washingtonpost.com's view

Above Par, in a Good Way
2004 Volkswagen Touareg SUV

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.

I came to honor driving, not golf.

Spending hours knocking little balls into little holes holds no romance for me.

But spending a week driving new cars and SUVs around the Monterey Peninsula, including this beautiful enclave, sets my heart aflutter.

And, oh, there were so many 2004 vehicles to drive!

They included the 493-horsepower Mercedes-Benz CL600 V-12 coupe, the Maybach 57, the Nissan 350Z Roadster and the new Volkswagen Touareg SUV.

It being Car Week on the peninsula, a celebration of all things automotive capped by the 53rd annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, I tried to drive everything.

I put a lot of seat time in this week’s test model, the VW Touareg, pronounced “twah-reg,” or “tour-egg,” or “tewrr-eggh,” apparently depending on your level of wealth or pretension.

I simply asked for the “new VW sport-ute.” Perhaps, as a result, the attending VW execs gave me the 220-horsepower, 3.2-liter V-6 version instead of the 310-horsepower, 4.2-liter V-8 model.

That was okay. The VW Touareg, named after a nomadic tribe that travels the Sahara, shares the same platform as the substantially more expensive Porsche Cayenne, currently available with a 340-horsepower, 4.5-liter V-8 and a 450-hp turbocharged version of that engine.

I’d earlier driven both models of the Cayenne. I liked them. But I like the V-6 Touareg more.

The Touareg looks better than the Cayenne, can take you everywhere the Cayenne can go and does it all for a heck of a lot less money.

But there are those of you who are demanding more Touareg power and torque. I met some of you lovers of excess here. For you, VW is shipping a V-10, turbo-diesel Touareg to the United States next year.

VW officials say the V-10 turbo-diesel will have more horsepower, more torque and more fuel economy — about 23 miles per gallon, compared with the barely 20 mpg I averaged in the V-6 during Monterey Peninsula and U.S. Highway 1 drives.

What’s going on here? It’s all about money. SUVs and other light trucks, despite the much-publicized outrage against them, still account for 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States.

VW and Porsche tried to resist the SUV trend, as did Volvo. But they gave away profits in the process. Their directors and stockholders told them to do something, please! They did.

Volkswagen, in coming quite late to the SUV party, decided to come with as much as possible for as little — $35,000 in this league is considered “little” — as possible. And so it came with a unibody, all-wheel-drive vehicle capable of zipping along California’s freeways, fording its streams, and climbing its hills and mountains without running afoul of the state’s very strict air-quality laws.

And because the Touareg is a luxury-premium, mid-size SUV — which is why it was being shown here — it comes with almost every plush touch imaginable, including optional (in the V-6) glove-leather upholstery and burled-walnut trim.

Mechanical highlights include a standard center-locking differential for true four-wheel-driving and a long list of traction/stability control and rollover-protection items — as well as a front end specifically designed to cause minimum damage to small cars in crashes.

Call it “noblesse oblige.” Golf clubs are optional.

Nuts & Bolts

Complaints: The navigational system repeatedly malfunctioned in the test model, eventually freezing up altogether. Also, the high costs of the Touareg’s options can drive you to the Porsche Cayenne. That navigational system is part of a $2,350 guidance-and-entertainment-system package.

Praise: Excellent overall craftsmanship, very pleasant exterior de ign, excellent engineering especially in safety. The Touareg is a bona fide contender for the high-end SUV dollar.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces. An unbelievably good compromise between truck and sedan ride.

Head-turning quotient: Who ever thought a Volkswagen could turn heads among the cash-packed glitter league? The Touareg snapped necks aplenty. Amazing!

Engines/transmission: The 220-horsepower V-6 (225 foot-pounds of torque) and 310-hp V-8 (302 ft-lbs.) are linked to a six-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission that can be operated manually.

Capacities: The Touareg seats five people; it has a maximum interior cargo volume of 31 cubic feet and a maximum roof cargo weight of 220 pounds. It can be equipped to tow up to 7,716 pounds. Fuel capacity is 26.4 gallons; premium unleaded gasoline is recommended.

Safety: Standard side and curtain air bags.

Mileage: I barely averaged 20 miles per gallon in the V-6 Touareg. The V-8 gets 18 mpg on the highway.

Price: Base price on the tested V-6 Touareg is $34,900. Dealer invoice price is $31,628. Price as tested is $41,515, including $6,000 (rounded) in options and a $615 destination charge.

Purse-strings note: Compare with Porsche Cayenne, Acura MDX, BMW X5 3.0i, GMC Envoy SLT, Land Rover Discovery SE, Lexus GX470, Lincoln Aviator, Mercedes-Benz ML320 and Nissan Pathfinder Armada.