The Perfect Balance
The new Touareg is something that will be with you all the way, from the narrow corners of the city to the rugged open spaces of the interiors

The concept of SUV or Sports Utility Vehicle became popular due to it being roomier and more comfortable without taking away from performance. This SUV idea consists of a blend of practicality and performance, which is really brought out in the Touareg.

What’s New
The new Touareg at first glance appears to be an extension of the old one but there are a few significant changes. The most important being the introduction of the FSI injection technology in all its petrol engines This has led to an increase of 40hp in both the 3.2L V6 and the 4.2L V8 engines (giving a total of 280hp and 350hp, respectively).

There has been an addition of curves to the headlights along with slight changes to the brake lamps, which indeed complement the vehicle. These changes were particularly welcome since the old models had been fairly plain and unfortunately, a bit too simple for such a refined machine.

Driving Impression
We drove the 3.2L V6 for this test. Our expectations of a V6 were more than met on our first drive. On road, the V6 showed impressive power. It’s power band continued at speeds much after 120kmph, which is usually the characteristic of V8s. The summary of the acceleration over a long stretch would be: “smooth and consistent”. In turns, the Touareg took on a different form. The suspension overall gave a very soft and smooth response. This, however, may take some getting used to, as the car has way more control than what appears to be. The gearbox comes in 6 speed tiptronic. The tiptronic performed well in full acceleration, but the initial gear shift is slow for spontaneous reactions. Considering the size of the Touareg, this fact can be easily looked over. The option of the sports mode is great. It runs completely in automatic, while keeping the car considerably in a lower gear. This low gear driving assists speedy pick-up and has its applications on off-road driving as well.

The introduction of the ABS ‘plus’ has improved the braking system which has been particularly designed for off-road vehicles. This results in shorter braking distances on off-road by up to 20 per cent. This could be an important change since all the ABS systems in general, have a negative effect on sandy surfaces.

The Interior
At first look, the interior is still the same with good spacing between the buttons throughout the dashboard. The steering wheel has more than its share of buttons, though this fact is subjective to the drivers’ taste. The ignition is placed in an appropriate position, by being higher. This makes sure that the key avoids contact with the knee but it stands out awkwardly and is prone to being hit by random hand movement.

The audio system displayed the performance of an expensive aftermarket system, with deep bass and clear tone. However for the watt hungry, there is an option of the 600 watt Dynaudio sound system.

The Touareg comes standard with cruise control, but as an optional extra has the Automatic Distance Control (ACC). The ACC assists the driver by automatically keeping space between the car ahead and itself. For example, on the road when a car in front brakes or reduces speed, the ACC would automatically apply the brakes and if necessary, bring the car to a halt. The drawback observed with the cruise control system is that the minimum increment to the cruising speed is 10kmph, which leaves less room for fine adjustments.

Technology Notes
In particular, we noted a very impressive accessory. Along with the spare wheel, there comes a small sized electronic air compressor. This is capable of filling air in any tyre by connecting its plug points to the battery. This feature can be a blessing in off-road situations.

The Touareg also has a line of very refined diesel engines, with the benchmark for all being the V10 TDI. It is ‘one of the most powerful diesel engines fitted in a series passenger car’. With torque being a whopping 550lbs.ft, it does 0-100kmph in only 7.4 seconds.

The Touareg, in all its means, displayed miles of practicality by being a rugged off road vehicle. This is topped by the luxury and performance that it has to offer. There are two main judging criteria for every SUV, on-road and off-road. These two usually complement each other since boosting one adversely affects the other. As a footnote for the Touareg, both on-road and off-road performance are outstanding. This vehicle is something that will be with you all the way, from the narrow corners of the city to the rugged open spaces of the interiors. The Touareg has more than enough excitement to offer, while giving that everyday reliable performance which is very difficult to find.

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