Volkswagen was fashionably late to the SUV party with its Touareg SUV in 2004, but the truck more than made up for its tardiness with its combination of off-road capability, style, and European refinement – traditionally the hallmarks of Land Rovers – at prices competitive with domestic offerings. For Touareg's fourth birthday, VW revisited its sport utility, giving it a subtle refresh and changing enough pieces that it is now given the title of "Touareg 2".

Early incarnations of the base model Touareg were criticized for being ponderous; although the 3.2 V6 provided ample power for hot hatches and family sedans, it left VW’s largest vehicle wanting more. This time around, VW responded with a 3.6-liter direct-injected V6 mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission (the 4.2-liter V8 gets a bump to 350 horsepower, thanks to direct fuel injection, and the 310-horsepower V10 diesel is carried over). The resulting 280 horsepower won’t move mountains, but it’s plenty for a satisfying highway cruise.

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Are they bringing back the VR6 name now? like are they gonna call the passat 3.6's VR6's now?

1998 GTI VR6 -- Balance is the key
1998 Jetta Wolfsburg -- The workhorse

Quote, originally posted by Jman5000 »

The more sideways the hat, the simpler the metrics have to become.

------KILL UGLY RADIO-------

well, the b5 and b5.5 werent vr6's, they were just the regular 2.8 v6. Now the b6 has the vr6 again.

"lower it, oh wait you live in the north nvm"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35320014@N08/

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Bourne

Quote, originally posted by nicoli »

Gahhh, look at the wheel gap!!! Looks like it's gonna go off-roading or something...oh, wait.

Yeah, I dunno why it's so large in that pic, my '07 "3.6 VR6" doesn't look nearly that bad. Wonder if it get's a VR6 badge...

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

How about a chassis that's 800lbs lighter?

Quote, originally posted by The408R32 »

Something's wrong. I see a Dodge Durango with VW badges.

Yeah, ur right man, funny I never noticed it b4, they're absolutely, positively, unbelievably identical.

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

because it would be the R36 and that's already done in the Passat.

So can this new one tow more or is it still a jacked up Golf with 4-Motion?

You mean more than 7,700 lbs ?

We are sorry to inform you that your credibility rating just dipped 80 points and now sits at a new record low of minus 80.

VW EV, plug-in Hybrid, and/or 1.4-2.0 VVT&VVL T/dual-charged FSI engines for the US would be useful...

Wow, kinda harsh..... I thought it had the normal blend of light-heartedness and useful info, like most test drive write-ups on here. Not sure where you saw bias. She was pretty critical of the ergonomics.

Gee, I just can't figure out why VW doesn't sell about 250,000 of these things a year.

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BEER + CARS=

X2

I'm actually more impressed with the T2 then. They caught up with the rest of the market.

LOL... time to trade in my fast Bug for this??? Even if I had kids I would be rocking a passat or something. I guess I will never understand the SUV market segment.

Caught up with the rest of the market??? Its been able to tow that much since its introduction 4 years ago. The X5, M-Class, and RX, weren't even close to that number in 2004.

The Touareg was a class leading vehicle when it was introduced. There wasn't another make where you could get the combination of on-road comfort, luxury amentities/interior comfort, off road performance, and towing capacity. Too bad it was all tarnished by the reliability of the '04 models.

Seth

Comparable quality AWD vehicles from other manufacturers cost the same. Drive one, you'll like it.

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

I have one AND a fast bug!

BTW, I woulda rocked a new Passat wagon, but not with Tip, I really, really hate Tip.

Modified by Billsbug at 11:20 AM 10-22-2007

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

BTW the reason the Touareg is not a volume seller is not the price point.
It's because:
A. It's competition has "badge status" over it in many cases, and people don't care about actual content as much as they do about image.
B. The Touareg is way over-engineered for the majority of the U.S. market, have you noticed they don't even sell it in 2WD config (a lot of the competition does).
The Touareg is not designed to get groceries and pick up kids from soccer practice and make sure everyone else but you dies when you get into an accident because you weren't paying attention to actually driving. Thus it's destined to be a failure in the U.S.

--In the MKV Forums since it consisted of 5 Jetta 2.5 owners and 5,000 people screaming "OMG NOOEZZZ IT'S A CAMRY!!11!!!!!1."--

Quote, originally posted by Jesus Christ »

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

There's a lot of intra-VW hate between all VW models!

BTW, swapped out my wimpy V6 badge for a VR6 badge this past weekend, along with a chrome with black lettering 4-Motion badge I found on e-bay Germany. Looks the business, I'll post a pic manana.

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

--In the MKV Forums since it consisted of 5 Jetta 2.5 owners and 5,000 people screaming "OMG NOOEZZZ IT'S A CAMRY!!11!!!!!1."--

Quote, originally posted by Jesus Christ »

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Crappy pic from seller, much nicer in the flesh: http://cgi.ebay.de/VW-4-MOTION...wItem

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."

Did you miss the 5th gear where they tow a 747 Jumbo Jet with a toureg?

Past Rides -
84 Rabbit GTi, 84 Rabbit GTi (AutoXer) 91 Jetta GLi, 90 Jetta GL 92 Corrado SLC, 90 Corrado G60 Stg IV, 92 Corrado SLC; 90 Corrado G60, 91 Corrado G60. 99 Jetta WE, 97 Jetta TDi, 97 Jetta GLX, 95 Jetta GLX, 95 Jetta GL, 94 Jetta GL 96 Passat TDi 97 A4 1.8t 85 325e, 87 325iC, 86 325e 85 190e 2.3 16v

Ever priced out SUV's that don't have a blue oval on the front?

BUY MY JETTA!

.....and I want(ed) the V6 TDI.

Quote, originally posted by riceburner »

"BAAHAA!!!! I just spent two pages of a NB thread explaining that to a bunch of VW 'vert psychos."

Quote, originally posted by VarianceVQ »

"Haven't you seen Top Gear? Beetles are sinister, evil MFers."