Technical characteristics of the Volkswagen Touareg

The Touareg is the first all-wheel drive mid-size crossover in the line of cars from the German company Volkswagen, the production of which began in 2002. It was developed jointly by three companies - Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche with the aim of creating a universal SUV with the habits of a sports car. As a result, the universal automobile platform Volkswagen Group PL71 was created, on the basis of which are also built Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, although these cars differ in design, equipment and technical characteristics. Other classmates are considered cars of the following brands - Chevrolet Tahoe, BMW X5, Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Land Rover Discovery, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus RX.

The name of the car was chosen in honor of the nomadic Tuareg people, who live in the Sahara Desert and regions of North Africa. More than 850 thousand cars of the first two generations were produced.

Tuareg I (2002-2010)

on September 26, 2002, the first Volkswagen SUV was presented at the Paris Motor Show. The car's interior is finished very well using both modern and traditionally expensive materials, such as wood and aluminum. Functionality and convenience are provided by all modern achievements in the automotive industry: seats with 6 settings, a microclimate system, individual lighting sources, many boxes and holders. Car safety is also not the last place: ESP, RDK, ABS, EBC, HBA systems, 6 airbags, belts with pretensioning and others.

The Touareg is equipped with quite powerful V-shaped engines with six or eight cylinders on gasoline or diesel fuel. There is a limited edition with V-shaped ten-cylinder turbodiesels. Transmission 6-speed manual and automatic with differential locks and downshift. Also optionally, you can install air suspension, which allows you to increase the ground clearance to 30 cm to improve off-road performance.

In 2007, the car was restyled. The exterior design was mainly changed, the interior was slightly redesigned, and many modern electronic systems were added: ABS-plus, adaptive cruise control, blind spot scanner, rollover sensor, and a more reliable automatic transmission was installed.

Touareg II (2010-2018)

The second generation was presented in Munich at the beginning of 2010. The body became a little bigger: length +43 mm, width +12 mm, but the height decreased by 20 mm. But the most important changes are the addition of new modern electronic systems.

An interesting innovation is the adaptive lighting system, which reduces the illumination of oncoming cars, but does not compromise the illumination of the road. To the existing first-generation systems, they added an upgraded adaptive cruise control with distance control, a collision warning system, a lane departure warning system, active suspension, a full perimeter view using video cameras, a GPS navigator, and others.

The engine lineup includes petrol engines with a capacity of 3.0 to 4.2 litres and a power of 280 to 360 hp and turbocharged diesel engines with a capacity of 3.0 to 4.2 litres and a power of 204 to 340 hp. There is only one transmission left - an 8-speed automatic transmission Aisin. Volkswagen also released the first hybrid car with a petrol engine with a capacity of 3.0 litres (333 hp) in tandem with an electric motor with a capacity of 47 hp.

Touareg II 2010 year, back view

Dashboard Volkswagen Touareg II

Volkswagen Touareg II 2015 year

Touareg III (2018-present)

The third generation of the Volkswagen Touareg was introduced in March 2018. This car is based on the platform "Volkswagen Group MLB", which has already been used for Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne. The drag coefficient has been reduced from 0.35 in the second generation to 0.32. The car has become slightly larger and its dimensions are now - length 4878 mm, width 1984 mm, height 1717 mm, wheelbase 2904 mm. The curb weight has decreased slightly due to more active use of aluminum and is 2020-2070 kg. The trunk volume with the rear seats folded has increased by more than 100 liters and is 810 liters. With optional air suspension, the maximum ground clearance is 258 mm. The car can overcome climbs up to 60° and ford 490-570 mm deep.

There were two models of petrol engines - a four-cylinder in-line 2.0-litre (1984 cm³, EA888, 252 hp) and a 3.0-liter V-6 (2995 cm³, EA839) with a capacity of 340 hp for the regular model, 381 hp for the hybrid version and 462 hp for the sports version "R". There are also two diesel engines - a six-cylinder V-shaped 3.0-liter (2967 cm³, EA897 evo2, 231/268 hp) and an eight-cylinder V-shaped 4.0-liter volume (3956 cm³, EA898, 421 hp). The transmission is only an eight-speed automatic.

In 2018, the car was tested for safety by the European committee Euro NCAP, as a result of which the overall rating was 5 stars out of 5. See the table for details.

Touareg III, back view

Touareg III, interior

Touareg III, trunk