spent some time with the Touareg diesel exec. Really enjoyed it, nice interior, the boatload of torque was fun. Would be interesting to see what sort of power they get with a tune. Really good range too gets like 8-900km to a tank.
Thanks. We absolutely love the interior. I wonder how well they hold up over time?
That’s not stellar mileage…I believe it has a large 100L tank.
I’ve test driven the gas and diesel Touareg’s a few times and was about 5min from signing the paperwork on an Executive before we decided to have a good look at the q5 3.0T. IMO, the overall interior of the VW is slightly below the quality of an Audi but only by a small margin. It shares many Audi buttons/switches but feels a bit behind in certain aspects. I’m also not a fan of touchscreen interfaces. The seats were also a bit of a disappointment compared to Audi. The VW seats were a bit short on the seat/leg support and had no extension option. For shorter drivers this wouldn’t be as much of a problem…I’m 6’3.
The Aisin 8 speed transmission is solid/smooth and engine is excellent. The rear end is also very stable and feels quite planted for towing. Keep in mind that if you are towing large loads and want to use weight distribution, German hitches are not designed to withstand the torque involved. Long story on why that is but there are options to alleviate that problem.
Thank you. We looked at the Q5’s, but they seemed smaller??? We are open to a Q7 TDI, but guess there will be a 5-10K mark up.
The q5 is a bit smaller but I guess it depends on your needs/wants. The largest difference is the feel of the cabin width but I’ve never felt cramped in the q5. The rear legroom is about the same… the Q5 might actually be a bit larger back there. The Vw’s rear hatch storage is only a couple cubic feet larger, hardly noticeable. Beside each other the Q5 and the Touareg look very similarly sized.
The Q5 handles better than the VW, you can feel the weight difference. The Q5 drives much “smaller”. The Aisin 8 speed is pretty good but the ZF 8 speed is ridiculously good for an auto. The 2.0T wasn’t quite enough for the Q5, the TDI and 3.0T make it much better.
The q7 has a stretched chassis and is much bigger than the VW…after driving a q7 I knew it wasn’t for me.
Q7 is so dated now, If you are worried about an interior aging I would pass on that. Buying a Q7 would give you as much buyers regret as people who bought the mustang Gt the year before they gave it an extra 100hp.
I think the Q5 and touareg have awesome interiors, they are different enough that it’s really just personal preference.
the new ml gl whatever 350 bluetech is very popular locally. I know 2 people who bought them this year. (ml350 i think)
I’m not sure of your budget but have you tested a Cayenne diesel? The Porsche is by far the best sorted out of the Touareg/q7/cayenne platform…the suspension is on another level. It will likely be my next tow vehicle when the Q5 lease is up.
We are trying to stay under 45K, which is whey we are looking in the used market. We are using the fact that we will pay cash as a bargaining chip.