The Volkswagen Touareg has a new lease on life.
Sure, it looks similar to the pre-update model, and it’s packing the same engine as before under the bonnet. The cabin has been tweaked rather than overhauled, and there’s very little change about how it drives.
But… Volkswagen has given the Touareg a major price cut. While it’s not cheap at $109,990 before on-road costs, the Touareg 210TDI R-Line on test here is around $7500 less expensive than before.
It was already a sharp buy alongside the BMW X5, Audi Q7, and Mercedes-Benz GLE, which have been subjected to repeated price rises, but the latest iteration represents even better value.
WATCH: Paul’s video review of the Volkswagen Touareg R
There’s much more to this family four-wheel drive than a sharp sticker price, though.
How does the Volkswagen Touareg compare?
View a detailed breakdown of the Volkswagen Touareg against similarly sized vehicles.
Volkswagen
Touareg
How much does the Volkswagen Touareg cost?
The facelifted Volkswagen Touareg lineup remains unchanged since launch.
| Model | Price before on-roads |
|---|---|
| Volkswagen Touareg 170TDI | $86,790 |
| Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI Elegance | $99,990 |
| Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line | $109,990 |
| Volkswagen Touareg R | $129,990 |
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
What is the Volkswagen Touareg like on the inside?
Volkswagen hasn’t reinvented the wheel with the 210TDI, but it didn’t really need to. This is still a big, comfortable family wagon, complete with an impressive technology suite.
Rather than the open-pore wood seen in the base grade, the 210TDI picks up metal trim across the dashboard and an R-Line steering wheel, as tested.
The fundamentals are excellent. The driver and passenger sit in generously stuffed armchairs with heating and acres of adjustment to dial in the perfect driving position for long trips.
Massaging and ventilation feature, and further reinforce the luxury vibes. There’s not a huge difference in here relative to the base variant, but the more expensive leather seat trim, black headliner, and extra luxury features on the front seats do elevate the experience.
The flash Innovision screen setup that was standard on the last Touareg 210TDI carries over, albeit with a few choice upgrades. The graphics have been polished, while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now wireless.
CarPlay now takes up the whole screen, rather than sitting in an awkward little window. It looks great, but it’s strange that using the climate controls or seat buttons at the base of the screen blanks out that full screen display.
Beyond that, the system is snappy to respond and easy enough to navigate. Most of the icons are big and colourful, so they can be spotted and prodded simply on the move… for the most part.
Our tester threw a hissy fit at one point, necessitating a full factory reset – once that was done, which took around 15 minutes during my drive home, it played nice again.
Volkswagen hasn’t killed the haptic steering wheel buttons in the Touareg, which means you’re still stuck with fingerprint-prone gloss black on the spokes. The sooner that goes, the better.
The 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is crystal clear, and blends a range of thoroughly modern options with one for classic-looking gauges. It’s also been massaged as part of this facelift, with new colours and graphics.
With a storage bin under the dashboard (home to the wireless phone charger), cupholders on the centre console, a decent bin under the armrest, and spacious door pockets, there are plenty of nooks and crannies for snacks, devices, and keys on long road trips.
As you’d expect of a hulking family SUV, the Touareg has acres of space in the rear. There’s enough legroom for lanky adults to sit behind lanky adults, and the front seats are set high to free up enough toe room for chunky winter boots.
Top tether points feature on all three rear seats, and there are ISOFIX points on the outboard rear seats.
Headroom is good, but the angled C-pillar does make it feel a bit tighter back there than maybe it needs to.
Kids will appreciate the standalone climate controls, and the auto-dipping air suspension makes this an easier car to clamber into or out of.
Then again, it puts the mid-sized Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz GLC in the shade for rear space – despite being priced in line with them, the Touareg is a more substantial car.
The boot is a broad space, complete with remote releases for the rear seats and a luggage cover that slides automatically up when you pop the boot to make loading big items easier. There are also air suspension controls back there, allowing you to raise or lower the car without clambering into the front.
| Dimensions | Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line |
|---|---|
| Length | 4889mm |
| Width | 1984mm |
| Height | 1718mm–1757mm |
| Wheelbase | 2888mm |
| Boot space (seats up) | 810 litres |
| Boot space (seats folded) | 1800 litres |
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
What’s under the bonnet?
There’s no change under the bonnet for the 210TDI R-Line in the updated model.
| Specifications | Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line |
|---|---|
| Engine | 3.0L V6 turbo-diesel |
| Fuel | Diesel |
| Transmission | 8-speed auto |
| Driven wheels | AWD |
| Power | 210kW |
| Torque | 600Nm |
| Claimed fuel economy | 7.4L/100km |
| Fuel tank | 90 litres |
| Towing (unbraked) | 750kg |
| Towing (braked) | 3500kg |
| Weight | 2249kg (tare) |
| Gross Vehicle Mass | 2850kg |
| Gross Combined Mass | 6350kg |
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
How does the Volkswagen Touareg drive?
The Touareg 210TDI R-Line majors on relaxed long-haul comfort, but it’s also a surprisingly talented city car thanks to its rear-wheel steering and plush air suspension.
Refinement is excellent. The turbo-diesel V6 engine fires with a muted grumble and rarely raises its voice above a whisper, and there’s more than enough shove in the mid-range to make this 2250kg beast feel hot-hatch quick when you really dig into the accelerator’s travel.
In normal driving the eight-speed automatic shuffles through the gears to the tallest possible ratio, and generally is comfortable leaning on the engine’s torque rather than dropping down to send the revs soaring. It means you need to be deliberate with the throttle when you’re in a hurry, or flick the chunky gear selector into Sport.
There are few better cars for highway cruising. The Touareg chugs along silently at 100km/h, ticking over barely above idle and sipping from its massive fuel tank like a much smaller car.
There’s minimal wind noise from the mirrors, and minimal road roar from the tyres which means you don’t need to raise your voice to chat with passengers, or turn up the radio to drown it out. That’s not always the case in European cars.
We’ve collected two examples recently, and both have shown a projected range of more than 1100km from their 90L fuel tanks.
Volkswagen’s adaptive cruise control is smooth and smart, maintaining a gap to the car in front with minimal fuss, and the active lane-centring function included as part of Travel Assist keeps you between the white lines without trying to wrench the wheel from your hands.
Under the skin is an air suspension system capable of raising or lowering the body at the press of a button, and making the ride firmer or more relaxed based on the drive mode.
Some cars have drive modes that don’t really do much, but flicking through the modes in the Touareg meaningfully changes its character. Where the base 170TDI has a fixed steel suspension setup, the air suspension in the 210TDI opens the door for much more.
Comfort gives it a languid feeling, floating over the worst the city can throw at it, while the ride firms up in Sport.
Flicking into Sport also brings the active anti-roll bars into play. Nicked from the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus, they’re able to push up one side of the body when you turn into a corner to stop the car rolling.
Turn left and the right-hand side stiffens up, turn left and the right-hand side is actively propped up. Drive in a straight line or flick into a more relaxed drive mode and the anti-roll bars relax for a looser, more comfortable ride.
Flicked into Sport, you can really throw this bus around and it dances like a smaller, lighter car.
What’s more, the active anti-roll system is tech you don’t get in the Touareg R, despite that car’s higher sticker price and more overt focus on performance.
Arguably more useful than the active anti-roll is the rear-wheel steering system, which makes the Touareg easy to park.
The rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speeds, virtually shortening the wheelbase and making this giant SUV feel more like a Tiguan in small parking spaces.
It’s hugely helpful on busy streets, where it can be the difference between an awkward three-point turn and a neat U-turn in the face of oncoming traffic.
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
What do you get?
Touareg 170TDI includes:
- 19-inch alloy wheels
- Power tailgate with kick activation
- Power-folding exterior mirrors with memory and auto-dip
- IQ.Light HD matrix LED headlights
- Innovision Cockpit
- 15-inch touchscreen
- 12-inch digital instrument screen
- Satellite navigation
- Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
- FM, AM, DAB+ digital radio
- Wireless phone charging + 5 x USB-C ports
- Heated, power-adjustable front seats
- Vienna leather seat trim
- 30-colour ambient lighting
- Dual-zone climate control
- Open-pore dashboard wood trim
- Illuminated door scuff plates
- Cargo management system for boot
Touareg 210TDI Elegance adds:
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Varenna leather seat upholstery (Blue, White interior optional)
- Ventilated front seats
- Massaging front seats
- Auto-levelling air suspension
Touareg 210TDI R-Line brings:
- R-Line interior/exterior styling package
- 21-inch alloy wheels
- Puglia R-Line leather interior trim
- Brushed stainless steel pedals
- Stainless steel scuff plates with R-Line logo in front doors
- Rear privacy glass
- Rear-wheel steering
- Active anti-roll stabilisation
- Heated sports steering wheel
- Brushed aluminium interior trim
- Black headliner
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
Is the Volkswagen Touareg safe?
The Touareg has a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing carried out in 2018.
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Adult occupant protection | 89 per cent (34.0 out of 38) |
| Child occupant protection | 88 per cent (43.4 out of 49) |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 72 per cent (34.6 out of 48) |
| Safety assist | 78 per cent (10.2 out of 13) |
Standard safety equipment includes:
- Front, front-side, rear-side, front and rear curtain airbags
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Front cross-traffic assist
- Blind-spot monitor
- Rear cross-traffic assist
- Adaptive cruise control with active lane centring
- Dynamic road sign monitoring
- Surround-view camera
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
How much does the Volkswagen Touareg cost to run?
Like the broader Volkswagen range, the Touareg is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
| Running costs | Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 5 years, unlimited kilometres |
| Roadside assist | 12 months, extended with each scheduled service |
| Service schedule | 12 months or 15,000 kilometres |
| 3-year service plan | $1900 |
| 5-year service plan | $3500 |
To see how the Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.
CarExpert’s Take on the Volkswagen Touareg
Although the base 170TDI represents exceptional value, the extra kit on the Touareg 210TDI R-Line is pretty damn appealing.
Along with the extra punch from the higher-output V6 diesel, the addition of air suspension and rear-wheel steering add an extra few degrees of capability.
I also happen to think this is the best-looking member of the updated Touareg range, with its neat mix of chrome and black on the outside… along with those tidy aerodynamic wheel covers.
Do you need to stretch all the way to a Touareg R? Yes, its plug-in hybrid technology will win you some green points on the school run, but the R-Line counters with a simpler powertrain, rear-wheel steering and active anti-roll technology lifted from Bentley and Lamborghini.
I’d be pocketing the extra $20,000 the R demands and investing in a family holiday.
Interested in buying a Volkswagen Touareg? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here
Click the images for the full gallery