Car Lust--Volkswagen Touareg TDI V-10
Fuel, meet fire. Putting an SUV in this space as the first Car Lust after our big SUV controversy probably isn't the wisest thing I could do, but hey--I'm a contrarian, and nobody ever accused me of being wise.
The Volkswagen Touareg TDI V-10 is about as different from my preferred SUVs as possible. I like rugged, blunt objects; the Touareg TDI is unbelievably complex. I prefer utilitarianism, but the Touareg TDI is posh. Perhaps most importantly, I like my trucks cheap, and the Touareg, when it was available, was eye-wateringly expensive.
Still, I fell completely in love with the Touareg TDI when I had one as a test car. As I explained in the other thread, I'm not usually a fan of high-lux SUVs, but the high-line Touareg was executed so well that I fell under its seductive spell.
The interior was phenomenal. Buttery-soft leather seats, well-done wood, a whisper-soft ride, and an array of trick technological gadgets to tinker with--the instantly adjustable air ride height was especially entertaining--it all added up to one of the most appealing interiors I've ever inhabited. The Touareg's interior was easily the equal of anything in the Volkswagen/Audi line.
What really sets the Touareg TDI apart, however is its engine. We Americans have long heard about the super-diesels available in Europe that suppress diesels' typical smell and clatter problems while providing performance that at least equals that of conventional gas engines. The new-generation European diesels compare to the old, reputation-spoiling Oldsmobile diesels of the 1980s as an F-18 compares to a biplane.
Despite my best efforts, I couldn't detect any of the clatter, smell, or smoke I've typically associated with diesels. The only noticeable diesel properties of the unique V-10 twin-turbo diesel configuration were a subtle but exciting growl at idle and a flood of torque--a mind-blowing 554 pound-foot of torque--that gave the Touareg smooth but urgent acceleration. And what's more, the TDI gets slightly better mileage than either the V-6 or V-8 Touaregs. That smooth, stump-pulling engine alone is enough to lust after.
Unfortunately, at nearly $60,000, the Touareg TDI is prohibitively expensive. The V-6 edition starts at $38,000, meaning that delightful diesel engine costs the customer about $22,000. Ouch. At that price, I think this is a lust that will be unrequited for pretty much forever.
I love these wildly over-the-top (and ostensibly heavily Photoshopped) Touareg press photos, so I'm jamming in as many as I can possibly fit. Look, we're fording incredibly photogenic rushing water! Somehow this Touareg is going fast enough in deep sand drifts that it's launching crazily into the air! I'm surprised there isn't one of a Touareg clinging spider-like to a sheer cliff face, or driving happily along at the bottom of the sea. More press photos need to look like this.
Tomorrow, I promise, no SUVs. While I thought about making this SUV week just out of sheer amused cussedness, even I'm not that contrarian.
--Chris H.
David Drucker on April 14, 2008 at 10:54 AM
As someone who remembers when VW offered only three models -- bug, bus, ghia -- and who paid the princely sum of $3,040 for a brand new air-conditioned 1971 Super Beetle, I'm just gobsmacked by the notion of a $60K "people's car." Of course, the Phaeton was even more expensive.
Here's my take on having $60K to spend, and wanting a luxury SUV: spend $20-25K on a second-generation Lincoln Navigator (which can blow cold air up your keister in the summer) and the balance on something with two seats and -- this is the important part -- a convertible top. I'd probably look for a 2000/2001 SL500, excellent examples of which sell in the $25K range. This would leave at least ten grand left for gas, which should be good for at least a year's worth of driving!
As always, ymmv.
Mochi Mochi on April 14, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Nice work Chris. You picked out the perfect vehicle to summarize the most hated (for me) aspects of this SUV discussion. Sport Utility Vehicles - the name EMPHASIZES "utility". If these things were utilized for their "utility" as opposed to their status value, I'd be a lot happier - and less passionately opposed to them. I was going to decry the luxury SUV as something similar an insane fast food creation like the "Deep Fried Big Mac". But now I'm going to have to modify that position. The Touareg is more like some exotic meal made completely from endangered species. It would be a Deep Fried Big Mac with gold leaf and black truffles added to the special sauce.
I think it is great that VW can make such a wonderful engine. Truly a technological accomplishment. Now put it in a real car where it can do some good, and make it available to real people - not just the lawyers and execs.
Someone - I think it was Anthony - brought up class issues in this discussion. I agree - there are class issues. The SUV has its roots in working class vehicles. It has been corrupted and turned into a status symbol for the rich and privileged classes. These euro-luxo-SUVs make it that much worse. They are about as crass and unpatriotic as you can get. Can you put a more whale blubber on my foie gras, please?!
The marketing of this bloated high riding Road-Car-off-road-wannabes is only made worse by the need to name it after a nomadic tribe in the Sahara. What's up with Marketeers who need to exploit ethnic groups around the world by corrupting their names and attaching them to big-ass cars. We have the Touareg, the Cherokee and the Aztek. (in an effort not to offend Latinos, Jews, and African -Americans I wont mention the possible directions this corrupt naming convention could take - I'm sure we all get the idea.)
The marketing of SUVs is ALL about bolstering egos that need a lot of stroking. This takes it to a new high. Not content to frame their SUV like the parthenon dominating a mountain top, VW has theirs sailing sky-ward in the most unlikely framing possible. How else to appeal to the jet-set?
And in terms of class issues the fact remains that when SUVs are no longer in fashion they - these inefficient behemoths will end up in the driveways of the working poor. Just like the Lincoln Mark3 we saw featured a few weeks ago.
I'm with David Drucker here: the Lincoln Navigator would be a better choice than the Touareg. Somehow the Navigator would seem less debauched, dissolute, and crass. I'm thinking we should call in an air strike and start dropping Escalades and Hummers on these interloping euro-trash-luxo-cruisers.
After last week's adventures it takes a little extra energy to summon over-the-top hyperbole about SUVs, but I'm up for the challenge :) I'm getting all misty-eyed for a good old american truck. Sure these things are better cars than a 1970 Suburban but you'll see me driving a Touareg about the same time you see me going to the arctic to kill baby seals for their pelts. (There I got that old fire going again :)
By the way - the photoshop work in those marketing images is pathetically bad. You'd think that VW marketing would be able to hire better digital artists. But I guess that's the problem, when something isn't real it's really hard to fake it - CGI still looks like CGI - it's just a cartoon world.
Thanks for the laughs and good times.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on April 14, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Even if I were a truck person, I probably wouldn't spend that much for a truck.
That diesel motor, though . . . sweeeet! The technology from that is going to show up in other places, for sure.
David Drucker on April 14, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Mochi Mochi said: "some exotic meal made completely from endangered species."
Not SUV-related, but I can't help but be reminded of "The Freshman." If you haven't seen that wonderful movie -- with Marlon Brando & Matthew Broderick -- Netflix it right now. Or, if Netflix is too elitist, take advantage of the last gasps of cool weather, put on a coat with big pockets, and steal the DVD from your local Blockbuster. (Power to the People!)
Steaming Pile on April 14, 2008 at 12:56 PM
This is the exception to what the SUV thing was all about, which was 50 year old off-the-shelf technology sold at premium prices. GM would never make anything like the Touareg; it just doesn't fit their business model at all. I'm downright shocked that Volkswagen, of all people, would do it.
My question is, what do you do with a $68,000 (2009 model) truck? Haul bags of gravel? Not on your life. You're not even chewing gum in my $68,000 truck. Seriously, if I had $68,000 to blow on a vehicle, I'd get a Beemer (or Joe Dirt's Hemi) for fun and an old Ford F-150 to haul landscaping supplies.
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame on April 14, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Profiglately wasteful, yes.
But I still did a cars.com search to see what a used one was selling for.
They don't hold their value that well; a 2004 V6 can be had for around $16k. If I was in the market for a mid-sized (5 passenger) SUV, this would probably be an excellent used vehicle buy.
Caveats:
- I'm not sure what the TDI is going for second hand, though.
- I'm not sure what the reliability rating on the Touareg is.
- The absolutely very worst thing about this SUV is trying to remember how to spell its name. Yes, it's that bad. (tongue-in-cheek for the SUV haters)
Chris Hafner on April 14, 2008 at 01:06 PM
Steaming Pile: "My question is, what do you do with a $68,000 (2009 model) truck?"
Yeah, at that price it basically becomes a replacement for the BMW 5-series you had your eye on. I can't imagine hauling manure in the back.
I'm not sure what I'd do with it. I'd probably start it up, maybe pull somebody's house off its foundation just because, then put it back into the garage.
David Drucker on April 14, 2008 at 01:51 PM
Chris Hafner said: "maybe pull somebody's house off its foundation just because,"
Call me. With a respectful nod towards Gilbert & Sullivan, I've got a little list. (I'm just sayin'...)
Mochi Mochi on April 14, 2008 at 01:57 PM
David: I'm glad you got my reference to "The Freshman" - it was an amazing movie. Brando doing a sweet and good natured parody of the his role in "The Godfather".
Chris: "I'm not sure what I'd do with it. I'd probably start it up, maybe pull somebody's house off its foundation just because, then put it back into the garage."
Hmmm. I'd kind of like to see that - or try it myself. Sound fun, kind of like making a model and then blowing it up with a firecracker.
Steaming Pile on April 15, 2008 at 06:17 AM
@Nathan - what's even more amusing is how to PRONOUNCE Touareg. The most reasonable approximation is "toe rag," which a Cockney slang for a scoundrel, particularly one of the juvenile delinquent variety from what I see from watching EastEnders.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on April 15, 2008 at 08:11 AM
The Touareg tribesmen were the ones besieging Fort Zinderneuf in Beau Geste. Why VW didn't feature the French Foreign Legion in its ads is beyond me.
Matthew on April 16, 2008 at 06:46 AM
I'm not afraid to say that the day the TDI V 10 was announced I had to have one. I view that particular Touareg as "perfect." Sorry, SUV hatas.
XI on April 17, 2008 at 10:42 AM
And today, CarLust made me a slightly better person (i think). After reading Mochi Mochi's comment, I thought "Wow, is that what *I* sound like?" From now on, I resolve to be content with the fact that other people are entitled to their own opinions. Also, I will try to remember that, no matter how right I think I am, I sound like a child protesting vegetables.
XI on April 17, 2008 at 11:57 AM
hehe, just read "SUV throwdown." day late dollar short i guess.
Mochi Mochi on April 17, 2008 at 08:10 PM
WOW?!! I made someone a better person - cool! I will now rant about the vast vegetable conspiracy and refuse to eat them.
The great thing about a good rant is that you can only mean 50% of what you say, but you have to sound like you really mean it from the depths of your heart and soul. It's good for the spleen - kind of like eating a lot of garlic. and if it does a little good in this world so much the better :)
XI on April 18, 2008 at 11:46 AM
yes, that is very true. Don't forget, once a position has been taken, it must not be ceded... ever! ;) Also, if it is a series of rants, each must be longer than the last. (although, i think of that as more of a guide line.)