2005 Volkswagen Touareg Preview

2005 Volkswagen Touareg V-8

You can drive it anywhere. But do you need a SUV that can cross the Sahara?

From The Driver's Seat

It isn't surprising that you might fall in love with a Touareg. Climbing aboard, there's the heavy feel of optional milk-chocolate-colored Teak leather that had several female passengers cooing at the vehicle's "Jaguarness." Interesting.

Meanwhile, there was also the upgraded 12-channel, 11-speaker audio system and exceptionally sharp, bi-xenon headlamps that light up any road at night. At all times, the very smooth air suspension (with comfort, auto and sport settings) blazes an even course over even rutted and potholed Northeastern byways. Meanwhile, all passengers control their climatic destiny via four-zone climate control. Unfortunately, all of these amenities add $8,500 to the bottom line, and after all was said and done, this $40,000 SUV suddenly stickered for $51,965.

Stomaching such a penalty for luxury amenities is pretty tough, especially when we found fault with a few of them. The clearcoat on the bird's-eye maple trim had vertical cracks in it in the stretches that ran across the dash and doors. It's true that press fleet vehicles get worked over more, and that there's less time to get such obvious defects, which have no mechanical bearing on the car's function, repaired. But it would most certainly be a headache if this was your Touareg with suddenly cracking trim and you had to face getting it all fixed.

Another broken bit was the rear armrest, which would no longer close thanks to cupholders stuck in the extended position. Likewise, the electronic key fob release for the rear hatch didn't work either.

Even if you chalk up such annoyances to overzealous car reviewers working a test vehicle too hard (it has been known to happen), there are some objective measures where the Touareg comes up shy.

Because of all its splendid off-roading gear, this is one portly vehicle, tipping the scales to groaning at 5,412 pounds. So even though the V-8 develops 302 foot-pounds of torque, that twist isn't generated until 3,000 rpm. Pragmatically speaking, that makes passing power less immediate than you'd expect from a 310-hp V-8. Manually kick down the six-speed gearbox to third at 45 mph and try to pass another car; you have to wait a good heartbeat or two before the Touareg finally jumps forward. It makes a lot of butch thunder in the process, and in general the acceleration is strong, just not as strong as you'd hope, especially since you have to pay a serious penalty at the pump for this heavy truck (mileage is 14 city, 18 highway).

On the bright side, we stuck two, 6-foot-3 passengers in back on the way to a party, and they had ample knee- and headroom. That's pretty impressive, given this vehicle's very truck-like ground clearance.

We also like the handling of the Touareg, which can be plenty firm in sport mode but is never unpleasant or punishing. This level of refinement can also be found in the XC90 and MDX, by the way, but the sporty edge is missing from those two competitors.