mm longer, 12mm wider and 17mm lower than the previous model - but cleverly designed side tapers, side windows that narrow towards the rear and a wide, flat bonnet make it look less bulky.

That's underlined by the strongly horizontal emphasis of VW's new "corporate face", which it shares with the Golf, Scirocco and Polo, but in this case subtly deeper, a little more muscular.

The lower of the two chromed stripes in the grille lines up with the leading edge of the dual-element headlight clusters while the edge of the bonnet sweeps over the top, making the whole "face" one visual unit for maximum apparent width.

The rear of the new Touareg is the most similar part to the previous model, a deliberate move on the part of the designers to make it instantly recognisable.

Once again, however, strong emphasis has been laid on horizontal lines to widen the look and strongly demarcated shoulder areas make the glassed area look a lot narrower than the lower body, which at once adds sportiness and a firm, stable stance.

Yes, it's still recognisably a Touareg - the Wolfsburg corporate culture is too conservative to allow otherwise - but it's lower, sleeker and a lot more car-like than its predecessor.

And it's more than 200kg lighter, thanks to sophisticated sheet-metal pressings that vary in thickness so they're thicker where they need extra strength and thinner where they don't.

It's also a lot greener; the new Touareg is the first VW model to be released in South Africa with BlueMotion technology - and it is that immense change in the SUV market which dictated it should be first introduced at this level, although BlueMotion variants of the Golf, Polo and Tiguan will follow early in 2011.

Blue, says Volkswagen, is the new green.

ENGINES

The new Touareg is available in South African in three engine variants, starting with an upgraded 3.6-litre FSI engine that produces the same 206kW at 6200rpm and 360Nm from 3000-4000rpm as previously but with fuel consumption of 12.4 litres/100km - that's 0.9 litre/100km less than on the previous model. CO2 emissions are down 60g/km to 248g/km.

The V6 FSI has a quoted top speed of 228km/h and accelerates from 0-100 in 7.8sec.

The three-litre V6 TDI BlueMotion uses common-rail fuel-injection at 1800 bar to develop a claimed 176kW at 4000rpm and 550Nm at 2000rpm at a cost of only 7.4 litres/100km (an improvement of 2.5 litres on the previous version) and 196g/km of CO2, 67g/km less than before.

The V6 TDI accelerates to 100km/h in 7.8sec and reaches a quoted top speed of 218km/h.

The BlueMotion engine also has regenerative braking and stop-start technology as standard; when the car is accelerating or running at a constant speed the electrical load across the alternator is reduced, in turn reducing the load on the engine and, thus, fuel consumption.

DEAD SIMPLE, REALLY

When the driver releases the accelerator or brakes, the voltage across the alternator is increased to convert as much as possible of the car's surplus kinetic energy into electrical charge.

And when the car stops, the engine switches off for as long as the driver presses the brake. As soon as the driver releases the brake, the engine starts and, by the time the accelerator is pressed, the car is ready to go. Dead simple, really.

The big daddy of the Touareg family is a new, 4.2-litre V8 TDI, which replaces the V10 of the previous generation, producing more power and more torque but using less fuel.

One of the ways it does this is by using a switched waterpump which only runs when the engine is up to temperature and needs it.

The maker lays claim to 250kW at 4000rpm (the V10 was rated for 230kW) and a whopping 800Nm from 1750-2750rpm. Fuel consumption is quoted at 9.1 litres/100km, 2.8 less than the V10's 11.9, and CO2 emissions at 239g/km, about 25 percent less than the V10.

The V8 TDI Touareg accelerates from 0-100 in a claimed 5.8sec and on to a 242km/h top speed.

TRANSMISSIONS

Each of these engines drives all four wheels through an eight-speed, automatic transmission, the top two of which are overdrives so that, in each case, the Touareg will reach its top speed in its sixth, direct gear.

This lowers engine revs at cruising speeds and significantly reduces fuel consumption, says VW.

Final drive is by a transfer case with a limited-slip Torsen differential and an electronic differential lock on each axle. Like the Tiguan Track & Field, the Touareg also has an "Off-road driving programme", which - at the press of a button - retunes the antilock brakes, stability control and traction control for off-road duty, activates hill descent control and adjusts the automatic gearshift points.

But a lot of Touareg customers use their vehicles for serious off-roading; for them, there's 4XMotion, a "Terrain Tech" package, available only for the V6 TDI. It has a locking centre differential with electrically controlled multi-plate differential, reduction gearing and extra ground clearance (10mm at front, 15 at the rear).

In normal operation, power is distributed 40:60 between front and rear axles but, if either begins to slip, up to 100 percent of the power can be diverted to the axle with the better grip - or the centre differential can be locked for a fixed 50:50 power split.

Low range is engaged by a switch on the centre console, giving the Touareg V6 TDI a climbing gradient of 45 degrees. A rear differential with transverse lock and 100 percent locking effect is also an option.

RUNNING GEAR

Suspension is by double wishbones all round, with forged-aluminium upper links (a weight saving of 47kg over the previous Touareg) and steel lower links. Coil springs are standard, air suspension an extra-cost option offering Normal (lowered 25mm), Comfort and Sport (lowered 25mm, stiffer damping) modes.

Ground clearance is 220mm, 230/235mm front/rear with the "Terrain Tech" package and an impressive 300mm with air suspension. The two V6 models have 17" alloy rims with 235/65 radials, the V8 19" rims with 265/50 tyres.

The Touareg also has an electronic rocker switch rather than a big mechanical handle for the parking brake which, ironically, was more of a benefit for the interior designers than the chassis engineers.

COMFORT ZONE

The new Touareg's cabin is significantly more spacious than that of the previous model, thanks to a 38mm longer wheelbase, and the extra space has been put to good use in providing more legroom and storage space.

The seats, steering wheel and gear shifter are leather and the fascia and instrument binnacle are finished in a soft-touch leather-like material called Slush, trimmed with chromed or brushed-aluminium and wood-veneer accents.

One of the problems with a vehicle that has as many bells and complicated whistles as the Touareg is that the fascia becomes cluttered with literally dozens of knobs and switches.

Volkswagen has deliberately simplified the new Touareg's cockpit by incorporated as many functions as possible in the central touchscreen and paring the rest down to their intuitive basics.

The result is a clean, uncluttered layout with the simple everyday controls exactly where you'd expect them to be and the fancy stuff neatly illustrated either on the touchscreen or between the dials.

The instrument panel has two large chrome-bezeled dials (revs and speed), styled like classic watch faces, flanked by two smaller gauges (fuel level and engine temperature) with everything else - including navigation, suspension settings and even audio data - displayed on a colour LCD panel between them.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

The centre touchscreen also displays the pictures from the rear-view cameras (optional on the V6's, standard on the V8) and the area view, a composite picture created from images generated by four cameras at waist height around the car and computer graphics of the top of the car to give you an all-round view as if you were standing on the roof.

It can also function as a "side look" so you can see what's coming without sticking the Touareg's nose into the path of oncoming traffic.

Two more features demonstrate Wolfsburg's attention to detail: the power rear hatch can be operated either from a switch inside the cabin or, remotely, from the key - or you can just give it a tug (in either direction) and let go; it will do the rest by itself.

The hatch can also be pre-set to stop at any given height (to stop it bashing into the roof of your garage) and it will instantly stop and reverse its movement if it encounters resistance.

Then there's the key, which isn't really a key at all but rather a beautifully finished electronic fob in the style of fine writing instruments from makers such as Montblanc and Waterman.

Completely keyless entry would have been technically easy but feedback from customers shows that Touareg owners are generally a little more conservative than that, preferring instead to put the key in its hole and turn it to make things happen.

So, you slip the key into its docking slot, turn it about 45 degrees in either direction to switch on all the car's ancillary systems, then push the engine start/stop button to light the fire.

ON THE ROAD

The first variant I did that to was the V6 FSI, a hard-revving, somewhat frenetic prime mover that showed a tendency to hunt among the transmission's eight ratios when asked to flex its muscles and sounded a little stressed at high revs.

Don't get me wrong, it did its job very well, but made some unpleasant noises when pushed hard, especially during overtaking, which it seemed to be doing a lot of because even the entry-level Touareg is unexpectedly quick for a car this size.

It just seemed to me the petrol V6 made an inordinate fuss about it.

The V6 TDI BlueMotion, however, was the exact opposite; it was almost inaudible around town, its voice rising to a purposeful thrumming when working hard. It never sounded like a diesel but always delivered like one, pulling with quiet but muscular authority from 2000-4000rpm.

Even in so-called manual mode the gearbox wouldn't let it rev past 4400rpm and, truth to tell, it didn't need to. It came up with the goods every time of asking, with no fuss, no noise and, at sea level anyway, no turbo lag.

UNOBTRUSIVELY EFFICIENT

The BlueMotion technology was also unobtrusively efficient; the stop/start attracted attention the first time it chipped in (it will be a while before old-school drivers like me take it for granted that a car's engine will stop and start by itself) but after that was scarcely noticeable, mostly because the TDI was so quiet even when it was running.

The brake regeneration system was discernable only as surprisingly strong engine braking for a car with an auto 'box. Even partly lifting the right foot caused the Touareg to slow quite sharply, although it never became jerky in traffic thanks to the flywheel effect of the heavy torque converter, which VW says is capable of handling 850Nm.

I'm glad to hear that because the Big Enchilada V8 delivers close to that, powering past anything it meets on the road with all the contemptuous arrogance of a superbike - and this is a luxurious, five-seater station wagon we're talking about.

It's not a sports car; its response is too measured, too deliberate for that, but its performance is always impressive and occasionally downright intimidating.

Sadly, however, it loses out to the BlueMotion in the automotive eisteddfod; the V8 TDI always sounds like a diesel, with a discernable clatter at idle, a truck-like rumble around town, and a rather American, V8 drone overlaid with sharp compression-ignition edges when it's producing the goods.

It's not unpleasant but it's always there - although it's easy to forgive the V8 its lack of aural sophistication the next time you make some GTI Joe in a hot hatch look silly.

ORDERLY PROGRESS

But, fun though it is, the Touareg is not all about drag racing. The launch drive took us through the mountain passes (both tar and gravel) of the Southern Cape and there VW's big bruiser showed impressive finesse.

The steering, while a little remote as all-wheel drive vehicles tend to be, is accurate, stable and predictable, moving towards gentle understeer as you approach the limits of the big, grippy tyres.

That's when the stability nanny gently intervenes, cutting the engine's torque and braking individual wheels as necessary to restore orderly progress - and even then it's possible to get all four tyres to talk to you at the same time by turning sharply into a tight uphill corner and giving it a bootful of throttle.

The only time the Touareg got even a little out of shape was when I gave it too much loud pedal, too soon, coming out of a tight corner on the gravel of Van der Stel's pass and suddenly got a handful of understeer.

It was easily held and controlled, however, and it turned out to be my fault, not the car's; I'd forgotten to push the "Off-Road" button when leaving the tar. That was quickly remedied "on the fly" and the rest of the gravel section was traversed with confidence and decorum.

The suspension, even with the base steel springs, is equally impressive, providing a flat, smooth ride on tar, with no thumping or choppiness even on rather poor gravel. There's a modicum of body roll at really silly speeds but the Touareg never feels unstable.

ALL-DAY CRUISER

The new Touareg is a quiet, restful and uncluttered way to cover a lot of ground; the essential controls fall readily and intuitively to hand and everything else is on-screen when required, to quote Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise.

Fit and finish, especially of the interior, is awe-inspiring and the materials used are luxuriously pleasant to the touch, quietly welcoming you to the First Class cabin of Touareg Air.

The multi-adjustable seats can be tuned to provide all-day comfort for any body, the dual-zone auto aircon (four-zone on the V8) simply a matter of dialling in the preferred temperature and letting the car do the rest while the 10-speaker audio system with six-CD shuttle makes beautiful noises.

It's distinctly sportier than its predecessor, while just as capable off the tar, but doesn't have an obvious performance persona. The overwhelming impression is rather one of quiet confidence, of not having to prove anything to anybody.