December 7, 2004 - During the formative years of my automotive mindset, padded vinyl roofs with Rococo exterior finishing, and interiors that could be rented out as porn flick sets, defined what a luxury car should be. Yes, it was the ‘70s.

A luxury car during this decade of decadence definitely was not a powerful car. New emission regulations castrated most of leftover vee-eights from the ‘60s. And luxury was not defined by sophisticated handling—Audis and BMWs were still oddities reserved for Euroweenies and other "intellectuals" found mainly on either Coasts.

No, the luxury car ideal of the ‘70s manifested itself in the form of Chrysler’s Corinthian leather-clad Cordoba. And if things are as they should be, right now Ricardo Montalban is driving one himself past The Pearly Gates. In this still fresh millennium (here on Earth), car buyers now define luxury in a more demanding way.

They want lots of space to carry all of their busy lifestyle crap. They want all weather, off-road capabilities just in case they want to haul all of that crap up, say, Mount Kilimanjaro. Coddling interiors need to be laden with more airbags than a bridal shower, plus home-like audio and satellite navigation. And if today’s luxury car can accelerate like a Ferrari, ride like a Cadillac, handle like a BMW, tow like a Kenworth, and sip gas like a Smart car, so much the better.

Basically, car buyers want to have their automotive cake and eat it too.



Conveniently ignoring the more conventional, less capable, and more expensive Phaeton ($99,600), here’s what our German friends at Volkswagen have offered to check the boxes off on the contemporary luxury car buyer’s wish list: a 2005 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI ($88,040). That’s "V10 TDI" as in a new twin-turbo-diesel vee-ten—as in 553-pound-feet of torque of newly redefined luxury.

Launched just last year (along with the Porsche Cayenne that the Touareg shares its platform with), VW’s first sport-utility-vehicle is also available with a 3.2-litre vee-six that for 2005 gets a power increase to 240-horsepower from 220-horsepower. A mid-range 4.2-litre vee-eight which shares horsepower numbers with the V10 TDI, but is 251-pound-feet shy in the torque department, is also available.

A writer colleague and myself spent some time at one of the auto shows last year with the mission of finding out which new car (regardless of price) had the best interior fit and finish. Ta-da! The Touareg was our unanimous pick. Beyond the fundamental German luxury feel in the cabin, the Touareg comes off as a very cosseting place to be. Our car had the Premium Package ($7,200) which not only boosted the as-tested price to $95,290, but also accounted for a CD-based navigation system, Napa leather on the 12-way power seats and additional wood trim (which surprisingly looked like it might have come from an actual tree).

For driver and passenger upfront, except for the ego-boosting elevated outlook, you might as well be in the ultra-luxurious Phaeton. Every dial, knob, lever or switch had a heavy, liquid feel that simply is not found in any other SUV—or most luxury cars, for that matter.



You may associate diesel cars primarily with that ol’ smoking Mercedes your family doctor used to drive. However, if you need to bless your 2,642-kg luxury SUV with (almost) Ferrari-like acceleration and provide (almost) Smart car-like fuel economy, VW’s solution to use this vee-ten, twin-turbo diesel seems like the best decision within the Touareg’s choice of powerplants. Unlike those older Merc diesels, there’s no waiting for antiquated glow plugs to warm up. Just twist the ignition key and go. And forget about diesel clatter too; with the windows rolled up both at idle and at highway speed, the only excessive noise I experienced came from the roof-rack-cum-rear spoiler.

Taking advantage of the diesel engine’s optimum operating range of 2,000 to 4,000-revolutions-per-minute, with a Caterpillar-like 4,400-rpm redline, the six-speed Tiptronic transmission shifts quickly through its gears when left on its own in Auto mode. 2,300-rpm seems to be the upshift point on the tachometer under relaxed driving. Passing maneuvres at 100 km/h are achieved easily as the tranny kicks down two gears nudging the engine from 1,500-rpm up to 2,200-rpm where the 308-horspower and more torque than a Porsche Cayenne Turbo ($125,100) come alive.

In an attempt to get this SUV to ride like a limo, and take turns like a Formula Ford, VW has equipped all Touareg V10 TDI’s with a fun-to-play-with Continuous Damping Control (CDC), (optional on V6 and V8 models). In addition to the system electronically adjusting the suspension based on the car’s speed and road conditions, the driver can manually select Sport or Comfort settings. Six ride heights and three separate damping modes means you can play suspension engineer all day long.

Schlepping around doing Saturday morning errands, I set the Touareg’s suspension to its Caddy-comfy level, with the ride height on the second notch from the bottom. Perfect for dealing with potholed big-box store parking lots, and the type of non-performance driving that a stoplight every half-kilometre entails. During the week we had the car in the Toronto area, we tried to play sports/luxury sedan with the Touareg in the Forks of the Credit area early on a Sunday morning with mixed results.



With the suspension at its lowest setting (there’s a full 279.4-mm difference between lowest and highest) and the shocks adjusted to their firmest setting, the big diesel beast did its best imitation of a VW GTi. The Touareg V10 TDI’s steering was accurate and responsive and with almost no body roll, I took advantage of the generous amount of available low-end torque pounding out of the engine. The six-speed banged off appropriate downshifts and the all-wheel traction had me bounding out of corners. If this reminds you of the type of driving you do on a regular basis, keep in mind the Cayenne and Infiniti’s FX Series are less labourious when driven in such an exuberant manner.

Helping make this elephant dance such two-lane tangos are the raft of acronymic systems that VW makes standard on the Touareg V10 TDI. Of course there’s four-wheel disc brakes with Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) included, but also on the menu is an Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP) with brake assist and Electronic Brake pressure Distribution (EBD) that works with the ABS system and with an Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR) full-time traction control.

Keep in mind the phrase "imitation of a GTi". There’s no getting around the Touareg’s (or any of its luxo-SUV compatriots’) gluttonous size. Although ultimately the weighty VW SUV understeers on tighter corners, the air suspension disguises the vehicles mass. There’s always VW’s excellent Passat GLS 1.8T 4Motion wagon ($34,560), that’s now available with a 5-speed stick, where "less" may be considered "more" from a car zealot’s perspective.

Toronto is a tad more than a week’s drive from Mount Kilimanjaro, so we had to settle for some cottage roads to test the Touareg V10 TDI’s off-road mettle. The term "no sweat" would be an understatement. In addition to the car’s 4XMOTION permanent four-wheel drive, the V10 TDI comes with an Electronic Drive Train Management system with manually selectable "High/Low" settings and a low-range gear transfer case. Hill Climb Assist (HCA) and Hill Descent Assist (HDA) are there to, er, well assist you climb and descend angles more adventurous than the curb at your local Cineplex parking lot.

Between the comfy cabin, generous room, more-than-capable drivetrain and potential on- and off-road worthiness, the Touareg V10 TDI may be your definition of a modern luxury car. It certainly exudes confidence for a multitude of driving situations.

From a features standpoint, if you compare the Touareg to other overly-capable luxo-SUVs, like the BMW X5 4.8is ($96,500), Range Rover HSE ($98,000) or its Porsche Cayenne Turbo sibling, the fully optioned Touareg V10 TDI comes off as a bit of a bargain.

And from within the Touareg range, the V10 TDI is the quickest and most fuel efficient of the bunch. It out accelerates the vee-eight to 100 km/hr by one tenth of a second, and betters the vee-six in fuel consumption. The fact that it happens to be the most expensive Touareg (the wee vee-six model starts at $55,010) only proves the point that you truly get what you pay for.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher, straight-six.com

2004 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI