Volkswagen Touareg TDI, an AW Drivers Log

BOB GRITZINGER:  I drove the Mazda CX-9 and the Chevy Traverse prior to this Touareg--and I came away highly impressed by the VW. Yes, this ute only seats five by comparison, but overall, it's night and day when it comes to ride quality, driving prowess and equipment. The Traverse is a front-driver at that price, while neither the Traverse nor the CX-9 came equipped with navigation for those prices. So if you subtract a few thousand for navigation, and add $5,000 to $7,000 for the diesel, the pricing gets a little closer.
As for the value of the diesel, while on paper both the Traverse and the Touareg have the same EPA combined mileage (20 mpg), and the CX-9 is 17 mpg, our real-world results show the Touareg actually exceeded its estimate (20.6 mpg) while the Traverse posted a lowly 14 mpg (the CX-9 put up a range of 15.4 mpg to 18.6 mpg). The car had about 350 miles on the trip odo when I parked it this morning, and just less than half a tank of fuel left. That's some serious range, a highly valued attribute here in the wide-open U.S. of A.
Mileage doesn't tell the whole story, however: This diesel is a pavement-ripping powerhouse, getting this 2.5-ton chunk of weight up to speed surprisingly easily, and without any real notice other than torque galore that said there was a diesel at the other end of the throttle linkage. I bet the list of gasoline engines making 400 lb-ft of torque and 20 mpg while pushing that kind of weight is quite limited.
To me, that's near enough to make the Touareg diesel worth the extra money. But the vehicle's real value became crystal clear to me when I needed to make a quick cross-town trip against a time deadline. Though no laws were broken (at least not until the final dash down a private driveway), the diesel's ability to run from zero to speed limit in a few quick seconds made the difference over the course of a 12-mile drive where every second counted.
All of that doesn't even get into VW's great job of managing this heavy dude's handling, keeping body roll in check without making the ride unbearably pounding. Steering and braking contributed to a sense of control and solidity. I noted that this test car, a 2009 model, had in excess of 20,000 miles on the clock, and there was nary a noise in the cabin.
If you don't have to haul more than five passengers and you like the idea of filling up every 600 miles or so, the Touareg TDI is strong option. Pricey, but it might very well be worth it!

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100305/CARREVIEWS/100309946#ixzz0hQdYuvAz