From the 2010 New York Auto Show, Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg.
Transcript
(upbeat music) <v Announcer>Cars.com auto review. (upbeat music) Hi, I'm Kelsey Mays for cars.com. We're here in Manhattan on the Eve of the New York Auto Show, checking out Volkswagen's 2011 Touareg. This is the new second generation Touareg.
It's gonna be available in V6 gasoline and diesel variants, as well as the new V6 hybrid. That marks Volkswagen's first hybrid. We'll take you through those drive trains as well as some of the exterior and interior changes. All three drive trains use an eight speed automatic transmission. The hybrid combines a three liter V6 with an electric motor, and can stay in electric mode up to speeds of about 30 miles per hour, I'm told. Total gas mileage, the EPA is still figuring that out. But Volkswagen figures that for the hybrid, combined city and highway will be about somewhere in the mid twenties. Not bad for an SUV that weighs about 5,000 pounds. The styling up front mimics Volkswagen's Golf and GTI models. So there's a clean separation between the upper grill and the lower air dam. It's definitely sharper, although I'm not sure it's quite as distinctive as the previous generation Touareg looked with the single frame grill. In back, you see a lot more Audi-like similarities. Audi is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen group, and really a lot of people might mistake the new Touareg for the old Touareg from the rear quarter angles. The cabin materials are very good, and that's typical of a Touareg. There's a lot fewer buttons here. It seems like a simpler dash layout than before. A lot of stuff has been replaced by this sort of single screen in the center. It's good. It's more streamlined. I kind of like that. As you move to the rear seat, Volkswagen says rear seat room has been increased a bit because this car is about five inches longer, give or take, than its predecessor. And a lot of that goes to the back seat. One thing we didn't like about the prior Touareg was how many steps it took to fold the rear seat. There were three separate things you had to do. No longer the case here. This is just a simple one step folding rear seat. Its manual or its powered. Much better. The rear seat moves forward and backward a few inches. It also reclines a few degrees, more versatility there as well. The battery pack for the hybrid goes under the load floor. That means there's no intrusion into cargo space. That's where the spare tire would go. And this car actually uses run flat tires now. No pricing has been announced yet, but you can expect that this will start where are the old Touareg started, in low 40 thousands, when it goes on sale at Volkswagen dealerships this fall. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, kickingtires.net.
