This is one of my favorite movie lines of late. I have obviously substituted the name of the vehicle here, however, I think the title is fitting based on the (admittedly short) hour I spent with the vehicle.
I recently drove a 2004 Volkswagen Touareg V8 with the Premium Plus package. For those of you researching the Touareg, you probably understand the significance of this option package, but if you haven't quite gotten that far yet, the premium plus package adds $7,000 to the base price of the vehicle and includes every option available on the Touareg save the winter package options (heated steering wheel, rear seats, and rear armrest pass through). This includes (most notably) the navigation system, adjustable air suspension, a 400 watt 11 speaker stereo, nappa leather upholstery, additional interior wood trim options, bi-xenon headlights, a power adjustable steering column and seatbelt tensioner heights, and an absolutely useless keyless entry gimmic, similar to the system on the Infiniti FX45. The only other option missing from this Touareg were the 19" rims - the V8 comes with 18 inchers standard.
Exterior:
My first impressions of the Touareg's exterior: Average. Looks are fairly station wagonish, but definitely a step up from the absolutely hideous Porsche Cayenne which shares its chassis and overall shape (do the designers at Porsche really think those 911/Boxter headlights are that great?? Because they are already hideous on the 911/Boxter, much less strapping them to the front of an SUV). It definately has what is now the new "face" of VW's vehicle line. The headlights and grill setup are similar to the current Passat, the upcoming Phaeton luxury sedan, and the newly re-designed Passat, due out probably some time late in 2004. Walking around the vehicle does not give you a sense for the sheer mass of the thing. The Touareg in the trim I drove sports a published gross vehicle weight rating of 6,700 lbs. That means that fully loaded with passengers, groceries and a full tank of gas, this thing weighs nearly 3 and a half tons (more on that later). While the Touareg does seem a little larger on the outside than some other mid-size SUVs, it is not imposing and is pretty easy to jump into the driver's seat (for me at least, a 6'1 individual). Smaller folks may have some more trouble getting in to the Touareg. Aside from it's wagonish profile, I had no substantive complaints about the exterior. I do think some functional running boards would help the SUV appearance and aid entrance/egress. I also am not a fan of the amount of chrome that VW is slapping onto the exterior of their vehicles lately.
Interior:
The interior of the Premium Plus Touareg is a nice place to be. Definitely conducive to running around town, dropping the kids off at soccer and picking up groceries. The quality of the leather, real brushed aluminum accents and wood trim is impressive, but at the level expected in a $49,000 vehicle. The instrument cluster is well laid out and the gauges are surrounded by chrome rings. The V8 Premium Plus does not get the signature blue faced gauges however, which I found disappointing. Instead the numerals are a boring white on black background. The switchgear operates with familiar Teutonic aplomb which is good, because the Touareg has more buttons, dials and switches than the cockpit of an F-16. The memory positioning front seats in the Touareg are roomy and comfortable and offer impressive amounts of adjustability. The back seats are just OK, however. The bench is too low and the cushion is too short, and there is not a lot of legroom for fully grown adults. There is also not as much headroom as I'd like, but for anyone under 5'11 the back seat would be fine. There are rear a/c vents in both the center console and the door sills however, which I thought was a nice touch. The cargo area of the Touareg is just average in size for a mid-size SUV, but it is definately larger than some (the BMW X5 comes to mind), and with the seats folded down the Touareg could carry a large amount of groceries, soccer balls, or the monthly supply of trinkets from Target and Crate and Barrel. The 400 watt stereo puts out a clean, crisp sound with pleasing bass response and lots of adjustability. Other than my aformentioned quibbles, I had a couple of complaints with the Touareg's interior. First, the absence of an in dash CD changer in a $49,000 vehicle is absolutely ridiculous and unforgiveable. It's not even an option. VW desperately needs to get on the ball here as this is not offered in any of their automobiles, many of which sit near, if not at, the top of the price range in the respective vehicle class. My second major complaint is with the navigation system. The unavailability of an in dash CD changer would indicate to me that engineers would have ample space for a wonderfully large and user friendly navigation screen, right? Wrong. The navigation display in the Touareg is positively dwarfed by the one in Acura's new TSX small sedan (which I also recently reviewed), the Infiniti G35, etc., and what's worse, the system is CD based. Come on VW. Please get with the technological times. I don't want to leave the impression that the interior was not impressive, because it certainly was, but in this price range, perfection is warranted and the Touareg misses the perfection ferry based on the issues I have detailed.
Driving:
The Touareg is a fairly unique vehicle in that it offers a lot of peace, quiet and luxury on the inside, a fun to drive on road experience, AND, it can conquer truly gnarly terrain beyond the pavement. My test drive began by playing with the air suspension. I assumed this was a gimmick when I first read about it, but if you are a car guy like me (or gal for that matter) experiencing it first hand is a must. The Touareg's suspension can lift up 11 inches and squat down 4 inches from its normal ride height. All of this is accomplished using a dial on the center console. When you dial up the full extension, the vehicle does an interesting inching up procedure whereby the front and back alternate rising until it hits the full extension. The transition is smooth as silk, but you can really see and feel the difference. The same goes for the squat maneuver, which will help shorties get their stuff in the back (and incidentally, which occurs automatically when the vehicle exceeds 90+ mph for more high speed stability).
Accelerating away from the dealership, I was immediately impressed by the responsiveness of the engine. For a 6,000+ lb vehicle, the 310 horses stuffed under the hood were more than ample when getting up to freeway speeds. In addition, the six speed Tiptronic transmission executed smooth, acceptably snappy shifts uncharacteristic of the slow shifting of VW's other automanual transmissions. And it is a good thing the portly Touareg has six speeds. It allows for greater acceleration and more comfortable engine speeds when exceeding the pathetically outdated interstate limits placed on America's freeways. The weight and the engine's output equal gas hog, so the 6th gear is likely to be your only friend at the filling station. On the road, the Touareg exhibits some body roll and brake dive consistent with the type of vehicle that it is, however, you can choose three modes of suspension damping (in addition to the height adjustments) to dial some of that in. On the suspension's sport setting the Touareg handled admirably for such an incredibly heavy vehicle with tires not made for cornering stiffness. At freeway speeds the Touareg's cabin is very quiet with little tire roar and wind noise. Overall I would say that the Touareg is only bested by the BMW X5 in the handling department in the SUV realm, although I cannot speak to the Porsche Cayenne as I have no desire to test drive such an ugly, overpriced vehicle.
I did not have a chance to take the vehicle off road as the salesperson was already nervous from my successful attempt at getting the air suspension to squat due to the extralegal freeway speed we attained. However, the automotive press has beat the Touareg up off road and it appears to be a beast.
The bottom line on this vehicle? If you are looking for a luxury SUV, you owe it to yourself to take a V8 Touareg for a spin. It's plush on the inside, fun to drive, and will get you through just about any snowstorm you might encounter on your next snowboarding trip. It's also quite a bit cheaper than it's British (Range Rover) and Japanese
(GX470) competition. We'll have to wait and see how reliability plays in to the equation however, as VW was ranked almost dead last in the most recent JD Power quality surveys.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.