Volkswagen Touareg review

The Volkswagen Touareg offers buyers of luxury SUVs a less ostentatious alternative to premium-badged rivals – or rather, it used to. That all changed when VW launched the current model, which carries more than a wee splattering of glittery chintz.

If you look past its in-your-face chrome grille, though, you will see that there’s a very sensible vehicle underneath. For a start, although the Touareg is bigger than its predecessor, it’s actually lighter, plus it comes packed to the roof with tech and can tow up to 3500kg. You might wonder how all that is possible.

Well, it has the same platform as one of our favourite luxury SUVs – the Audi Q7. As the Q7 also serves as the foundations for the Bentley Bentayga, the Porsche Cayenne, and even the Lamborghini Urus, the Touareg has the underlying DNA to be a potential world-beater.

It shares all its engines with the Q7, too, so you can choose from a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 diesel (available in two tuning set-ups), a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol and a V6 petrol plug-in hybrid. The plug-in hybrid develops a whopping 456bhp but is available only in the range-topping Touareg R – a thoroughbred sports SUV and a very different animal that we’ve reviewed separately here.

The question is, does the standard model make the transition from a being a marvel on paper to being an on and off-road megastar?

Keep reading this VW Touareg review to find out, because we’ll tell you all about how it drives, how it looks after passengers and their luggage, how much it costs to buy and run, and whether it’s better at all those things than the competition. Which, by the way, includes the Q7 we mentioned before, as well as the BMW X5, Mercedes GLE, Volvo XC90 and Land Rover Discovery.

If you want to get yourself a good deal and potentially save big bucks on a Touareg – or any other make and model of car, for that matter – don’t forget to try our free New Car Buying service.