Volkswagen Touareg 170TDI R-Line 2019 Review

European family SUVs don’t come much more polished than the Volkswagen Touareg. Although firmly a five-seater, the big Volksie has won a legion of fans through its first two iterations.

And that trend looks like continuing in this third generation of the car that is effectively paired with a whole host of Volkswagen Audi Group vehicles.

Since it was revealed at the 2018 Beijing motor show, the third-generation Volkswagen Touareg has proved its upmarket mettle. We drove it at its global launch last May and its off-road hot-climate capability during a hard-core cross-country trek through the Sahara Desert in Morocco.

But ahead of its Australian release in June (2019), it was time for the ultimate test – at the hands of the Family Pettendy. A test of the Volkswagen Touareg’s on-road cold-climate suitability via the trial of a mid-winter, month-long family jaunt across continental Europe.

It was clear from our very first look at the 2019 Volkswagen Touareg a year ago, that Europe’s largest car-maker had upmarket plans for its third-generation large SUV.

And our first drive at the European launch two months later confirmed the big new German SUV backs up its elegant design and long equipment list with premium levels of luxury, safety, technology, refinement and performance.

It’s been a long time coming though -- given the second-generation VW Touareg was released almost a decade ago in 2010. Since then we’ve seen MkIII Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne models – both of which once again pair their platform (this time MLB) and body structure to the MkIII Touareg.

With fellow VW Group brands Bentley (via the Bentayga) and Lamborghini (Urus) now joining the large SUV party too, the latest VW Touareg also shares many of their components, to become the most technically advanced iteration ever.

The downside of the Touareg’s tech advance and premium underpinnings is pricing, which also goes up.

However, as VW Australia pointed out in February, at $89,990 plus on-road costs the 2019 Volkswagen Touareg 190TDI Launch Edition (the only variant to be available initially) brings more performance and equipment than the model it replaces. The outgoing Touareg 180TDI was priced at $85,490 or $90,890 fully loaded).

Indeed, even at $90K, the new Volkswagen Touareg 190TDI Launch Edition will be cheaper and better-specified than any of the large luxury SUVs from Germany’s big three premium brands – the Audi Q7 160TDI (from $97,800), BMW X5 (from $112,900) and Mercedes-Benz GLE (from $93.900).

And bear in mind the cheapest Q7 above offers only 160kW and the most affordable GLE is the four-cylinder 250d. Opting for six-cylinder diesel power in the GLE 350d will cost you $110,300.

But it remains to be seen whether subsequent entry-level versions of the 2019 Volkswagen Touareg will match the sub-$70,000 price of the previous Touareg 150TDI base model.

Unlike some of its chief rivals, the Touareg remains strictly a five-seater. Down Under, all models will be diesel-powered – initially via a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission and 4MOTION all-wheel drive.

A full complement of safety equipment will be fitted as standard in the First Edition – and likely all Australian Touareg variants.

The spec sheet includes autonomous emergency braking (Front Assist with City EB and Predictive Pedestrian Monitoring, Traffic Jam Assist and Emergency Assist), lane-keeping (Lane Assist with Adaptive Lane Guidance), Night Vision, automated parking (Park Assist), blind-spot monitoring (Side Assist with Front and Rear Cross Traffic Alert), drowsiness alert (Driver Fatigue Detection system) and a reversing camera.

Standard First Edition equipment includes four-wheel air suspension, 20-inch Braga black alloy wheels, ‘IQ Light’ Matrix LED headlights, electric tailgate, Savona leather trim, front seat heating, ventilation and massaging, and 9.2-inch Discover Pro infotainment system with App-Connect and gesture control. This Touareg is far from a poverty pack!

Naturally, all First Edition variants also offer four-zone climate-control air-conditioning, four USB ports, wireless phone charging, privacy tinted rear windows, keyless access and start, front and rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and wipers, driving profile selection, ambient interior lighting, 18-way powered driver’s seat and memory front seats, mirrors and electronic steering column.

In fact, only three options will be available for the almost-fully-loaded First Edition. These are led by the $8000 Innovision Cockpit comprising Volkswagen’s incredible 15.0-inch Discover Premium multimedia system, 12.3-inch Active Info Display digital instrument cluster, head-up display, multi-colour ambient interior lighting and volume scroll wheel.

For a further $3000, there’s also a panoramic electric glass sunroof with tilt/slide function, electric blind and 92% tint (VW claims less than 4% UVA penetrability and less than 0.5% UVB penetrability).

The only standard paint finish is Pure White, with Silicone Grey Metallic, Reef Blue Metallic and Deep Black Pearl Effect all costing an extra $2000, meaning that a fully specified VW Touareg First Edition will cost you $102,990 plus ORCs.

Of course, the recently announced Touareg V8 TDI, which packs a monstrous 310kW/900Nm 4.0-litre turbo-diesel and can hit 100km/h in a claimed 4.9sec, will cost significantly more at $120K-plus when it arrives Down Under some time next year.

But more relevant to most Aussies will be the cheaper 170kW/500Nm V6 diesel (170TDI) entry-level version and the 210kW/600Nm (210TDI) mid-range model, both of which will effectively replace the 190kW/600Nm 190TDI Launch Edition as full-time models by the end of this year (2019).

The Launch Edition’s Euro 5 emissions-compliant 190kW diesel arrives first because it’s pre-approved for Australia via the Amarok V6 ute. The newer Euro 6-spec 170kW and 210kW engines are still being certified for the New European Driving Cycle test.

For our month-long, mid-winter lap around Europe in sub-zero temperatures, we’re driving a German-spec Touareg 170TDI R-Line fitted with the Innovision package, sunroof and 285/45 R20 Pirelli Scorpion winter tyres.

In Europe, Volkswagen offers the new Touareg with both 3.0-litre V6 diesel (170TDI) and petrol (250TSI) engines, and in three equipment grades: Elegance, Atmosphere and R-Line.

The latter grade will become available in Australia, so our 170TDI R-Line matches up nicely with what will become the entry-level engine and the top-shelf trim level Down Under.

Likewise, the Innovision infotainment option (even at a hefty $8K in Australia) was worth its weight in gold, offering a crystal-clear colour head-up display and gorgeous, configurable digital instrument display ahead of the driver.

But the pack’s party trick is the massive 15-inch Discover Premium central colour touch-screen, which integrates seamlessly with the lavish Touareg instrument panel, as if both screens were one continuous flush-fitting display. Very classy indeed.

Augmented by an intuitive gesture control system (which hides all non-essential information from the home screen until you wave your hand and various sub-menu options appear), it brings to three the number of ways you can view sat-nav, audio, phone or trip functions.

The brilliant HUD and huge, neatly presented central display became a vital part of our journey, each day of our more than three weeks.

Our only minor complaint was the lack of physical climate controls as seen in the standard Touareg with its 9.2-inch multimedia touch-screen. Sometimes a simple button or dial makes sense.

The Innovation pack’s next-level LED mood lighting is the icing on a classy cake, improving on the Touareg’s standard LED ambient lighting system. There a choice of no fewer than 30 cool colours that emanate from light strips spanning the entire interior -- very flash at night.

Indeed, the new third-generation Volkswagen Touareg interior makes big strides in design, fit/finish, material quality, refinement and general ambience. Every surface is covered in either leather, carpet, aluminium or wood. Add outstanding cabin insulation and you end up with a cabin almost entirely free of any wind, road or engine noise.

If you couldn’t see the VW cabin badges, you’d be hard pressed picking the Touareg from an Audi or Mercedes. The sumptuous Savona leather makes its presence felt here too. It’s claimed to be even higher quality than Nappa.

Likewise, the R-Line’s fully electric sports front seats, black leather trim with white stitching (matched on the dashboard and centre console) and piano black surfaces all look straight out of a BMW M playbook.

And features like the cracking Dynaudio sound system, soft-close doors, four-zone climate control, four (outboard) seat heaters, four USB outlets and wireless charging became indispensable convenience items on our European road trip.

Okay, so some of these top-end features won’t be standard at base level, but the technology and quality on show in the R-Line we drove underline just how serious Volkswagen is with its latest SUV flagship.

Meantime, the massive optional glass sunroof bathed the classy interior with light when we wanted it and gave all three kids in the back seat uninterrupted views of the scenery in all directions. Handy in The Alps, when sometimes the best view was up!

Throw in a highly effective climate-control system complete with rear air-vents on the centre console and B-pillars, and the decidedly upmarket Touareg cabin became a welcome home away from home and a luxurious defender from the elements.

Completing the checklist that made the five-seat Touareg the perfect tool for our white European winter family escape was its sizeable 614-litre boot. This stretches to a positively massive 810 litres with the spacious sliding rear bench seat pushed all the way (160mm) forward.

And the upside of no third row was the Touareg’s ability to swallow five large pieces of luggage with ease -- aided by a powered tailgate, clever electric cargo blind and sliding tie-down anchors.

Volkswagen says there’s a gigantic 1800 litres of total cargo space with the rear seat stowed and although the full-length sunroof does rob a bit of headroom front and rear, there’s still plenty of it for all but the tallest of occupants.

So after arriving in Munich in -5 degrees C, loading up and shutting the doors with a solid German thud, we made a beeline for the Austrian Alps to give our sun-spoiled kids a taste of a real Northern Hemisphere winter.

Expectations of a somber Germanic interior were quickly dismissed by the light, airy and welcoming design of the Touareg’s spacious cabin, which provided plenty of stretching room in all directions for five (including three sizeable teenagers).

Likewise, any fears of sliding around on icy, snow-covered alpine roads were forgotten as we went with the 120km/h flow on the routinely snow-ploughed multi-lane autobahn. Here the four-corner air springs and adaptive dampers delivered a plush ride in Comfort mode.

The Touareg’s intuitive stability control system, surprisingly grippy winter tyres and silky-smooth diesel (which revs almost imperceptibly to 5000rpm), also made light work of the snow-covered B-road to Hopfgarten and on to our first overnight stop in the cozy ski-resort town of Alpbach.

A sudden overnight cold snap brought a metre of snow and saw temperatures plummet to -15C which delayed our departure the next day. Soon the mountain passes were like ungroomed pistes as the powder fell too quickly for snow ploughs to keep up. But after de-icing the big Touareg, it barely flinched at the blanket of white stuff.

The weather closed in even more as we crossed through Switzerland and into Liechtenstein, where visibility dropped to less than 50 metres. In these almost white-out conditions, the Touareg’s forward-collision and lane-assist functions switched off as their cameras iced over.

Then after a quick lens clean, all safety systems were back up and running again, the lane-keeping aid engaging smartly enough to provide just the right amount of steering assistance -- at just the right time -- no matter how gradually or harshly the vehicle headed towards its lane markings.

Indeed, the system is intuitive enough to keep the car almost always centred in all manner of conditions. It also allows hands-free highway motoring for up to about 20sec, while the HUD graphics display red or white lane markings according to which one you’re approaching.

Meantime, the nav-linked forward collision warning system provides a subtle double tap of the accelerator pedal as you approach changes in road conditions, such as lower speed limits or intersections. Very clever and super useful.

After overnighting in Lucerne and stopping at Bern and Lausanne on Lake Geneva, the worst weather was behind us as we headed south into France, where clearer roads provided the chance to explore the Touareg’s massive torque reserves and vault-like body rigidity.

The 170TDI V6 might offer ‘only’ 500Nm of twist but when it arrives at just 2250rpm and hangs around for a full 1000rpm (just like peak power, which occurs over 3250-4250rpm), there’s never any shortage of go exactly when you need it.

If the 170TDI feels beefy behind the wheel, the 600Nm 190 and 210 TDI V6s – not to mention the 900Nm TDI V8 – should prove very buxom indeed.

That said, the tall gearing of the slick-shifting eight-speed automatic (150km/h comes up at under 2000rpm in top gear) did lead to some hunting between seventh and eighth gears on the highway.

And a persistent transmission shunt was now becoming apparent on downshifts – especially during hard acceleration from low speeds. It continued to be a minor bugbear through the whole trip.

I quickly learned to drive around the transmission snatch via careful throttle application, by using the paddle shifters or by switching to Sport mode. The latter makes a big difference to steering, throttle, gearbox and suspension performance.

The downside of this was increased fuel consumption due to later upshifts, but even so we covered more than 900km on our first (80-litre) tank of diesel, averaging 8.9L/100km.

Thereafter we spent most freeway time in Normal model, while on windy backroads, we alternated between Comfort and Sport mode – depending on the potential for motion sickness or how bumpy the surface (given the big difference in body roll between modes).

In Comfort, the Volkswagen Touareg was plush but body control lacklustre and steering a little lifeless. Sport mode made both much sharper. Individual mode allows you to separate the systems and either side of these are Eco, Off-road and Snow.

Overall, for a large luxury SUV, the 2019 Volkswagen Touareg possesses an enormous breadth of ability, transforming itself from surprisingly agile corner-carver to effortless freeway cruiser, all the while cosseting its occupants’ comfort and serenity.

The weather had warmed up to +2C by the time we entered the stunning Dordogne Valley, but the 4878mm long, 1984mm wide Touareg (which is just 44mm shorter and 20mm narrower than the X5) was starting to feel decidedly hefty on the cobblestoned roadways of walled medieval French villages like Sarlat, Rocamadour and Carcassone.

We hit Spain and then our southern-most stop, Barcelona, for a compulsory night of sangria, buskers and tapas on La Rambla in a balmy 5 degrees C. Then it was time to head back north on the most expensive toll road so far, along the French Riviera to Montpellier.

Extreme crosswind buffeting right along this Cote d’Azur stretch made it tough keeping the steering wheel straight when driving unassisted. But the Mediterranean gale was no match for the Touareg’s tenacious lane-keeping system once it was switched on. The smarts kept the big SUV within its freeway lane at all times at any speed, and around every bend I dared test it on.

Another stop for expensive gazole back in France showed the trip computer’s slightly better 8.7L/00km consumption figure to be accurate, then it was back on the 130km/h-posted autoroute for an overnighter in Nice, followed by lunch in Monaco and a couple of days in Italy’s majestic Cinque Terra.

Naturally, we parked the Touareg and caught the train to visit all five villages, many of which we had to ourselves in the absence of summer tourist crowds. But there was no choice but to negotiate the narrow lanes the must-see historic Tuscan towns and villages between Pisa and Rome, such as Lucca, Siena, Montepulciano, Monteriggioni and Volterra.

Inner-city street parking in Rome, Florence and Bologna (including a side trip to see the Ferrari museum in Modena) in the big German SUV was easier than expected but were grateful for a forced carpark while we explored the car-free splendor of Venice for a couple of days.

After loading back up into what was by then a faithful friend, it was on to Italy’s easternmost city of Trieste, then our first passport control to enter Slovenia and then Croatia, where we overnighted in the spectacular capital, Zagreb.

The further east we headed, the more the roads deteriorated and the longer the lines of trucks entering the EU became. Most of them were heading the opposite direction, but we were still passing them by the hundreds every hour.

Many of the trucks are limited to 85km/h and all of them are banned from the fast lane.

With the truckies and almost every car driver displaying unwavering lane discipline, the contrast with Australian freeway driving was stark.

After a straight run into Hungary alongside the sprawling Lake Balaton, three days in Budapest was the undoubted highlight of the trip, before we headed west again. All the time, the Volkswagen Touareg effortlessly took the broken roads of eastern Europe in its stride.

Slovakia was the fifth country (after Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia and Hungary) for which we required vignette (a windscreen sticker that automatically covers road tolls at overhead gantries) but it was cheapest so far at 10 Euro for 10 days.

It is also the birthplace of our very own Touareg (and the Q7, Cayenne and Bentayga), so we couldn’t resist a visit to Volkswagen’s mind-boggling 18 square-kilometre Bratislava plant just 4km off the highway. Here, an entire city complete with apartment buildings for workers produces SUVs that roll off the production line via what looks like an overgrown ski-lift.

The roads into and out of the stunning Czech capital of Prague were not just bumpy but icy, and they became even more treacherous as we headed back into high country for our final overnight stops in the snow-covered centres of Cesky Krumlov, Halstatt and Salzburg, back in the Austrian Alps.

The final day’s run back to Munich required one last camera/sensor clean and a refill, which confirmed a total trip average of a commendable 9.0L/100km. A litre of Citrus Winter Breeze windscreen washer fluid, which is sold at all good service stations in Europe, kept the screen clear.

After unloading in the Bavarian capital, it was time to say goodbye to our Touareg. By now it was covered in road grime, lending even more presence to the big, faithful SUV’s striking full-width grille and integrated Matrix LED headlights.

After 6590km fault-free, high-speed kilometres in freezing conditions while fully loaded over 25 days (including 18 days on the road), ‘our’ Volkswagen Touareg proved itself to be a dependable cross-continental tourer par excellence.

It might not wear a BMW or Mercedes-Benz badge, but underneath this full-size German SUV is the same DNA that underpins sister models from Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini – for a much lower cost.

There’s still no third row, but from humble beginnings in 2002, Volkswagen’s original flagship SUV has grown into a talented, high-tech large luxury SUV to rival the best of them.

How much does the 2019 Volkswagen Touareg cost?
On sale: June 2019
Price: TBC (Launch Edition $89,990)
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel
Output: 170kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.6L/100km
CO2: 173g/km
Safety: Five-star (Euro NCAP 2018)