VW Touareg Review (2019): Specs Prices On Sale Date

The Volkswagen Touareg enters its third generation with more - and better - competition to face than ever before. Like its predecessors it’s a combination of serious 4x4 and refined, roomy, comfortable family transport. The new VW is longer and wider than before, and more spacious inside. It also sports a bigger, brighter chrome grille, and a feast of technology (much of it optional) for the chassis, infotainment and safety. When the wraps came off the first one in 2002 it stood alone. But it’s up against a strong and varied field of £50k-ish SUVs that includes the Mercedes GLE and Volvo XC90, not to mention its VW Group rivals, the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. The visual changes are quite modest compared to the amount of hardware that’s new. The body is now 106kg lighter, thanks to its use of aluminium and several types of steel, with the strongest materials employed where they’re needed.

The engine line-up has some crossover with the last generation, but everything’s been refreshed in terms of power outputs and economy. At first there will be two versions of the 3.0-litre V6 diesel: the 282bhp car we drove, and a 228bhp version. In early 2019 they’ll be joined by a V6 petrol and a V8 diesel. We’re promised there will be a plug-in hybrid too, but first deliveries of that have gone to China. All have permanent four-wheel drive and eight-speed automatic gearboxes. Clever differentials shift the torque to the wheels that can make best use of it. Plus a bunch of electronic driver aids? And then some. There’s a giddying variety of advance-warning systems, some of which can also intervene in the control of the vehicle. Active cruise control and traffic jam assist can keep you cruising on the motorway or holding your position in stop-start traffic with minimal involvement from the driver.

There are also some smart headlight options that read the road ahead to look around corners, dim themselves, go wider in the city or off-road, and co-ordinate with the infra-red Night Vision system to highlight hazards. That’s all more or less familiar gear. The central touchscreen-based controls worked well for us, and replaces a great many physical switches, helping clean up the cabin. Not a catch as such, but don’t assume that all of the gear mentioned above will be standard on the three trim levels coming to the UK (SEL, R-Line and R-Line Tech). Prices and spec details will be revealed in June, when the car goes on sale in the UK. Prices are expected to start at around £49,000 for the less powerful diesel V6 in SEL spec. But what we do know for a fact is that the new Touareg is good to drive. It benefits from the optional four-wheel steering, which moves the rear wheels a little in order to give an impressively tight turning circle at low speeds and to aid stability at high speeds. Very little noise reaches the cabin, allowing you to make good use of the fine audio system.

Switch between Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport and you get different levels of plushness and dynamism, with new anti-roll bars helping keep the car stable. We tried it on motorways, in town, up twisty mountain roads and on some gravel tracks. It was composed, responsive and agile for something of its size. Does the VW Touareg have a third row of seats? No, it does not. This is a five-seater only, not a seven-seater. Much of the original Touareg’s appeal was that it was low-key for such a big car, and that it had much more off-road ability than its big-Passat looks implied. The new one has too bold a grille to be thought of as low key, although the overall design remains pleasingly simple and elegant. The interior is if anything a little too grown-up - it could do with some of the cheeriness of the T-Roc and Polo. It’s a successful evolution of a big-selling car.