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My *new 2014 Touareg

2130 Views 17 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  gareno
I had wanted a 4Runner for years and years, to the point I had spreadsheets with data from Cars.com containing asking prices, miles, locations, the works. Then I went and rented one. Out on the highway, the 4Runner is horrifying. Toyota's 5spd auto is old, yet reliable, and MPG was horrifying. I went back to the drawing board. A few months later, I rented another and this time took it from Cleveland to New Jersey along the Penna Turnpike. The 4Runner couldn't handle highway curves, requiring me to brake a few times trying to do 75mph around some of those curves. It was then the Touareg appeared. I read how they handled better than the average SUV, the MPG was higher due to having the 8spd auto, and being a VW fan, the VR6 sold me.


Finding one was tricky as they aren't as common, but did manage to find one locally and jumped on it. Over 4 months, I've probably averaged about 24mpg, have had to replace the water pump, the AC control module, and have never wanted snow to arrive more than I do now. Coming from a MINI Cooper S, I can't wait to use the Touareg this winter.


Plans are to grab the lowering springs to bring it down, probably do bigger wheels once the idea of paying for 20" tires can be digested, and am debating doing the muffler delete to bring out the VR sound. I've seen a few videos with this, but not sure I'd want it that loud all the time. But currently all of the fun money is going towards the 70' Bug hiding in the garage :wink2:


Here's the shortbus, in her concrete jungle habitat.


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Very nice car! However, I'm curious about what made you choose the VR6 over the TDI (I'm the guy who would never ever consider a petrol/gasoline SUV).
Well, the VR6 is an old and underpowered (considering the displacement) engine. The 3.0 TDI is faster than the VR6 in a straight line if I recall correctly.
Yesterday I drove my T3 2013 3.0 TDI for around 300km, including heavy traffic and highways and national roads (still kept highway speeds), and came home with a reading of 7.4l/100km or 38 MPG. But yes, it is not incredibly fast. I should have gone for the V8 TDI. But this V6 TDI has what I would call "sufficient power", by which I mean that it's fast enough. We didn't buy a T for drag racing.
There was a 3.0 TFSI in the Hybrid which was amazing, but VW apparently dropped it.
My Vredestein Quatrac Allseason were about ?500. Quite a deal. Yes, a T is in no way a budget car..
By the way. If you go to the dealership, they will just pretend that you have a Cayenne. And charge you accordingly.
I would never recommend those sway bars if you have air suspension, but anyway, you'll be buying Cayenne sway bars... and just check out the price for new rims..
Also, I just did the engine oil, brake pads (well the rear ones still had some rubber on them but I decided to change them as well) and the air filter myself with OEM parts (ok not OEM oil) and the score was a bit... unsettling. I'm going to do the tranny oil and filters soon and that's seriously disturbing. But hey, that's why they are called "luxury SUVs".
Damn. I would never have considered a Touareg if not for the Air suspension. But VW has their own way, just like the 3.0 V6 TFSI they only made for China. I would have bought that engine (I know what I said about gas powered SUVs, but TFSI is TFSI and I can't say no to that).
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I don't think Touareg fans are ever going away from VW. Half a year ago, I was set on getting an ML350. Drove one and I thought it was amazing. I told a friend and then he almost forced me to drive his T4 3.0 TDI and it took me no more than a minute to fall in love. The interior from the ML was pretty ugly and dated, and I never thought VW could make premium interiors. However, VW will never make a 3.0TDI to rival the 3 liter Diesels from Mercedes.
The Touareg is pretty much a unique thing, the only rival I can think of is the Grand Cherokee which is pretty ugly outside, and disgusting inside. It can go off-road (and the driver will back out before T does) and drive perfectly on the asphalt, especially with the air suspension (that VAG does so well). I don't think someone in their right mind would want a Touareg, but then switch for an X5 (which can do absolutely nothing more than a Passat can). If only VW had BMW engines, these things would sell more than all other SUVs in the world combined.
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It is a nice engine. About the equal of the older, no longer available V8, but with better mileage.

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A respectable torque curve on that one, however economy would probably still be a horror story, and you would only check your mileage when you were sure the wife is not looking. I always thought that a supercharged TFSI was called TSI, after all that stands for Twincharged Stratified Injection. Doesn't "twincharged" mean turbo+supercharger?
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