It's a toss-up between the T1 and the T2. The T2 could be better because it did not lose the ruggedness of the T1 as it upgraded minor things. I also like the looks of the T2. The T1 is the original and who could argue that. All of this, of course, is only with air suspension and 4XMotion. If not, what's the difference between a T1 and T3?

There are, however, MANY T3 owners on here, and I look forward to a rebuttal...

 

I agree with what you're saying about the T2, its everything the T1 was and more. The only thing keeping me from saying its better is its looks

I mean the premium feel and tank-line feeling of the T1 and T2. The T3 lost that I think, and in my opinion interior materials have taken a small step down as well.

 

And look at all the options that were available during the T1's run. You could get an f'ing V10! The V8 was no slacker either. Air suspension, low range transfer case, a variety of diff. lockers, many different packages (winter, lux, tech, etc.). They were also much more customizable with body kits, colors, and aftermarket goodies.

The T3: do you want 18, 19, or 20" wheels? Do you want that in gray or white? Ok. Here you go. Now get out.

 

It all depends what you want. Mine will never see dirt, let alone offroad. I bought the T3 TDI Exec over the Cayenne. On-road performance, luxury, fuel efficiency. Those were my needs. I dropped large $$ on one so what else am I suppose to say?

Truth be told, I love all of them. In 6 months of research I actually worked my way from purchasing a 'beater' T1 to a T2, then a TDI T2, then a Certified TDI T2. Then, hells bells, I drove a T3 and that was IT!

 

2010 TDI with Air. 'Nuff Said, Smoked tails win over T1s. Silver roof bars win over T1 roof bars. T2 V8 is an upgrade. Adaptive lights. Pretty slick. In fact, purists deny the T2 even exists....the current Touareg is arguably the T2 platform.

That said, I still like my T1. It has aged well.

Would I buy a T3? Absolutely. They look smaller, 99% of the time a steel suspension is fine. Get new 240hp TDI? better nav system? sat radio? and can still tow 7700#? Pano roof? Good for me.

VW has done a good job keeping the important stuff relevant, improving mileage and reliability, still keeping the rig in a price band that creeps into luxury car territory.

That said, T2 and T3 owners stand on the shoulders of the T1.

Maddening electronic glitches, stepper motor failures, air canisters that blew out, compasses that would drain your battery, the infamous alt-batt-starter groundectomy...you name it...T1 owners are the grizzled fools at the end of the bar when the new T3 guys walk in.

Sure is a boring forum w/o T1 content, too. Thanks for asking.

 

Complete and utter fantasized rationalization. NO V10 in T2 or T3. Enough said. Argument over. You want reliability buy a Toyota. Want sexy looks buy a BMW or Porsche. V10 baby. Tough, bad ass. drips testosterone, nothing in T2 or T3 comes close. Argument over.

 

The front end of the T1 shows it age, but it is still my favorite. The interior is timeless in my eyes and looks very business lux. The rear end of the T1 v8 is perfect. Fat wide fenders and low slung roof (without the roof rails) looks very audi sports car.

The t2 got the best headlights IMO but the T3 is far from what the touareg was.

 

It definitely does show its age but IMO it's the most badass and masculine looking, and some mods can make it look quite menacing. I couldn't agree more about the interior, I feel like the T3 falters here, it is more high tech, but isn't incredible, I still get "oohs" and "ahhs" when people enter my Touareg (T1), I do have the light brown/reddish leather however which makes it look more exotic.

 

I loved the options of the early t1s, ie: the ALL leather interior of my V10 was sumptuous, at the time (and today really) you can't find an all leather interior in anything <$100k. The 4 zone air and air suspension was way advanced in its day.

That said the early T1s had their gremlims (I went through two of them!)...and the T1 body T2 mechanicals of the 07 was a big improvement

The electromechanical steering in the 07s was amazing, 1970s cadillac 1 finger turning in the parking lot, german car stiff on the highway...it was nice to be running a 4.2 FSI engine just like the A8 and R8. Too much like the original T1 though and the updates in the T2 became too tempting, so I bought one..

THe T2 is sweet, seats are waaaay better than the T1, the headlights are the best I've ever driven behind, RNS510 was a big jump and somehow VW turned a big brute of an SUV into something that was a bit more civilized. The cheapening has however turned me off (ie: no passenger side anti dazzle mirror, some cheapness under the seats where you don't always look.

T3s look nice, but they haven't tempted me to buy yet, I will admit I like the tech of the hybrid and the '13 with 240hp TDI is very tempting...I also quite like the new Cayenne, great seats and great interior. Can't say I like any version of the previous cayenne

That said IMO the ultimate touareg to date for the NA market is the 08V10, all the T1 toughness with the T2 improvements. Wish I could find one!!!

 

I loved the options of the early t1s, ie: the ALL leather interior of my V10 was sumptuous, at the time (and today really) you can't find an all leather interior in anything <$100k. The 4 zone air and air suspension was way advanced in its day.

That said the early T1s had their gremlims (I went through two of them!)...and the T1 body T2 mechanicals of the 07 was a big improvement

The electromechanical steering in the 07s was amazing, 1970s cadillac 1 finger turning in the parking lot, german car stiff on the highway...it was nice to be running a 4.2 FSI engine just like the A8 and R8. Too much like the original T1 though and the updates in the T2 became too tempting, so I bought one..

THe T2 is sweet, seats are waaaay better than the T1, the headlights are the best I've ever driven behind, RNS510 was a big jump and somehow VW turned a big brute of an SUV into something that was a bit more civilized. The cheapening has however turned me off (ie: no passenger side anti dazzle mirror, some cheapness under the seats where you don't always look.

T3s look nice, but they haven't tempted me to buy yet, I will admit I like the tech of the hybrid and the '13 with 240hp TDI is very tempting...I also quite like the new Cayenne, great seats and great interior. Can't say I like any version of the previous cayenne

That said IMO the ultimate touareg to date for the NA market is the 08V10, all the T1 toughness with the T2 improvements. Wish I could find one!!!

This, the T1 Touareg was truly ahead of its time, can't say the same for the T3. However I drive my T1 with one finger just fine? Didn't the T1 and T2 both use the rack-and-pinion steering setup? I'd say the T1 Touareg is very stiff on the highway! I went well over 100mph in mine the other day (~123000 mi on it) and it was perfectly stable. The only reason I prefer the earlier V8 to the FSI V8 is the exhaust note, very few SUV's come close, and when you upshift ~4500RPM the exhaust crackle is like sex.

The second point you mentioned about the Touareg becoming more civilized is exactly what I'm talking about. The T1 Touareg is, simply put, a beast.

 

I like both the T1 and T3. Had an '07 and it was nearly flawless. For me, the T3 is super-smooth and while it does not look as rugged as the T1, I have no regrets. The T3 is sleeker and more refined, and for me, even more fun to drive than my T1.

 

V10 and I don't like the looks of a T2, ... T1 all the way.

 

Yep. Exactly.

 

Late T2 Tdi in white with black leather, dechromed, debadged, air suspension, black 18 inch wheels with General Grabber ATs, remapped, definitely no roof and no SATNAV [indeed, no radio at all if possible!]

 

Loved my T1 V8 but it did have its gremlins. My 2008 V8 is loaded and I like it even more than my T1 but since it only has 8,000 miles, I think it will be quite a while before I get a T3.

 

I am not crazy about the look of the T3. I thinks its the Angry LED head lights. I like the T1 body style the best. I liked that rugged tank look. I hope they don't start to copy the AUDI Q7 body style. The front of the Q7 looks like a submarine nose.

 

T1 was developed by engineers with minimum compromise or cost/weight and fuel economy concerns. Only vehicle in VW which did no need emission committee approval. Amount of high strength steel built in is amazing and that is how they achieved torzial rigidity of 45 for example. Audi 8 is 47 while your average SUV is like 30. T2 and even more T3 started with compromises and indeed common sense as number of features and engineering based decisions in T1 where not geared towards an average user. My key point is that T3 is so de-spected in comparison to T1 and T2 that it should not be compared.

 

In the words of Steve Stills "love the one you're with"

I love my T3

 

Yep. I love my T3. I loved my T1. This thread leads to nowhere. To those who have not driven the T3, take one for a good drive. It's a tremendous ride.

 

I've now driven 6 T3s, including a hybrid, both on and off road.

So like I said, a late T2 please. Thank you.

 

Make mine a T3 TDI with air and an off road package (that I won't necessarly use but would like to have anyway) plus all the goodies from the original launch. Otherwise the T2 TDI with all the goodies removed from the T1 put back and a nice stainless ft and rear brush guard trim pieces.

 

I'm actually surprised VW hasn't offered air susp. yet on the T3...to me the ultimate T3 would be an exec TDI with air suspension. I can live with the 4motion

 

T2 v8fsi with T1 front faschia. T3 is just plain neutered IMO.

 

x2. T2 minus the chrome "horse collar".

 

I can live with the T2 faschia but with all its improvements and better seats, it is the perfect Touareg for me.

 

The Best Touareg generation would hypothetically have been a Touareg with: T3 8-speed tranny, T2 electronics hardware and software(yes this includes headlights) , the goodness of everything that the T1 offered that the others were suddenly forbidden from partaking in like the FULL leather interior, etc.

As one can see, the whole gourmet cake was never offered period.

 

I think the Touareg is slowly moving away from a purpose built 4wd to a prestige SUV . Every t1 was ready to go in most aspects , less with the t2 and even less the t3.
Long live the T1.

 

Got to give VW some stlying credit for not making the newest version make the older versions look and feel outdated and undesirable. I actually like them all for different reasons. Comparatively speaking, the 1st and 2nd gen Cayenne's just look helpless next to the latest.

And while I think the V10 is a mother-of-all-diesels, I'll take the 3.0 for day-to-day practicality. Due to our growing family needs, I'm still hoping for a diesel/hybrid Q7 with all the goodies

 

Whatever your preference, give VW credit for managing the price points on the new models so that they stay a good $5K to $15K to $20K below Q7/X5/Cayenne pricing -- VW knows it won't win most US purchasers' minds in a head-to-head SUV battle of German badges with the same trim levels at the same pricing. That's why we're seeing an evolutionary de-contenting of the Touareg to keep the competitive pricing in place and keep order flow steady in the USA. Go to VWoA and see the monthly press releases with the TReg sales figures, way up from last year. Ultimately, VW knows most of us don't really need a V8, V10 and/or Air Suspension. (But, hell yes, it would be nice to have the optionality.)

 

I like bananas.

 

Too funny

 

Always liked the looks of the T1. But didn't make near enough scratch at the time to even consider one...that's before the many issues noted and potential on-going costs/maintenance with owning one, even used.

Test drove a T2 gasser w/ maybe 50k miles on it prior to buying a T3. Interior looked "dim" to me next to the T3. Also didn't really "move" out (quick or smooth) like my T3 test drives.

Loved the T3's look, TDI torque, 8-speed tranny, Nav, fuel consumption and overall feel of the drive.

This is a commuter/soccer dad vehicle for me and it's been a very solid one (albeit with steering wheel shake). I'd have no issue taking it through snow, sand, rain, minor off-roading. I'm not rock crawling in it for sure...so don't desire the payup for air, etc. Agree VW is doing a good job on what they decontent, what they improve and keeping prices inline w/ competitor vehicles.

I agree with vwdude...some Frankentouareg abomination, taking the best attributes of all three would create a real monster of an SUV that all of us would love to own.

 

.....
I agree with vwdude...some Frankentouareg abomination, taking the best attributes of all three would create a real monster of an SUV that all of us would love to own.

I'm with the dude on this one. They all have their benefits and disadvantages. The perfect one would indeed be the one with all the benefits and none of the negatives....which doesn't exist. But if I HAD to choose one, it would be the ROW T3 fully loaded V8 TDI.

A ROW T3 TDI with air suspension, and full leather interior(if it exists over the pond) would be the bomb!!!!


I'm now looking for illustrations of the T3 and T1 types of steel used illustration, to add some technical data to this discussion as opposed to the my daddy is stronger than your daddy mentality, but I can't find them...