2024 Volkswagen Touareg R review

Volkswagen Touareg Cons

Volkswagen loves an interesting Touareg hero.

Over the years it's offered some fascinating range-toppers, including V10 diesel and W12 petrol options. Now, it's turning to plug-in hybrid power.

The new Touareg R is the first Volkswagen plug-in hybrid to be offered in Australia, and stands out further from the broader range by blending its electric power with a petrol V6.

Although it's meant to improve efficiency, the PHEV in the Touareg R packs a serious punch. With 340kW and 700Nm on tap, it's the most powerful Volkswagen ever sold in Australian showrooms.

Those punchy outputs don't bring with them an extortionate price tag. With a sticker of $130,000 before on-road costs, it comfortably undercuts BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE variants with less grunt and equipment.

Sounds good on paper, right?

All models are cheaper than those they replace, and all feature extra standard equipment.

Prices exclude on-road costs

To see how the Volkswagen Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.

There are a few nods to the fact this is an R model inside, but at its core the Touareg remains a comfortable family car.

The front seats are generously padded armchairs trimmed in supple, rich-smelling leather with heating, ventilation, and massaging to while away the hours on the road. The driving position is nigh on perfect, and everything you touch looks and feels expensive.

There's a whiff of Golf about most Volkswagen cabins, but the Touareg really is a cut above.

The Innovision screen setup dominating the dashboard has been treated to a few choice upgrades.

It's still a showstopper, and is integrated far better than the tacked-on iPads proliferating across the industry. The graphics have been polished, while Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are now wireless.

CarPlay now takes up the whole screen, rather than sitting in an awkward little window. It looks great, but it's strange that using the climate controls or seat buttons at the base of the screen blanks out that full screen display.

Beyond that, the system is snappy to respond and easy enough to navigate. Most of the icons are big and colourful, so they can be spotted and prodded simply on the move.

Volkswagen hasn't killed the haptic steering wheel buttons in the Touareg, which means you're still stuck with fingerprint-prone gloss black on the spokes – the sooner that goes, the better.

The 12.3-inch digital driver's display is crystal clear, and blends a range of thoroughly modern options with the option for classic-looking gauges.

It's also been massaged for 2024, with new colours and graphics on offer, and the R has PHEV-specific readouts so you know where your power is coming from, and whether you're using the engine or battery – given how refined this thing is, it can be hard to tell.

With a storage bin under the dashboard (home to the wireless phone charger), cupholders on the centre console, a decent bin under the armrest, and spacious door pockets, there are plenty of nooks and crannies for snacks, devices, and keys on long road trips.

As you'd expect of a hulking family SUV, the Touareg has acres of space in the rear.

There's enough legroom for lanky adults to sit behind lanky adults, and the front seats are set high to free up enough toe room for chunky winter boots.

Top tether points feature on all three rear seats, and there are ISOFIX points on the outboard rear seats. Air vents with their own temperature controls, heated seats, and device power all feature – as if kids didn't have it too good already.

Headroom is good, but the angled C-pillar and dark headliner do make it feel a bit tighter back there than maybe it needs to.

It's still well and truly better than a Mercedes-Benz GLC, for example, but isn't quite on a par with a BMW X5 for rear room.

The boot is a broad space, complete with remote releases for the rear seats and a luggage cover that slides automatically up when you pop the boot to make loading big items easier.

To see how the Volkswagen Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.

This is the first plug-in hybrid Volkswagen coming to Australia, with a claimed electric-only range of more than 50km.

Options with a longer battery range won't join the Touareg lineup, but Volkswagen Australia has opened the door for the new Tiguan PHEV with a range of more than 100km to head Down Under eventually.

To see how the Volkswagen Touareg lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool.

Volkswagen was at pains to show the two different sides of the Touareg R.

We started our drive in inner Melbourne with a full battery, allowing the R to do its best impression of an electric car.

It's silent on startup, and there's enough punch that even if you want to burn off other cars at the traffic lights, you can without waking the petrol V6 from its slumber – although the shove in the back isn't quite the full R experience.

We saw 41km of e-powered driving, before the petrol engine kicked in. And the only reason we know that is because the rev counter told us; at a cruise the engine is so smooth and quiet you wouldn't know it's there.

That's a common theme in the Touareg. It's a very refined car, from the weighting of all the controls to the way it quiets the outside world, to the ride quality on air suspension.

It just floats through the city in a way that would be lovely after a hard day at work.

On the open road, it remains a very relaxed cruiser. Hybrid Mode for the PHEV system fires the engine and uses the e-motor at lower speeds, or to provide assistance when you put your foot down rather than leaning on it exclusively.

Put your foot down and there's no sense you have multiple power sources competing for priority, you just get the sort of satisfying shove we've come to love from Volkswagen diesel engines. It really gets a move on when you flatten the accelerator at highway speeds, shaking off the fact it weighs around 2500kg to throw your head back.

It handles, too. On narrow, winding roads you can really hustle the R along in a way you wouldn't expect of such a big, heavy car.

The front end – where heavy crossovers often fall over – goes where you point it, and once it's turned the car feels rear driven enough to rotate and push you out. There's no escaping physics at some point, and if you overcook it the Touareg will push at the front end.

By that point though the kids will be sick and your partner will be calling for a divorce, so it's arguably not fair to criticise it too hard. But… I would like to know how the R handles with the clever active anti-roll and rear-steer tech from the R-Line sitting below it in the range.

When you've dialled down the intensity, there's plenty of electronic help on hand to ensure long drives are easy.

Volkswagen's adaptive cruise control is smooth and smart, maintaining a gap to the car in front with minimal fuss, and the active lane-centring function included as part of Travel Assist keeps you between the white lines without trying to wrench the wheel from your hands.

The Touareg R sits at the top of the range.

Touareg 170TDI standard equipment:

Touareg 210TDI Elegance brings:

Touareg 210TDI R-Line adds:

Touareg R adds:

The pre-update Touareg had a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing carried out in 2018.

It achieved scores of 89 per cent for adult occupant protection, 88 per cent for child occupant protection, 72 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 78 per cent for safety assist functions.

Standard safety equipment across the range includes:

Like the broader Volkswagen range, the Touareg is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

The Touareg R is an interesting take on the hero SUV formula.

Plug-in hybrid power isn't for everyone, but there is something appealing about the idea of being able to handle the school run using your battery pack.

Once upon a time, a noisy V8 was a status symbol in the private school carpark – in 2024, I'd argue it's more likely to get you dirty looks.

The petrol V6 in the R won't make you feel good like a V8 unfortunately, but it does combine with the electric motor to deliver a punch when you're in a hurry.

This is a big family car that can get up and dance, but it's a shame the PHEV technology has come at the cost of rear-wheel steer and active anti-roll tech that would have made for an even more capable R.

It hasn't come at the cost of this car's ability on the open road which is, frankly, where the Touareg still feels most at home. Air suspension, comfortable seats, and top-notch noise suppression are all on hand here to deliver a brilliant highway cruiser.

Which begs the question of whether you should bother with the R… After all, the R-Line is significantly cheaper, packs more focused chassis technology, and its diesel engine is arguably better suited to long drives than a complex PHEV.

The Touareg R won't be for everyone, but it's an interesting take on the flagship SUV formula and still represents solid value.

MORE: Buy a Volkswagen Touareg MORE: Everything Volkswagen Touareg

Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au