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Michael Taylor18 Sept 2014
REVIEW

Volkswagen Touareg 2015 Review

It’s Volkswagen’s biggest car, but far from its biggest seller. Will a mild facelift and better fuel economy be enough to swing the big SUV to the front of the fight?
Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI

Launch Review 
Munich, Germany 

Just three years after its launch, Volkswagen has given its big rig a top and tail facelift. It's also managed to squeeze in more safety, more power and better fuel economy from its strong-selling V6 turbodiesel. Everyone else is making a killing off the Touareg architecture, so why isn't Volkswagen?
You sometimes wonder whether Volkswagen has the French inability to build a convincing large car. There is a significant difference, though, because where the French just have a decades-old inability to build a convincing large car, Volkswagen seems to have trouble convincing people its large cars are as good as they are.
There's the Touareg, obviously, which has always been a pretty good machine, and then there's the Phaeton (which doesn't come Down Under). Both of them were expensively engineered, at Ferdinand Piech's urgings, to within an inch of their lives to give the brand large flagships. 
And pointedly, both of them have gone on to great success with more expensive brands: the Phaeton is the basis for the Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur, while the Touareg has underpinned both Audi's Q7 and Porsche's Cayenne and continues to do so (despite the other brands' protestations) even into its second generation.
It makes the Touareg's lack of a huge following quite glaring, even though VW considers it a successful car. Indeed, while there are clearly positioning and marketing issues at play, it even struggles to emerge from the Porsche SUV's more desirable brand shadow... So much so that VW couldn't even launch its facelift in clear air, with Porsche running a drive event in Europe for its facelifted Cayenne at precisely the same time...
Volkswagen teased this facelift at the Beijing Motor Show, just three years after the Gen II Touareg launched in Europe. The obvious differences are its cleaner nose and tail treatments, but there are far more important tweaks under the skin.
When Australia gets the Touareg facelift early next year, it will run essentially the same powertrains it has now, including a pair of V6 TDIs, a V8 TDI drawn from the Audi A8 limo and a V6 and V8 petrol-gulpers. And while there aren't huge differences in the powertrains, the small tweaks have delivered significant results. 
The V6 TDI makes up around 90 per cent of all Touareg sales in Europe, so Volkswagen worked at it the hardest. Both V6s have adopted a Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) catalytic converter to pull down the level of nitrogen oxides emerging from the tailpipes, which also demanded an ammonia trap for any AdBlue escapees, but the key is that it is essentially an “active” system that burns off bad stuff when it needs to.
The other key to the performance of the new Touareg V6 TDI is that both models now have a coasting function to disconnect the engine from the driveline when it's not needed, saving plenty of fuel. It also scores improved underbody aerodynamics, lower rolling resistance rubber, start-stop and brake energy regeneration, all aimed at improving the luxury SUV's fuel economy.
Volkswagen says it has pulled the consumption of both V6 TDIs down to 6.6L/100km, down from 7.2 on the more powerful version.
The base 2967cc V6 turbo-diesel remains a 150kW unit, with the power peak arriving at just 3250rpm. It's all about the torque, though, with 450Nm twisting into the eight-speed automatic transmission's clutches at just 1250rpm and staying on in a flat plateau until the power peak hits.
But we tested the more powerful of the V6 TDI versions, which has seen its output lift from 180 to 193kW at a spritelier 4000rpm. Again, the power number is less significant than the Touareg's torque, which peaks at a more than useful 580Nm from 1750rpm. That's a higher point in the rev range than the torque peak of the lesser V6 TDI, but it still has more torque at 1250rpm than the cheaper version. And, bewilderingly, it has the same fuel consumption figure.
It will, according to Volkswagen, deliver the big rig 0-100km/h in 7.3sec, which is only about a second off the Golf GTi and 1.5sec slower than the 800Nm 4.2-litre V8 TDI version of the Touareg. And 1.5sec costs a lot of money, so the stronger of the V6s is the SUV's ideal cost-benefit compromise and Volkswagen isn't expecting the price to shift far from the current V6 TDI range-topper's $78,990.
It can also be had with the Terrain Tech pack, which turns the Touareg into a viable off roader, complete with a low-range transfer case, a Torsen diff and locking rear and centre differentials. The off roader's top speed drops from 225km/h to 220km/h (no real issue for most Australians) and its fuel consumption slips out to 6.9L/100km.
It feels, like it always has, to be a strong motor. It's light on diesel discomfort and heavy on low-end strength, revelling in part-throttle surges that render redundant the transmission's ability to bounce down four gears at a time on a full-throttle kickdown. It's just so strong that the kickdown function is rarely bothered.
Stepping off the brake and onto the throttle goes a long way to convincing you that the V8 isn't really necessary, because there's no initial lag before a surge of diesel torque. It's just a surge of diesel torque.
It belies the 2110kg kerb weight to either cruise or bellow off the line and the throttle response changes easily between the Comfort, Normal and Sport settings, but it's easily just left in Sport.
The only real criticism of the engine is the noise levels it generates. They're lower than the V8 TDI, which leads you to conclude that the V8 is louder on purpose, but it's louder than the engine acoustics in the equivalent offerings from, say, the BMW X5, the Land Rover Discovery, the Porsche Cayenne or the Mercedes-Benz ML. They're not intrusive (unlike the V8 TDI), but you always feel a depth of sound.
Another criticism of the car is that its ride quality is still a bit fidgety on low-amplitude bumps. It's better, but it's not perfect. It manages larger potholes and tramlining undulations with an aplomb that borders on arrogance, but it's the little stuff that can niggle.
The upside is that the handling package is now much better, with revised rates on the steel springs and the option of slicker air suspension, which is a close relation to the Skyhook active suspension system Maserati uses in the Quattroporte and delivers a wider range of driving comfort and sport modes.
Even on the standard steel springs and 19-inch wheels and tyres, the Touareg conveys a feeling of solidity when it's running in a straight line – an unshakeable feeling of strength when it's dealing with urban infrastructure and a calmness at speed. Its handling belies its mass as it feels like it hunkers down manfully in corners to change direction with minimal body roll and maximum speed. 
Running it out of grip seems like a rare scenario and requires an enthusiasm the sane won't muster on a public road.
The wind noise has been lowered, too, and aside from a slight roar from the engine the only noises Volkswagen lets you hear are noises Volkswagen wants you to hear.
That lack of road and wind noise correlates with the subtle but useful interior upgrades, which include new trim everywhere, the change in the backlighting of the buttons from orange to white and high-end trimming on the lightly revised dash layout, like the aluminium knobs from the air conditioning, the suspension settings, the audio system and even the mirror adjusters. 
There are some upgraded electronic features, too, including the now-standard bi-xenon lights and the option of a stronger set of bi-xenons. Odd that “bi-xenon” feels like such an outdated description for a headlight now that the LED, Matrix LED and even the Laser light era is upon us – especially in the Touareg's luxury SUV class.
It has a frontal collision warning system and follows that up with a system that automatically smashes down the brake pedal after a crash as well (to prevent a second collision), while a computer controlled trailer stability system is now standard.
The new Touareg has a surprisingly luxurious and practical interior, is well built, economical and strong on performance.
And it needs all of that because it's playing on a field dominated by marques with greater key-fob cred than Volkswagen can deliver. It needs to be better than they are on the field to get ahead. 
Alas, it's not – it's every bit as good as most of them, but it's not better. Still, it's hard to see how you'd ever regret choosing the Touareg V6 TDI over any of its price-point rivals. 
2015 Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI pricing and specifications:
Price: TBA
Engine: 3.0-litre, diesel, V6, turbocharged
Output: 193kW/580Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.6 litres/100km
CO2: 174 grams/km
Safety Rating: TBA
What we liked: Not so much:
>> Seamless engine strength >> Some busy switchgear
>> Much slicker interior >> Feels every kilo of its mass
>> Improved ride quality >> Fussy small-bump absorption
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Written byMichael Taylor
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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Expert rating
71/100
Engine, Drivetrain & Chassis
17/20
Price, Packaging & Practicality
14/20
Safety & Technology
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Behind the Wheel
15/20
X-Factor
10/20
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