We drive the new Volkswagen Touareg
The new and improved Volkswagen Touareg arrived in South Africa in July 2018, taking top position as the flagship of VW’s premium range. We’ve just spent a week getting to know it in and out of the city.
We love…
New stylish exterior
The new Touareg’s expressive and sharp design gives it a much more eye-catching appearance on the road, especially for its range-topping Executive R-Line model. I love how much bolder the new Touareg is and VW has done a good job at giving it the upgrade that its exterior personality needed in a tough segment. It is longer and wider than it’s predecessor, but slightly shorter, as well as (106 kg) lighter. Our Luxury model came with the optional Reef Blue metallic paint colour and it really just complements the new Touareg’s refreshing appearance. (You know a car is winning in the looks department when people in traffic roll down their windows to get a clearer look at all its new features.)
Also read: Car Review: New Volkswagen Touareg
Premium interior
The new Touareg’s interior blew me away at its launch, even in its Luxury derivative, and I couldn’t wait to be able to experience it all again during our more recent test drive. Travelling in and out of the city has never felt quite so luxurious in a VW SUV, thanks to an array of comfort and convenience features from its Innovision Cockpit to its extremely comfortable ergoComfort ‘Vienna’ seats with leather trim and seat heating and cooling as standard. Despite the upgrade to refine and ‘premiumize’ the Touareg, it still feels familiar like a familiar family-friendly VW cabin – and that’s a great thing!
Technologically advanced
Volkswagen boldly introduced the new Touareg as the automaker’s most technologically advanced model of its era – and once you’re seated inside you soon see why. It is packed with connectivity features and systems that can take some getting used in order to fully utilise everything it can do, but once you’ve found your way around it’s quite exciting showing friends and family what it’s capable of. This is the first time that Volkswagen has presented the fully digitalised Innovision Cockpit, where digital instruments (Digital Cockpit with 12-inch display) and the top Discover Premium infotainment system (with 15-inch display) merge to form a digital operating, information, communication and entertainment unit. The new Touareg quickly learns your preferences so that you don’t have to spend time readjusting seat and infotainment settings every time you jump in the driver’s seat. As Volkswagen puts it “drivers no longer have to adapt to the car, the car adapts to you”.
Loaded with kit
Yes, the new Touareg’s pricing starts at just under R1 million, but compared to other premium competitors, it’s loaded with standard spec that you would usually have to pay a lot extra for, especially on its Luxury model…
STANDARD FEATURES |
OPTIONAL FEATURES |
Exterior
Interior
Features
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Colours
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New Touareg retail price (VAT and emissions tax included)
3.0 V6 TDI 190kW (Luxury) R999 800
3.0 V6 TDI 190kW (Executive) R1 088 200
The new Touareg comes standard with a 5 year/100 000km Maintenance Plan, 3 year/120 000km warranty, 12-year anti-corrosion warranty and space saver spare wheel. Service Interval is 15 000km.