The Volkswagen Touareg TDi – Power Meets Efficiency

.

.

Engineering reports ready for launch. Thrusters ready; separating from space dock. Set course for the Belum Forest Reserve….

.

If you’re like me (as well as virtually everyone I know) who’ve recently paid a visit to the cinema and caught the latest Star Trek movie, you’d be more than a little awed by the show. Those were the thoughts in my head as I fired up the engine & slowly crawled out of the parking lot in the VW Touareg 3.0litre turbo diesel SUV. It’s the largest vehicle I’ve driven to date and weighing almost 2.2 tonnes, it might as well be a starship that’s being piloted.

.

And for such a vehicle, nothing short of a spectacular drive would do any justice to it which is why I shall attempt, for the first time all by myself to travel over 800km with nothing more than the imaginary crew I have in my head to keep me company. To boldly go where I’ve never gone before. And what an unforgettable experience it was ….

.

.

Design

.

 

.

.

With revised front that does away with a Passat-like headlight that looks like someone pulling the lower lid of his eye, the new Touareg sports cleaner front lines running from the edge of the headlights towards a narrow corporate grille. Pretty much anything Volkswagen nowadays looks like this in the front end (except probably the Beetle). It has a more “you-don’t-wanna-mess-with-me” kind of look compared to it’s predecessor, with the size to back its ominous presence on the road. The only thing that I don’t quite like with the front end is that from far, you can’t really distinguish a VW Tiguan from this far more expensive model. I mean, if I had paid a limb for this car, I’d want to stand out from the rest of the VW family. Probably attaching said limb on the bonnet might do the trick.

.

 .

Measuring 4,795mm in length, 1,940mm in width and 1,709mm in height, I might as well be driving a starship in the streets of Malaysia with that kind of bulk. Being taller than almost everyone else on the roads also helps in intimidating …. I mean, NOT being intimidated by other hooligans on the roads. Being big also means having more difficulty in parking …. or so one may think. Thanks to some clever technologies, parking this Giant has never been easier. More on this later.

.

.

Inertia dampeners …. that’s brakes for you, being covered by 265/50 R19 wheels provides ample stopping power for the 2.15 tonne behemoth.

.

.

As the Enterprise had twin nacelles, the Touareg has twin tail pipes that leaves a trail of smoke whenever you gun the pedal to warp speed.

.

.

Being as tall as this SUV is, its twin ‘L’ tail lights, similar to the Mk VII Golf illuminates the rear pretty much light a lighthouse.

.

.

Captain, the sign ahead suggests indigenous lifeforms that might pose a threat to us. Pinging them would be …. unwise.

.

.

Performance

.

.

At the heart of the Touareg TDi is a technological wonder that’ll do Scotty proud. The first (and currently the only) diesel-powered Volkswagen model to be sold here in Malaysia, the Touareg 3.0litre V6 engine pumps 245HP between 3,800 – 4,400rpm and an earth-moving 550Nm worth of torque from 1,750rpm onwards. With such ample power, naught to a hundred kilometer per hour takes only 7.6 seconds and if you ask Scotty to give-it-all-it’s-got, you’ll get to a maximum warp speed of 220kph. And should you ever find yourself needing to function as a tow truck, you’ll be glad to know that the Touareg TDi is capable of hauling 3,493kg with little difficulty.

.

It also has launch control and trust me, the thrust of 550Nm is not much different from jumping into warp 8 from standstill.

.

.

What? No DSG? Yup, dual clutch gear system is omitted here. Instead, the HDi gets an 8-speed automatic gearbox that does smooth shifting almost as good as a DSG, minus the low-speed related jerks.

.

.

Punch it …. I mean, press it to fire up the vehicle’s core.

.

.

Ride and Handling

.

So it’s got power but does it handle as bad as the Enterprise trying to avoid space debris (and probably taking half a planet distance to make a full turn). The good news is, nope. Despite its size, the Touareg drives like any other car, fast, agile and nimble. There is very little body roll and this is a well appreciated feature when negotiating the curvy and often times, not-so-perfect roads of the old trunk road heading towards Kelantan. I didn’t have a chance to push the SUV to its limits but in those moments when high speed evasive maneuver was required, the Touareg weaves port and starboard as able as any Volkswagen. Not surprising to find it being so stable since it has 4MOTION, VW’s permanent all-wheel-drive system which kinda makes drifting rather redundant … which is quite a dumb thing to do anyway for an SUV. Minimal body roll is testimony of the stiff-ish suspension found on it.

.

Which then takes some points off its ride comfort. Those sitting behind will find their butts ever so often jump off their seats when going through uneven roads of bumps …. which is really a shame because for all that you paid for this car, and for its seemingly multi-functional role, rear occupant comfort seems to be secondary in the Malaysian spec HDi. Other markets can specify an option to have the pneumatic air suspension which, at the turn of the dial adjusts the ride height and the dampening of the suspension. Sadly, ours have one setting – and in my books, that’s above normal setting and slightly below sports in those VWs equipped with Adaptive Chassis Control (DCC). In a supposedly multi-terrain earth conquering vehicle, having just one standard suspension setting seems woefully inadequate.

.

There is a faint diesel clatter that can be heard. It’s softer than the Evoque (the BMW diesel powered F30 still sounds the worse for a non-truck vehicle) and is non-intrusive. Most of the time, you don’t realise you’re driving an oil-burner until it’s time to fill up or when you floor it. Opt for the later and you’ll find greater degree of smokes coming from the tailpipes …. your very own warp trail. I don’t suppose we’ll see this in other countries so it might just be our diesel quality.

.

If you do feel like going to somewhere where no man has gone before, turning the knob found at the center console from ON ROAD to OFF ROAD would result in a change of the vehicle’s 4MOTION system, increasing traction under shifting terrain. Why can’t god give us something equivalent to better traverse shifting mood swings of females, I wonder.

.

.

Cabin Convenience

.

.

Everything is as Volkswagen can be: top-notch build quality, lots of soft plastics, ergonomics designed as clinically functional as possible.

.

.

Helmsmen would love the steering wheel (although in the future, you don’t really have a wheel to steer a ship. They have some super-sized iPad to press on to get to where you want to). Meaty and deliciously grippy with leather, the wheel is electronically tilt and reach adjustable. Instead of a lever to adjust the steering, you get a knob similar to how some electric seats are and pushing it towards you/away from you or upwards/downwards moves it to your desired position.

.

.

All the important read outs are there …. just that I kinda wished there was a bit more flair in its rather monotonous design.

.

.

The beam controls are somewhat different with the OFF at the 12 o’clock position (similar to the Golf Mk VII) and the front as well as rear fog light controls are now buttons instead of the usual pull-the-knob-towards-you to activate them.

.

.

Ships don’t need remotes …. and if they do, them remotes still needs to be charged. Here’s the slot to do just that located on the left side of the steering.

.

.

In the center of the dashboard is where you’d put your parking stuffs such as Smart Tags, keys, access cards … or it’s a handy place to just dump receipts for work claims later.

.

.

I’ll be monitoring your frequency

.

The largest VW also comes with the most advance head unit system; the RNS 850. It’s an 8″ 800×480 resolution full color touchscreen, a 80GB in-build storage HDD with the capacity to accept up to 32GB SD card. It even talks to you and carries out your commands according to what you tell it (like in the Ford system). Just don’t start your conversations with it with “Computer, ….”. It has no name and prefers not to have one.

.

.

You can access all sorts of controls such as life support system …. I mean, air conditioning system. Which is pretty much life support in our weather nowadays.

.

.

Open hailing frequencies

.

I was mistaken. I had thought that the Golf Mk VII is the first VW sold here with on board Bluetooth. I was wrong as the Touareg was launched earlier and has similar capabilities. And, like all Bluetooth enabled VW, it has a voice command system where you can tell the car to access various media/navigation controls. Alas, it does not recognize any sentence that starts with “Lay a course for ….”

.

.

On screen!

Among the myriad communications systems you have …. plonking a TV tuner is also possible.

.

.

The 4-camera ‘Area View’ never fails to wow occupants. We hear so much of parents being unaware their children hiding behind the car when reversing so is an extremely valuable feature in ensuring the safety of your family when moving the Touareg. Moving between other vessels on the road is so much cooler with this.

.

.

Aside from that, various parking aids are found incorporated to the reverse camera. You can opt for parallel or side parking and the reverse line changes. It also offers split view when backing between tall objects to better see pedestrians/vehicles who are otherwise hidden from the driver.

.

.

Course laid in!

With on board navigation, you’re free to explore anywhere you wish. The gradient displayed on the map is accurate and moving between valleys is like driving on someone’s molar teeth if you were shrunk to microscopic size.

.

.

The digital read out is neat and all the functions are pretty easy to adapt and learn.

.

.

Notice there’s the ON ROAD and OFF ROAD knob on the right and a hole on the left. I’m guessing that hole is where the controls are for the air suspension system if it came with that specification.

.

.

The center console compartment is huge and deep and with split folding arm rest ensures your front passenger would not be disturbed if you need to reach into the compartment.

.

.

In case you didn’t notice, the CD slot (as well as other ports) is not on the headunit. Instead, it’s hidden in the glove compartment which drops down after pulling a small tag.

.

.

Because single or twin square illuminators are too main stream: I’ve got you squared.

.

.

Give me this any time over the Enterprise captain’s chair. 14-way adjustment electric seats with memory function for both the pilot and co-pilot. Makes the chair found in the Enterprise look like it’s being sourced from Ikea.

.

.

Ample rear legroom space. If not for the suspension, the back is a very nice place to be in.

.

.

And you’ll never run out of juice for your electronic devices with the 12V power socket found in the center.

.

.

Too much radiation from the sun? Shades at the sides shields you from harmful UV.

.

.

And in the case where there is too little sun for you, take advantage of the full panoramic tilt/slide glass sunroof found over your head.

.

.

You can stuff 580litres worth of cargo behind.

.

.

If you’re planning to stuff a Federation space shuttle inside, a simple flick of the switches found on the left side will expand the space to 1,642litres.

.

.

Space saver tire, as large as our sedan’s conventional tires.

.

.

Safety

.

Being one of the most expensive VW sold here, you can be assured that the Touareg TDi will have a load of features to keep you safe in the event you warp yourself into a dire situation:-

.

• 3-point front seat belts with height adjustment and seat belt tensioner
• ‘Keyless Access’ locking system with push-start button
• 4-camera ‘Area View’ System
• Curtain airbag system for front and rear passenger airbag deactivation
• Side airbags (total 6 airbags)
• Electronic differential lock (EDL)
• ABS
• ESP
• Traction control system TCS
• Regenerative braking system
• Park Distance control PDC for front and rear
• Electronic vehicle immobilisation device
• ‘Rest Assist’ drowsiness detection system
• 4MOTION permanent all-wheel drive
• LED Daytime Running Lights DRL
• ISOFIX for child occupants

.

.

Specifications

.

Exterior

• 4 ‘Everest’ alloy wheels 8.5J x 19″, tyres 265/50 R19
• Bi-xenon headlamps for low beam and high beam, including bending light
• Headlight washer system
• Silver anodised roof rails

.

Interior

• 3-spoke leather multi-function steering  wheel with paddle shift control
• Automatic headlight activation, with ‘Coming Home’ and ‘Leaving Home’ function
• ‘Black Piano Lacquer’ decorative inserts for dashboard door trim panels and centre console
• ‘Climatronic’ air conditioning system with 2-zone temperature control
• Cruise control
• Electronic panoramic tilt/slide glass sunroof
• Front seats with electric 14-way adjustment, memory function for driver’s and front passenger seat
• Interior rear view mirror with automatically dimming function
• Mobile device interface MEDIA-IN with iPod/iPhone adapter cable
• ‘RNS 850’ radio/navigation system
• Roll-up sun screen for rear window glasses
• Seat upholstery in ‘Vienna’ leather
• Steering column with electric height and longitudinal adjustment and memory function
• Sun visors with illuminated vanity mirrors

.

.

Ownership and maintenance cost

.

For a sum of RM491,735.20 on-the-road excluding insurance, the Touareg TDi comes with a 5 year warranty. Service interval is once every 15,000km.

.

.

As for the fuel consumption, VW claims the Touareg TDi manages with 7.2litres per 100km in a combined urban and extra-urban driving. I did over 1,000km per full tank of 85litres after taking it up north and back. Not quite the numbers promised by VW but not that shabby either. Some might wonder why would a buyer who can afford the price of a condo in this vehicle be concerned about how much money it saves with each tankful. Well, as rich as they may be, they’d still need to stop for fuel eventually …. being saved the hassle of doing the mundane task of filling up regularly has got to worth something.

.

It may not have the full spec sheet as other countries but for VGM to do that, it’s price will probably rocket to the moon and considering for the amount of money you’re paying, the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes ML350 are all worthy alternatives while the Porsche Cayanne is also not that far out of reach depending on specifications. All of the above carry the luxury branding far more than VW so is it still a worthwhile purchase?

.

I’d say yes if you’re into 4×4. From its commanding sitting position, extraordinary range per tank and other technological gadgetry, it represents a good option for buyers of this segment. No doubt the Touareg lose out on the fact that SUVs like the Q7 comes with 2 additional rear seats but it means little for the young family of 2 or 4. It may not handle as sharply as the X5 nor as comfortable as the ML350 but instead strikes a middle ground between them. In that, don’t be too quick to rule out this ‘semi-luxury’ offering. Give it a try with an open mind. After all, it’s not the first time an underdog has won in a heavy weight fight …. there is no such thing as a no-win scenario, said a certain captain of a famous star ship.

.

.

.