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The 'Volkswagen Touareg' is a mid-size luxury SUV produced by German automaker Volkswagen since 2003. It was the second utility vehicle from the automaker, after the much older Volkswagen Thing.

Contents

Development

Feature highlights

Engines

2006 and 2007 models

Environmental and health concerns

Awards

The Touareg in motorsport

The name

References

External links

Development

The Touareg was a joint project developed by Volkswagen and Porsche, who was also looking to add a luxury SUV to their lineup, as a cost-sharing initiative. The goal was to create an off-road vehicle that could handle as a sports car. The team, with over 300 people, was lead by Klaus-Gerhard Wolpert and was based in Weissach im Tal, Germany. The result of the joint project is that the Porsche Cayenne shares the Touareg's Volkswagen 7L platform, although there are numerous styling, equipment and technical differences between the two vehicles.
The Volkswagen Touareg is built in Bratislava, Slovakia. The manufacturing plant shares production with Touareg-cousins Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. Due to the demand, and the exchange rates of euros against the dollar, as well as different pricing and environmental policies in the USA, the V6 and V8 variants make up most of Volkswagen's American Touareg offering. However, a limited number of the V10 diesel were available in the 2004 model year (before being pulled for environmental reasons). They were brought back to the United States for the 2006 and 2007 model years. As a result of their rarity and options, the V10 model's sticker price often exceeded $60,000.

Feature highlights

The Touareg comes standard with all-wheel drive, an automatic progressively locking center differential (with manual override) and a "low range" setting that can be activated with in-cabin controls. Options to make the vehicles more capable off-road include an available air suspension system which can raise the car's ride height on command and an interior switch allowing the rear differential to be manually locked. At maximum ride height, the air suspension system gives 10.7 in of ground clearance.

Engines

The following engines were or are available:

★ 3.2 L 240 PS (177 kW, 236 hp) gasoline V6

★ 3.6 L 280 PS (206 kW, 276 hp) gasoline V6

★ 4.2 L 310 PS (228 kW, 305 hp) gasoline V8

★ 4.2 L 340 PS (257 kW, 340 hp) gasoline V8

★ 6.0 L 450 hp (331 kW) gasoline W12, 599 N·m (442 ft·lbf)

★ 2.5 L 174 PS (128 kW, 172 hp) diesel I5/R5

★ 3.0 L 225 PS (165 kW, 225 hp) diesel V6, 500 N·m (369 ft·lbf)

★ 5.0 L 313 PS (230 kW, 308 hp) diesel V10, 750 N·m (550 ft·lbf)
No other passenger car has ever hosted such a range of cylinder counts in standard engines. The 5.0L Single overhead camshaft, 20 valve V10 diesel engine pushes the Touareg from 0–62 mph (100 km/h) in 7.8 seconds, and on to 143 mph (230 km/h) maximum. The diesel V10 was offered in the United States for a limited time in 2004, but emissions regulations forced it off the market for a temporary period. Volkswagen fixed these issues, and the V10 returned to the US lineup late in 2006 as a 2007 model year vehicle in 45 states and a 2006 model year vehicle in 5 states. It was the only U.S. market Volkswagen diesel available for the 2007 model year.
The W12 version was a limited-edition model, with just 500 units produced; around 330 were slated for sale in Saudi Arabia, with the remainder sold in Europe. No sales in the United States were made. It was estimated to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.9 seconds.^[1]

2006 and 2007 models

The Touareg's first facelift was unveiled at the 2006 Paris Motor Show. It now features the shield grille from other Volkswagen vehicles. The updated Touareg has more than 2300 redesigned parts and boasts some new technological features:

★ ABS Plus, which works in conjunction with the traction control system and shortens the braking distance by up to 20% on loose surfaces.

★ Front Scan, an adaptive cruise control system, which can slow or even stop the car depending on traffic conditions.

★ Side Scan, a blind-spot warning system: it uses radar at the rear of the car to sense another car's presence and causes LEDs built into the wing mirrors to flash. If the driver indicates to move out, the LEDs flash at an accelerated rate to warn the driver until the other vehicle moves out of the Touareg's field of vision.
The 2007 Touareg, alongside an already lengthy options list, could be equipped with a driving dynamics package, a rollover sensor, a 620 watt Dynaudio sound system and redesigned comfort seats. All diesel versions now have the diesel particulate filter standard.

Environmental and health concerns

The V10 diesel version of the Touareg was named "meanest" or least-energy-efficient 2004 car by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy^[2] (ACEEE) for its fuel economy of 17 miles per US gallon city (14 l/100 km) and 23 mpg highway (10 l/100 km). To illustrate, an average North American full-size (gasoline(petrol)-not diesel) SUV usually travels 13 mpg (US) (18 l/100 km) city and 16 mpg (US) (15 l/100 km) highway. This, along with the Touareg's emissions and their estimated impact on global warming and health, earned it the low "Green Score" of 9, as compared to the Honda Civic GX, which was the "greenest", at a score of 57.

Awards

The Touareg was ''Car and Driver'' magazine's Best Luxury SUV for 2003, ''Motor Trend'' magazine's Sport/Utility of the Year for 2004, "Four Wheeler" magazine's Four Wheeler of the Year for 2005, & Overlander's 2003 4WDOTY.

The Touareg in motorsport

Porsche/Volkswagen jointly did extensive off-road testing with test mules and both vehicles are capable off-roaders. Volkswagen entered a highly modified Touareg in the Paris Dakar.
In the 2003 Dakar Rally Volkswagen entered a team of 2WD VW Tarek buggies.
VW claimed 6th overall, driven by Stephane Henrard and co driver Bobby Willis. In the following year, the 2004 Dakar Rally saw the debut rally for the T2 class purpose built Race Touareg by Volkswagen Motorsport. Bruno Saby and co driver Matthew Stevenson claimed 6th position overall. In the 2005 Dakar Rally, Jutta Kleinschmidt and co driver Fabrizia Pons claimed 3rd spot overall in the Race Touareg. A modified Touareg dubbed Stanley won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. In the 2006 Dakar Rally, VW driver Giniel de Villiers and co driver Tina Thorner claimed 2nd spot the highest ever for a diesel model in the new Race Touareg 2 which had a shorter wheelbase than the 1st two models Rallied. For the 2007 Dakar Rally, VW driver Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford drove the Race Touareg 2 to 4th position overall.
'Power Output: VW Dakar Racers'

★ 2007 Race-Touareg 2 (T2 spec) 2.5 TDI 285hp/209kW

★ 2006 Race-Touareg 2 (T2 spec) 2.5 TDI 275hp/202kW

★ 2005 Race-Touareg (T2 spec) 2.5 TDI 260hp/191kW

★ 2004 Race-Touareg (T2 spec) 2.3 TDI 231hp/170kW

★ 2003 Tarek 1.9 TDI 218hp/160kW

The name

The Touareg name is derived from the French moniker for the nomadic Tuareg tribe. The proper pronunciation is TWAH-reg, however it is commonly mispronounced as "Tour-egg".

References

1. http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041004/FREE/410040711&SearchID=7329098035109 "Super Touareg", ''Autoweek'', 4 October, 2004.
2. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4229825/ Ranking shows greenest, meanest cars MSNBC Feb 10, 2004

External links

★ VW UK: Touareg

★ VW Touareg Official US Site

★ VW of Australia: Touareg