Mountain-Flattening V8 Performance
A V8-powered Volkswagen Touareg was the vehicle of choice for a get-into-summer driving vacation, which led us into the arid
lands that lie beyond the mountains bordering my hometown. Although the trip found us negotiating some tremendously high mountain passes, it was all done on pavement, so testing the off-road ability of the Touareg will have to await future opportunities. Nonetheless, I undertook to perform the duties of a diligent automotive journalist by testing and scrutinizing VW's subject matter as exhaustively as possible.
Cracking open the door of this week's tester flooded my senses with the smell of tanned leather and the sight of starkly contrasting colors. The 2005 Touareg melds the elegance of a Rolls Royce with the ruggedness of a Willys Jeep in a package that's more attractive and less expensive than its Porsche Cayenne cousin. More attractive, one may question, but in my eyes VW has put a much happier face on the front of the Touareg than Porsche has on the nose of its Cayenne. From windscreen back, though, the vehicles are equally attractive, well-proportioned and clean-looking. I particularly like the large greenhouse effect produced by the expansive
sheets of glass surrounding the Touareg's cabin, including the rear window, which doubles as an access hatch.
In the last decade or so, VW has forced a mindset shift on most folks by altering the perception that the brand is synonymous with frugality. The high-end Phaeton sedan and the Touareg are largely responsible for establishing it as a builder of premium automobiles; however, I am still not sure that older generations buy the concept. My elderly father, once a car buff himself, would have difficulty accepting the notion that VW now builds vehicles capable of leading the pack rather than impeding the pack, but lead is what the Touareg V8 does.
A V8-powered Volkswagen Touareg was the vehicle of choice for a get-into-summer driving vacation, which led us into the arid
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| A V8-powered Volkswagen Touareg was the vehicle of choice for a get-into-summer driving vacation. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
Cracking open the door of this week's tester flooded my senses with the smell of tanned leather and the sight of starkly contrasting colors. The 2005 Touareg melds the elegance of a Rolls Royce with the ruggedness of a Willys Jeep in a package that's more attractive and less expensive than its Porsche Cayenne cousin. More attractive, one may question, but in my eyes VW has put a much happier face on the front of the Touareg than Porsche has on the nose of its Cayenne. From windscreen back, though, the vehicles are equally attractive, well-proportioned and clean-looking. I particularly like the large greenhouse effect produced by the expansive
 |
| VW has forced a mindset shift on most folks by altering the perception that the brand is synonymous with frugality. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
In the last decade or so, VW has forced a mindset shift on most folks by altering the perception that the brand is synonymous with frugality. The high-end Phaeton sedan and the Touareg are largely responsible for establishing it as a builder of premium automobiles; however, I am still not sure that older generations buy the concept. My elderly father, once a car buff himself, would have difficulty accepting the notion that VW now builds vehicles capable of leading the pack rather than impeding the pack, but lead is what the Touareg V8 does.