Test drive Volkswagen Touareg 2002 - 2007 SUV

The ship of the desert

Not even a very expensive car is a means of exposing the owner. In the road, at least half of the cost does not go on what is necessary, but to what you want. And to satisfy the most exquisite needs of ordinary production. The Volkswagen orders the most demanding customers are served by the Individual. Creating the most powerful version of Touareg - W12 - also entrusted to him.
Riverless people explain the popularity of SUVs in Russia with low quality roads. Cynics say that the majority of the population is somehow controlled with ordinary cars, so the abundance of all-wheel drive monsters on city streets is a consequence of the desire to show their opportunities, either depict inflated needs. Pragmatists believe that even a far -fetched need from the point of view of the client looks completely real and its satisfaction is no worse than solving an objectively existing problem. Among those who sell SUVs, most pragmatists are most. It was they who, without any complexes, responded to the desire of customers to have cars that are theoretically able to overcome serious obstacles, but at the same time have a luxurious finish that is poorly compatible with dirty jeans and boots. And the wheels on which it is stupid to travel not like off -road, but even on a simple country. Understanding the unnaturalness of such cars does not prevent us from sincerely rejoice at the very fact of their existence. How can you not admire Volkswagen Touareg W12 - a huge station wagon that is able to accelerate to hundreds in less than six seconds? In the end, Rembrandt’s paintings also do not solve any practical problems - even holes in the wallpaper do not close them.
To see and hear. The very fact of the presence of a 450-horsepower engine under the hood of an exclusivity is enough-after all, only one SUV-Porsche Cayenne can boast of such a power in the Old World. But the VW is the largest: six liters - despite the fact that all competitors do not reach five.
The buyer can order W12 Sport in one of three body colors: silver, black and blue. The latter is designed exclusively for this modification and is called Deepblue, but for the Russian eye this color is rather bright than deep. But in any case, very Volkswagenovsky. There is also a version of W12 Executive, for which the choice of colors is much wider, but there is no DeepBlue in the list.
Inside, we will also not be allowed to forget that we were in the world of the elect. Sports seats have a combination coating of leather and alcantara, and aluminum inserts on the consoles, instrument panels and doors are not just trimmed for frosty tin - this drawing is called Engine Spin Hell, blood speeds. Honestly, this option looks less convincing than the salon completely sheathed with leather, which we saw in the usual Touareg, which passed through the VW Individual. In fact, in Individual you can order almost any option for decoration of the cabin - at least by color and material.
On the road, everything is clear, predictable and joyful. The desired dynamics is achieved, despite the decent mass of the car-a 2.5-ton Touareg W12 even heavier Porsche Cayenne. The six -band box works almost perfectly and switches without any delays and shocks. The suspension seems more rigid than on ordinary Touareg. Most likely, this is due not only to special setting, but also with tires - the standard on W12 Sport have a profile height of only 45 percent.
It is surprising that the engine in the cabin is almost inaudible. This delicacy is not associated with the aristocratic origin of the power unit - its older brothers are on Phaeton and Bentley Continental. Outside, the motor is perfectly audible - it is worth only the turns to exceed the idle. So the silence in the cabin is explained simply by excellent sound insulation. Special thanks to those who tuned the exhaust system - the sound, it turns out, is very pleasant.
Sneakers and boots. It is not difficult to guess the specifics of the W12 orientation, so the off -road opportunities of Touareg at the off -road training ground were demonstrated by another VW Individual - Touareg Expedition. It is not difficult to recognize it by the tent on the roof with a strong welded frame and by additional headlights. The kit also includes a suspension, raising the body by 25 mm, and a special gray color. We do not let you on the route on W12 not because it will not be able to pass it - the same is the same on the chassis of the capacity of the car. It’s just more difficult to implement them on high -speed road rubber. We do not climb into the mud in sneakers - there are boots for this, ”says Alexander Skibe, responsible for Touareg in Volkswagen Kommunikation.
I had to make sure of the off -road possibilities of Touareg for Expections. The car easily overcame the monstrous lifts in appearance. Although in fact, the descents look much worse. You just need to drown out the mountain to the full. Do not forget only to slow down in time, after the car gets out to the top - so, just in case. After all, it is not known what is there, at an excess. The descent on some 60 percent slope from the place of the driver looks like this: at first we just have the sky, then slowly, slowly, we lower the face down on the brakes and after that we admire only the slope itself and the site awaiting us below us. A high degree of Touareg automation allows you to use brakes - thanks to the ABS and, as it was in our case, the car retains the dryness of the slope of the slope. This is the only way to go down normally: it is worth the car to go sideways, how the risk of overturning increases sharply.
Electronics showed itself perfectly with diagonal hanging. Having hung on two wheels, Touareg quickly stopped the meaningless scroll of those two that in the air, and slowly but surely crawled through the hillocks and holes, clinging to preserving the grip of wheels. The classic way in this case is to block differentials. Here electronics itself understands what needs to be done.
The hardest in circulation with all this automatic is to believe her. For example, the descent control system itself will maintain constant speed, but in order for it to act, you need to throw all the pedals. And this is hard psychologically. Even from the third or fourth time. Although the owners of Touareg W12, in order to experience this problem, must first at least change the wheels.

Text Valery Chusov photo Andrey Gordasevich

Volkswagen Touareg W12 Sport
 
Gasoline, 12-cylinder engine, W-shaped
Working volume (cubic cub) 5998
Power (L.S. at rpm) 450 at 6000
Moment (nm at rpm) 600 at 3250
The drive is complete
Gearbox 6-speed automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 4754/1977/1703
Wheel base (mm) 2855
Mass weight (kg) 2480
Maximum speed (km/h) 250
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 5.9
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 22.7/11.9
The cost of the tested car from $ 156 545
 

Touareg off -road capabilities are shown by another VW Individual GmbH: Touareg Expedition. In addition to additional headlights, increased suspension and off -road rubber, by order it can be protected by the engine and many other things useful in the long journey. Diagonal hanging, climbing and, most importantly, descents demonstrate the readiness of the machine for the conquest of real off -road, which the majority of Touareg is unlikely to see.
 

Source: "Autopilot"