Volkswagen has been knocking on the door of established luxury European brands for
several years now, and it's hard to think of a better demonstration of that than the
Touareg that launched in 2019. Well, now this five-seat German SUV is pushing its luxury ways
even higher with the introduction of V8 diesel power. Let's check it out.
The German trio of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz weren't just put on
notice when the third generation Touareg arrived in Australia. In many respects, they were trumped
by a sophisticated tech laden SUV sporting all the Euro bells and whistles for a more attainable
price. Now, Volkswagen has taken that theme and run with it, introducing the V8 TDI flagship.
A $26,000 premium of the equivalent flagship V6 Touareg, the V8 TDI is the most expensive model
in Volkswagen's Australian line up. However, it undercuts the Audi SQ7 by nearly $25,000
and the Porsche Cayenne GTS by almost $60,000 despite sharing the same basic four-litre twin
turbo V8 engine. The circa $140,000 purchase price in effect gets you a burger with the lot.
Ticking all the usual optional packages as standard, including a mammoth 15-inch center
display and digital instrument cluster, four zone climate control and heated seating throughout.
Then there's what's underneath the bonnet, a 320 kilowatt, 900 Newton-meter twin turbo diesel V8.
You know that old line there's no replacement for displacement? Well, from a refinement and ease of
use point of view, that really does ring true with the V8 powered Touareg. Not only are you getting
that 900 Newton meters of torque from 1750 rpm, you're getting a naught-100 time of 4.9 seconds
and you're getting a drive train that is just so rich in the way that it delivers its power,
so seamless, there is no hesitation, there is no lurching as you pull away from stop signs
or through roundabouts. There's just power there, exactly where you want it. Building speed is just
effortless, as you can imagine, you barely need to breathe on the accelerator to get to a round
town speed or to boot up to highway kinds of speeds as well. And on the road, it just simply
wafts along. It is a really nice drive train, and it's an inherently efficient one as well.
The Volkswagen Touareg V8 TDI foregoes the electric compressor and 48 volt
system used in the Audi SQ7. Yet, it isn't really wanting for speed. Air suspension,
four-wheel steering and an electro-mechanical active role stabilisation system
ensure the V8 Touareg isn't simply a straight line specialist either.
Now, at 2.4 tonnes, there is some obvious weight to get your head around with the Touareg,
but it telegraphs its movements really well with
precise and nicely weighted steering and decent body control through the bend.
With all of that said, the real calling card for the V8 Touareg is touring. It simply wafts along,
it shakes off bumps really nicely despite those big alloy wheels, and even harsher
imperfections. They do niggle through the cabin, but there's never any crashing or thudding,
meaning that this car does retain its refinement and its composure at all times.
Speaking of open road touring, it's surprisingly efficient despite those eight thumping cylinders
as well. We've managed to achieve the 7.5 litre per 100K climb with no real fuss in open
road scenarios. In fact, in highway driving, we managed to get into the sixes. That's pretty good.
The V8 Touareg justifies its premium with the inclusion of myriad safety systems,
including a night vision assistant. And unlike twin under the skin offerings from Audi,
Porsche or even Bentley, the Touareg boasts a five-year warranty.
All told, the Volkswagen Touareg V8 TDI does elevate the German car
maker's five-seat SUV to new heights. At just under 140K,
it's not particularly cheap, but when you're playing at this end of the field,
that's really par for the course. If this really is the end of the line for the V8
diesel within Volkswagen's line-up, all I can say is whatever replaces it ought to be bloody good.