The original tire size for your 2006 Volkswagen Touareg is listed below. Tap on the box to view a color-coded explanation of your Volkswagen Touareg's' tire size. Simplified size is useful for shopping and buying tires. The original tire size for your 2006 Volkswagen Touareg is 255/55R18/RF 109V. A color-coded explanation of the 2006 Volkswagen Touareg's tire size is shown below. This number indicates that your tire has a width of 255 millimeters. This number means that your tire has an aspect ratio of 55%. In other words, your tire's sidewall height (from the edge of the rim to the tire's tread) is 55% of the width. In this case, the sidewall height works out to be 140 millimeters. This letter denotes how your tire was constructed. Radial is the standard construction method for about 99% of all tires sold today. The tire size was designed to fit rims or wheels that are 18 inches in diameter. The mark of RF indicates that the tire is reinforced. This means it can handle a higher inflation pressure than a standard tire, which increases its maximum load. This tire has a load index of 109, which means it's capable of carrying a load of 2266 pounds (1030 kg) or less. A higher number means the tire can carry more weight. A lower number means the opposite. This tire has a speed rating of V, which means 149 mph (240 km/h) is the maximum speed that can be sustained for 10 minutes. A higher speed becomes dangerous.
Two taps to change the fan speed can indeed feel a little cumbersome. Go for the big screens and you'll need to spend some time learning and customising the tech on hand. The new Touareg's seats are great: we hope that the top-shelf seat comes to Australia, featuring air bladders for the side bolsters, thigh support and thigh extender. They're comfortable and supportive over long distances - we tested this thoroughly. Aside from a naff carbon pattern that Volkswagen occasionally applies to headrests, the grey/black two-tone seats on these German-spec cars looked good. Shame Australians are so unadventurous with leather colours - only black pews will come to our market, despite lovely grey, stone and tan colour options being available overseas. Seat cooling will be available for the first time on a Touareg, in addition to massaging and heating. Material quality in the cabin is pretty good: there are plenty of soft-touch surfaces, pleasant contrast dash stitching, and traditional Touareg knurled dials.
What's definite is that it is roomy and wide in the Touareg - for a five-seater, that is. This is a big two-row SUV: at 4.88m in length, it's 8cm longer than the outgoing version, and it's 4cm wider. That bugbear aside, the Touareg is nice for folks travelling in the back. The seats are big and comfy with decent thigh support, and large windows offer a good view out. Four-zone climate control will be available, with separate fan and temperature adjustment and head-level vents in the B-pillars, plus there's heating for the outboard seats. A flip-out centre console reveals, at least in Europe, a 12-volt socket, two 2.1-amp USB ports, and a household power point. Ideally, all of that will come to Australia. That big boot reveals itself behind an electric tailgate with a kick function for both opening and closing. Like the outgoing car, you can lower the air suspension from right in the boot to reduce the load height - nice for getting heavy gear into the back. There are remote releases to flat-fold the rear seats, and separate side bins prevent delicate items from rolling around.
European Touaregs are available with a trick feature - additional buttons to deploy a hidden electric towball. Sadly, Australian Design Rules prevent such a handy feature from being sole in Australia - shame. Out on the road, what's the new Touareg like? Well, the dynamics are remarkably similar to the outgoing car - no bad thing, given the Touareg 2 is a comfortable, refined bruiser. We've seen these engines before and that's fine, because they get the job done with pace and grace. Volkswagen's venerable V6 diesels have been around for a while but they have an earned reputation for fuel efficiency, strong torque and decent reliability. The only engine tune we drove was the top-shelf 210kW/600Nm version that will be the most expensive offer until such time as a V8 diesel arrives, though that is not under close consideration for Australia. The outgoing Touareg is offered in R-Line trim with a 250kW/800NmNm V8 oiler but it has accounted for such a slim portion of sales that this time around, six cylinders are the focus.
