Volkswagen Touareg Estate 2003 - Present

The Touareg was launched in 2003 and opened up another new niche in the UK car market. Offering a classy comfortable car with good four-wheel drive ability. The Touareg project is a joint development with Porsche, sharing much of their off-road hardware and a V6 petrol engine. Volkswagen however, has a rich diesel heritage, and the Touareg fitted with one of these engines offers the best illustration of what it can do, whether it's the hard-working 2.5 TDI, smooth 3.0 V6 TDI or the brutal 5.0 V10 TDI. All of the engine options bring plenty to the table.

The big outside obviously affords quite a bit of room on the inside. The finish inside is of the highest quality and makes the Touareg a good place to be. The ride is set up to offer great off road driving so there is little that the road can throw up that gives it any trouble. Both road and engine noise is well muted when driving.

Engine options work well from the bottom up. The entry level 3.2 V6 petrol engine offers sub ten seconds 0 - 60 and top end of 124 mph, all at a wallet crunching 20mpg. The 3.6 V6 weighs in with 8.4 and 133 mph at the top end, for the same fuel figures. The 4.2 is faster still at 7.8 and 135 mph, but with an eye watering 19 mpg. The diesel options come in with the 2.5 TDI which can get to 60 mph in 12 seconds and tops out at 114. The 3.0 V6 goes 0 - 60 in 9.6 seconds and tops out at 125 mph, but can only boast 25 mpg. The monster 5.0 V10 is only slightly worse with 22 mpg but is at least pretty quick with 6.5 seconds and 140 mph to boast about.

The Touareg provides a good blend of comfort, grip and off-road ability. All models come with permanent four-wheel drive and offer exceptional levels of traction in all conditions. There is a low-range mode for tricky off-road conditions, and some models have air suspension offering the ability to raise the suspension for increased ground clearance if required. The Touareg drives exceptionally well on the road, with good body control in corners and excellent ride comfort. For a car of it's size the lack of body roll is incredidle. It's a shame the steering doesn't offer any more feel, but the Touareg is very much designed with ease of use in mind rather than a 'sporty' 4x4 like the BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne. The brakes provide first class stopping power.

The Touareg does exactly what it sets out to do, to offer refinement and comfort in all weather and conditions.

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