Feb 9th, 2011 by Ross Edwards
The 2011 Volkswagen Touareg offers a large SUV with luxury features and serious off-road capabilities without the ostentatious looks of a luxury SUV. The 2011 Touareg starts at $44,450, so buyers who are very concerned about looks will probably be better served by an SUV from a full-fledged luxury brand.
The 2011 VW Touareg comes standard with luxury features like a panoramic sunroof, automatic opening rear liftgate, push-button ignition, 12-way power seats with memory function and heated leather seating front and rear, so luxury buyers who aren’t worried about being flashy should be happy with the Touareg’s interior.
The 2011 VW Touareg is available with three different engine choices. The base model comes with a 280-hp V6 engine that gets 16-mpg city and 23-mpg highway and makes 300 lb-ft of torque. The Touareg TDI diesel-powered models get 225-hp and 406 lb-ft of torque with 19-mpg city and 28-mpg highway. The new VW Touareg hybrid uses a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 engine along with an electric motor to make 380-hp and 425 lb-ft of torque and gets 20-mpg city and 24-mpg highway. All 2011 Touareg models have a 7,700 lb towing capacity.
Main competition for the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg comes from other not-so-flashy large SUVs like the Volvo XC90 and Acura MDX, but also from the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz ML350. Buyers who are concerned about flaunting their wealth will have an easier choice, since the Touareg and XC90 won’t garner much attention.
Horsepower and gas mileage in the premium large SUV category is pretty much a dead heat. The V6-powered Touareg is comparable with the V6 editions of the competing trucks. The Touareg has 280 horsepower, less than the 300-hp Acura MDX and BMW X5 xDrive35i, but more than the 240 in the XC90 and the 258 in the ML350. All of the SUVs are rated at 16-mpg city, and the Touareg is at the top of the group with 23-mpg highway. The BMW X5 matches the Touareg with 23-mpg highway, while the XC90 gets 22, the MDX 21 and the ML350 gets 20-mpg highway.
The Touareg has less storage capacity than the competition with just 64 cubic feet. The Acura MDX has 83.5 cubic feet, the Mercedes ML35 has 72, the Volvo XC90 has 85.1 and the BMW X5 has 75.2 cubic feet.
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