Nemer Volkswagen

Nail the accelerator, of course, and the sound of an engine comes through, but rather than the classic roar of a gasoline-fueled powerplant, the Touareg TDI makes a whirring sound and VW?s midsize sport-utility charges as if a V-8 were under the hood. More so, in fact. It doesn?t have the explosive torque of the Touareg V-10 diesel that was briefly imported a couple of years back, but the Touareg 3.0 V-6 TDI doesn?t have to wait like a gasoline engined car for revs build towards a power peak. Instead the Touareg?s meets its torque peak that runs plateau-like from a just-off-idle 1750 rpm to 2750 rpm. 

 

Torque is literally twisting force and torque is what makes acceleration. Torque is the new paradigm that will be hear more often as diesel engines become more popular. Diesel engines won?t be measure by horsepower but the T-word. Get used to it.. The 3.0-liter turbodiesel in the Touareg TDI, for example, cranks out only 221 horsepower but makes 407 lb-ft of torque. That gives ti equal the performance of the Volkswagen Touareg V8 that?s rated at 350 hp and 324 lb-ft of torque at 6700 rpm and 3500 rpm respectively.

 

The kicker is that the gas V-8 engine carries an EPA mileage rating of 13/18 mpg city/hwy (note: in an earlier test of the 2008 Volkswagen Touareg V-8 was got 13/19 in observed on-road testing) while the gummint test says a 3.0-liter turbodiesel will get 17 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, this for a vehicle with a curb weight of over 5,000 lbs. The only problem with the EPA data is that it?s not what we saw on the Touareg TDI?s tripmeter.

 

We saw better. Even in predominantly urban driving the readings were in the twenties and on the highway we saw easily in the upper twenties and as high as 30 mpg. The distance to empty was over 500 miles on an almost full tank. Admittedly the Touareg TDI?s fuel tank is a copious 26.4 gallons, but still, the Touareg?s distance to empty is a lot longer than your distance to empty, speaking from a biological perspective.

 

So?quiet, fuel efficient?and we?ll add clean?50-state legal clean?how does Volkswagen do it? First, improvements in the engine, including peizo fuel injectors (this next session gets a bit techy so enjoy, endure or avoid the following paragraphs) that time injection into multiple and variable pulses that results in cleaner, more complete combustion and a reduction in the hammering noise so typical to diesel engines. That sound can still be heard outside the Touareg TDI at idle but it?s not the rockslide on steel plate rattle of a Ford Powerstroke diesel F250.

 

The Touareg?s V-6 is equipped with the Addblue system developed with Daimler and found in a number of Mercedes-Benz diesels Volkswagen says Jetta is the vehicle-size cut-off point for Addblue. Smaller vehicles do not produce enough emissions to require the expensive Addblue system that includes a catalyst, urea injection and another catalyst to produce a surprisingly squeaky clean particulate-free exhaust.

 

The 2009 Volkswagen Touareg TDI is more than just a diesel engine, of course. The Touareg itself is a cushy, well turned out piece of hardware inside and out, upscale in a way one would never think a Volkswagen could be, as we noted in our review of a 2008 Touareg with the V-8 engine. Our test 2009 Touareg TDI included as standard equipment four-wheel drive (with low range), heated front seats, heated windshield washers, power liftgate (adjustable for how high it goes up, important in garages with low ceilings), sunroof, electronic park assist, trip meter, steering wheel control of audio, cruise control and trip computer. Options include air suspension for extra ground clearance and off-road capability, for $2,750. Wheels and tires include the standard 17-inch rims and all-season tires on our test Touareg, 18-inch wheels and 19-inch wheels.

 

The Touareg TDI?s interior befits not only its price but also that creamy engine we discussed earlier, with supple seats and abundant?that?s the proper word to use?soft-touch surfaces. The ride is supple without going weak in the knees around curves in the road. Indeed, we went boulder crawling in Moab, Utah, when the Touareg, and we were rather impressed that those particular vehicles?admittedly fully equipped with all the off-road options?could combine luxury and capability in a vehicle wearing the VW badge.

 

In the end, we?re left scratching our heads trying to find any reason to not take a 2009 Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI on an extended road trip. That?s not a easy thing to say about an SUV, much less a diesel-powered SUV. But then, when is the last time you described an SUV, much less a diesel-powered SUV as ?creamy?? For us it was the 2009 Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI.