Touareg

[Powerdoc]

I was in holidays in Tignes, and i had the chance to go in the international outroad car event in Val D'Isere. I have tried to car : the Volvo X90 and the New Touareg from VW.

I did drive the Volvo, but not the Touareg, where there was a specialized pilot. The potential of the Touareg outroad is nothing less than impressive. We tried the new r5Tid which is an half V10 : 174 hP, And 400 nm torque at 2000 rpm. The test was conduct in mountain and the result great.

Here is the link : http://www.volkswagen.fr/touareg/

I definitevely think that this is a best buy than a Mercedes ML or a BMW X 5 that are not really competitive outroad (lack of speed reductor, no differential ...).

May be in three years, i would consider it as my new car.

[Paul]

I like the G-class better then the M series...

The VW does look promising tho... too bad its a pain in the ass to pronounce...

[Powerdoc]

Originally posted by Paul
I like the G-class better then the M series...

The VW does look promising tho... too bad its a pain in the ass to pronounce...

A touareg is a man of the desert, he wears blues clothes and the male hide his face at the contrary of women : it's unique in all the arab world.
Pronounce it : Two a reg.

The class G is better outroad undoubtely, but the Touareg is both good on road and outroad, and it's luxuous inside : for the moment there is no competitor for this type of car (Perhaps the Porche Cayenne, but they built the car in common for the most parts).

[Scott]

My understanding is that the Touarreg is the VW version of the Porche.


But you know it's just another SUV that some idiot can buy so he can dodge all the potholes like everyone else.

[Willoughby]

The Touareg is a sweet ride. I test drove one here in the US the other day. However, it is way over priced for what you get. The Infiniti FX35 offers more for less money.

Yes, the Touareg is pretty close to the Porsche SUV. VW owns them so you'd think they'd be a close match.

[Powerdoc]

Originally posted by Willoughby
The Touareg is a sweet ride. I test drove one here in the US the other day. However, it is way over priced for what you get. The Infiniti FX35 offers more for less money.

Yes, the Touareg is pretty close to the Porsche SUV. VW owns them so you'd think they'd be a close match.

VW do not owns Porche. Porsche is one of the few small indepedant car makers. VW and Porsche make a new platform in common : the Cayenne for Porche and the Touareg for VW : the differenciation come only from the inside features and for the motors.

A touareg or a Cayenne is not a stupid SUV : they are really fine for outroad, at the contrary of X5, volvo XC 90 ...But unlike specialised car like Land rover Defender, you can enjoy it on regular road.

[ColanderOfDeath]

SUVs are way overrated for offroading. Buy a 4WD pickup, get it raised and throw in an ATV too and it won't cost anymore than these overpriced SUVs and will be far more useful. Besides, as Scott said, 99.98% of the world is just driving these things to ****in work, not trying drive narrow gauge logging roads with 30% grades. People buy SUVs for the image, not for function.

[CaseCom]

Unfortunately the U.S. Touareg offers only an underpowered 220hp V6 or a gas-hog 310hp V8. And the V8 starts at $40k.

http://www.vw.com/touareg/

Apparently it is very capable off-road, but how many serious off-roaders would go with a $40k VW?

[billybobsky]

Originally posted by Scott
My understanding is that the Touarreg is the VW version of the Porche.

that is ironic. the vw is a porche (well at least 70 years ago it was)...

[Willoughby]

Originally posted by Powerdoc
VW do not owns Porche. Porsche is one of the few small indepedant car makers. VW and Porsche make a new platform in common : the Cayenne for Porche and the Touareg for VW : the differenciation come only from the inside features and for the motors.

Oh, so they only worked with Porsche? Woops, my mistake. They do own Audi though, right?

[Eugene]

Originally posted by Willoughby
Oh, so they only worked with Porsche? Woops, my mistake. They do own Audi though, right?

It's hard to say if VW owns Porsche or not. Officially they don't, but the Piech family who owns VW also bought Porsche in the 1970s. The Piech family is branched off the original Porsche family tree however, so it's really hard to say who owns who. VW is obviously the much larger company of the two.

[Scott]

Originally posted by ColanderOfDeath
...

Besides, as Scott said, 99.98% of the world is just driving these things to ****in work, not trying drive narrow gauge logging roads with 30% grades. People buy SUVs for the image, not for function.

My wife and I laugh at people we call "SUV Pussies". People who drive SUVs in the city .... then swerve wildly to miss every pothole, manhole and rough patch of asphalt.

[filmmaker2002]

Originally posted by CaseCom
Unfortunately the U.S. Touareg offers only an underpowered 220hp V6 or a gas-hog 310hp V8. And the V8 starts at $40k.

Apparently it is very capable off-road, but how many serious off-roaders would go with a $40k VW?

Thinkin the same thing myself. That and who would take a PORSCHE off roading!? You lay down 60 grand on a car only to beat the hell out of it driving in the hills. Get a dodge or ford pickup if you wanna do that.

[GardenOfEarthlyDelights]

Originally posted by Eugene
It's hard to say if VW owns Porsche or not. Officially they don't, but the Piech family who owns VW also bought Porsche in the 1970s. The Piech family is branched off the original Porsche family tree however, so it's really hard to say who owns who. VW is obviously the much larger company of the two.

The Piech family doesn't own VW. Actually, the state (Neidersachsen?) owns a big chunk of VW, and may get in trouble from the EU because of it.

Piech was the previous CEO of Porsche. He came there from Audi. He was at Audi after a career at Porsche (think: 917 race car) because his uncle, Ferdinand Porsche, decided that no family member will be CEO of Porsche. So the cousins took off.

The Touareg and Cayenne were co-developed by Porsche and VW. They share the same chassis, although the implementation is obviously different.

My friend Sue had her Cayenne out on the race track last month at Waterford Hills in the Detroit area. I can't imagine any other SUV getting flogged around on a race track outside the Cayenne and maybe an X5. The Cayenne, while ugly, is a nice, expensive all-around vehicle. However, if I wanted an SUV, I'd get a Touareg with its more power engine. For the price of a Cayenne, I'd rather get a Carrera 4S.

[Escher]

Originally posted by Powerdoc
I was in holidays in Tignes, and i had the chance to go in the international outroad car event in Val D'Isere.

Ah, Powerdoc, Val d'Isère! What a perfect spot (and event) to test-drive fancy (and not-so-fancy) 4x4 vehicles. I was there a few years ago with my Land Rover-crazy cousin from Lyon. (He drives a restored Series IIA. His father/my uncle decided to get the a disel-powered M-Class Mercedes after not liking the diesel in the Range Rover we tested.) We test-drove a whole bunch of cars, and had a lot of fun.

About the Touareg: I'm glad to see VW also offer it with a smaller diesel in the French market. The V10 TDi is obviously nice, but not cheap. From what I hear, it will be available in the US in early 2004.

About Touareg pricing: US residents should compare US pricing to Euro pricing and consider themselves lucky bastards. VW is obviously trying hard to break into the US luxury market and pricing the Touareg very attractively. US price is significantly lower than the European price. Only downside is that you can't get the nice 5-cylinder diesel that Powerdoc described in the US.

Escher

[CaseCom]

Originally posted by Escher
About the Touareg: I'm glad to see VW also offer it with a smaller diesel in the French market. The V10 TDi is obviously nice, but not cheap. From what I hear, it will be available in the US in early 2004.

About Touareg pricing: US residents should compare US pricing to Euro pricing and consider themselves lucky bastards. VW is obviously trying hard to break into the US luxury market and pricing the Touareg very attractively. US price is significantly lower than the European price. Only downside is that you can't get the nice 5-cylinder diesel that Powerdoc described in the US.

Escher

I don't doubt that what you say about Euro vs. U.S. pricing is true, but here in the States VW is coming in late to the luxo SUV game, going up against established competitors like Lexus, Infiniti and Acura (the MDX is very popular here) as well as BMW and Volvo.

The V6 is priced competitvely, but since the car weighs 5,200 pounds, 400 pounds more than a Volvo XC90, performance suffers. With the V8, that pricing edge is gone. The off-road ability is great, but that's not what most luxury SUV buyers in the U.S. are looking for.

The V10 TDI sounds nice, but right now most U.S. buyers will not consider a diesel. Maybe five years from now it'll be a different story.

Touareg = Nice car that won't sell.

[kraig911]

i went with a friend to test drive one, however it wasn't working so we had to have the dealership 'reboot' it still not as good as a inline 6 jeep in terms of climbing I hear, but eh who cares.

[Scott]

Originally posted by kraig911
i went with a friend to test drive one, however it wasn't working so we had to have the dealership 'reboot' it still not as good as a inline 6 jeep in terms of climbing I hear, but eh who cares.

Climbing what? An off ramp?

[Spart]

Naw. The Touareg is actually pretty capable off-road when stacked up against other SUVs. I think that it has a hydraulic lift suspension or some such for off-road...tis nice to have a decently handling road warrior convert to a decent off road vehicle with the push of a switch - instantly more ground clearance than an H2.

It's a little big for my tastes -- I prefer something more nimble.

Anyone here ever followed Four Wheeler magazine for a span of time? In their annual competition, they had this completely custom made piece of amphibious green crap called the Scorpion MK1. They almost drove that thing over a 6' tall ramp, all wheels on the ground (got to 5'5" I believe. The rear tire was going to hit the ramp, which is at like a 40 degree incline or so, before one of the wheels popped off of the ground.

Yeah, that'd be nice.

[Scott]

That would do very well on an off ramp

[DoctorGonzo]

*waits for the OMGSOBIIIG SUV craze to pass*