VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG

Big 4x4s with big diesel engines: things to forget or preserve? We intend to find out

- RICHARD LANE

FIRST REPORT

WHY WE'RE RUNNING IT

To discover whether this disarmingly straightforward SUV is an anachronism or something to quietly covet

Welcome all to the newest W member of the Autocar long-term test fleet. It's a Volkswagen Touareg of the CR generation, introduced in 2018 but last year slightly facelifted. This specific car also happens to be exquisitely straightforward in its specification. It has four-wheel drive, it has an enormous interior, it has good ground clearance and, perhaps best of all, under the long bonnet is nothing more complex or less perfectly suited to this format than a big turbo diesel engine.

Volkswagen's 3.0-litre V6 makes 282bhp and a satisfactorily thuggish 443lb ft of torque in this tune. It's the type of engine that for years was considered 'the one to have' in big, family-oriented SUVs like the Touareg but prove far harder to find nowadays. Petrol is now prevalent in line-ups; so too is some degree of electrification, often with a fall in cylinder count. You can't buy the BMW or Mercedes-Benz equivalent to the Touareg with an unadorned six-cylinder diesel - and amazingly the same applies even to a Land Rover Discovery. People who tow, drive long distances or simply enjoy feeling a torrent of torque come on tap from a little over tickover might therefore feel a little deprioritised. But not by the trusty Touareg, of course.