Volksawagen Touareg Hybrid brief Test Drive and Review

Recently I had a an opportunity to take the new Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid for a drive around and 17 Mile Drive and Carmel. This luxurious SUV offers a lot of features at a price starting at $60,565. It’s the first hybrid from Volkswagen and is their flagship vehicle. Having experienced a previous generation Porsche Cayenne, I’m not surprised at how much I liked it. And this generation weighs 400lbs less than the previous. That is a massive weight savings.


The gasoline engine is the excellent supercharged V-6 from the Audi line-up also rated at 333hp. Can’t tell if it’s also seemingly underrated here but it is in parallel to an electric motor rated at 46hp. Not sure how VW comes up with 380hp but close enough. The combination offers 425lbs/torque and connected to an 8-speed automatic transmission. One would think the Audi S4 would have a higher horsepower rating or the Touareg a lower one when sharing a motor.

The electric motor is only 3.3” thick and sits between the engine and transmission. A computer controlled clutch allows for IC (internal combustion) engine shutdown while the electric motor is in operation. The battery pack weighs 174lbs and sits under the cargo floor.

It drives beautifully, smooth and quiet. What I did notice was how it rocks on its springs when accelerating and braking. Maybe that is where the 5,135lbs shows itself. The acceleration is however nice and brisk. Interestingly, 6thgear is the 1:1 ratio gear which means 7thand 8thare strictly for mileage. As a reference, typically 4this a 1:1 ratio but there is no rule to follow these days, especially with imports. More gear ratios in an automatic or dual clutch transmission means quicker acceleration provided the lower gear ratios are fairly aggressive. That is Porsches “secret” with their twin turbo Panamera (see past article).

The gas gauge seems huge, taking up 5/6ths of an entire dial. Silly, being a hybrid is already fully realized on the display. Also the interior styling is very rectangular with the dash displays and rear view mirror. No curving organic themes here. The push and turn key function to start it actually confounded one of the drivers. Offsetting the dark yet classy interior, the sunroof is quite large and quite nice. One complaint I had while driving behind it the taillights are not very noticeable when the brake lights are on. I was a little taken aback by that.

It’s an expensive SUV and the thought of being a hybrid is rather laughable considering the extra weight and cost it adds. If it makes you feel better, and you can afford it, cost isn’t really an issue. Sometimes it’s just about convenience. A city rating of 20mpg and highway at 26mpg with a 26.4 gallon fuel tank can cover a lot of ground in a luxurious atmosphere and having to make less stops for fuel. However, the less-quick turbo-diesel model (and less aggressively geared) has a 19mpg city and 28mpg rating highway for about $3,000 less.

Check out all the specs here: http://www.vw.com/en/models/touareg/trims-specs.s9_trimlevel_detail.suffix.html/2011_touareg~2Ftsi.html#/tab=2d3de9429513b722f58a1d0a7430d067

Car & Driver’s instrumented comparison test vs. the Diesel model. The hybrid ran a 5.9 second 0-60mph and 14.5 @ 95mph quarter mile: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/11q1/2011_volkswagen_touareg_v6_tdi_vs._2011_touareg_hybrid-comparison_tests
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