Wearing T-crown with pride

TOUAREG: SUPERB ENGINE IN 3.0 LITRE V6 TURBO DIESEL MILL PRODUCING 190KW OF POWER

- Jaco van der Merwe

It's hard to believe that it has been two decades since the Volkswagen Touareg was introduced locally.

The television ad of a father taking his estranged teenage son on an epic road-trip to bond to the tune of Arno Carstens' Another Universe still makes this writer think about those visuals whenever he hears the song.

That is so long ago that that laaitie probably has a teenage laaitie of his own in real life now. A lot has changed in the Volkswagen stable since 2004 as more T-model SUVs have spawned than tadpoles in a roadside puddle after heavy rains.

But the Touareg, which was bolstered by its racing version bagging four Dakar Rally titles in its early days, is still the crown jewel in Wolfsburg's portfolio. It not only heads the family of T-something SUVs, but all their entire product line-up in R-Line guise.

Now in its third generation, the VW Touareg received a range of updates this year. As the refreshed model arrived in August without the customary media launch drive, The Citizen Motoring had to wait its turn to finally get a drive last month.