Volkswagen Touareg 3.6 FSI Review: Tour de force

What we like:

Improved performance and efficiency

high quality cabin

excellent outward visibility from the driver's seat

spacious cabin

superbly equipped

superb eight-speed auto

What we dislike:

Still a big

thirsty off roader

ride can be a little busy on bumpy road

some Golf switchgear inside

The Touareg offers acres of room inside. There's great head and legroom (thanks to a 38mm longer wheelbase) at the rear even for the tallest of passengers. There's a larger boot than previously that is accessed by an electrically operated tailgate, and the rear seats can be folded away with the press of a button in the boot area should more load area is required.

Up front, the driver and passenger get new electrically adjustable seats that are superbly comfortable while the all-new dashboard is an ergonomic delight. The easy-to-read instruments are flanked by a colour screen that displays setting for the stereo, the MFD as well as directions for the standard sat nav. The large touch screen display on the centre console has a further trick up its sleeve - with the optional Area View, it can display images from four wide-angle cameras placed on the exterior. Together, these cameras can relay to the screen an accurate image of the car's surroundings. This is not only useful for the off road environment where the driver can spot boulders, rocks or ditches to avoid but also use it to more accurately parallel park against a kerb or drain without opening the door to look out!

Perceived luxury and overall quality is a notch above Volkswagen models like the Golf and Passat even though some of the switchgear, like those on the multi function steering wheel is shared with lesser models. The Touareg comes standard with loads of luxurious kit - keyless operation, a superb sounding CD stereo system with an internal hard drive (no USB or iPod connectivity though), trip computer, sat nav, parking sensors, electrically operated tailgate, bi-Xenon headlamps, a panoramic sunroof and so on.

In addition to the 3.6 petrol tested here, the Touareg can also be had in 3.0 TDi diesel guise on an indent basis. Good enough the petrol version might be but a diesel will surely make more sense for such a large off-roader but if only there wasn't such a thing as a diesel passenger car tax structure here in Singapore.

Despite its familiar looks, the Touareg makes for a rather compelling luxury SUV choice thanks to the raft of improvements over the old model, its all-round ability and the plethora of standard kit that comes with it.

Credits: Story and Photos by Raymond Lai