Back in the good old days if you needed to tow a heavy load you’d often opt for a tow vehicle with a big V8 engine. A favourite saying in relation to engine size was, “there is no substitute for cubic inches”. These days that could well be changed to, “there is no substitute for multiple cylinders”. And in this regard the Volkswagen Touareg is a winner every time. When arranging the test we had been told that the big VW would have a 10-cylinder engine, but this still hadn’t really prepared us for the tremendous amount of power on tap. Apart being a V10 high-tech diesel engine it has two turbochargers, one for each bank of five cylinders. The end result is 750Nm of torque, or pulling power. To put this into perspective, a powerful Ford F250 with the 7.3L V8 has 684Nm of torque available. There are probably still those who think Beetle or Kombi when you mention VW. These days the range includes Polo, Golf, New Beetle, Jetta, Passet, plus a range of commercials and the Touareg.
Being the German company’s first entry in the buoyant 4WD market, the Touareg has come out with all guns blazing. There are six models and four engines to choose from. There is the Touareg V6 and the R5 TDI both in standard and luxury form, the Touareg V8 and the top-of-the-range Touareg V10 TDI. 10-cylinder 5L twin turbocharged diesel. Interestingly the five-cylinder diesel has almost as much torque as the much larger V8 petrol - 400Nm versus 410Nm. When it comes to transmissions they all use a six-speed electronically controlled automatic. 137,000 for the luxurious V10. The latter has only three options - metallic paint, rear differential lock and an external alloy spare wheel carrier. Everything else comes standard. With a vehicle like the Touareg you’d expect something special when it comes to the ride and handling, but the ride did take a little getting used to. On suburban roads with the odd pothole, the suspension seemed to almost overcompensate while meeting the aim of providing a level ride.
The four-wheel independent suspension uses airbags with what VW calls Continuous Damping Control (CDC). This offers three settings for the dampers or shock absorbers: Automatic, Sports or Comfort. Most drivers would probably opt for the Auto setting, but if you want to push it a bit harder on a winding road the firmer Sport setting would be the go. Features and specifications are so comprehensive that VW has produced a 16-page booklet to list them all. Needless to say space only permits us to highlight a few more of the interesting ones. The trip computer is state-of-the-art in itself. In addition to the normal trip/fuel/speed data, the colour screen displays outside air temperature, audio system status, gear position, lighting and system control settings, suspension height and tyre pressures. Most of the system functions are programmable through controls on the steering wheel, but perusal of the comprehensive manual is a must. Another standard feature on the V10TDI is the keyless entry.
With this the driver can keep the key - equipped with a transponder - in her pocket. The Touareg, recognising its driver via the transponder, releases the door locks when the driver touches the door, and starts with a push on the ‘engine start’ button on the centre console. The driver’s foot needs to be on the brake pedal to activate the ‘engine start’ function. With the aid of some clever technology the Touareg will start only when the key is actually in the vehicle interior. Miniature aerials in the doors can tell where the transponder is located. When leaving the Touareg, the driver only needs to touch the door handle again for the doors and steering column to automatically lock. The only drawback that we found was that you couldn’t simply walk up to the car and try the door to see that it is locked as it would then again unlock. Not surprisingly the Touareg comes with a complex electrical system control unit to manage all the functions and ensure that adequate charge is provided to the batteries. At night an emergency mode keeps the low beam headlights on even if the microprocessor fails.
The V10TDI has two batteries to provide optimum charge under all conditions. The starter battery is located under the driver’s seat while the general system battery is below the luggage compartment floor. Putting into words what happens when you push the accelerator is difficult. Unlike some high performance cars, driving the V10 doesn’t require any special techniques - it can be driven quite sedately without any hint of what is hidden under the bonnet. Occupants are pampered with extremely comfortable seating and four-zone climate control. There is a multitude of storage compartments and of course the mandatory cup holders. Once you have adapted to the superb ride offered by the air suspension, driving the Touareg is most enjoyable. It does everything with ease and handles akin to a sports sedan with little or no body roll, precise steering and excellent brakes. Whether there is only the driver on board or the car is filled with five occupants and their luggage, the Touareg sits at the height selected.
