2009 VW Touareg gets terrific new diesel engine

• By STEVE WHEELER
• Advocate Wheels editor
• Published: Sep 18, 2009

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Put one of today’s new diesel engines in a time machine and send it back 25 years, and nobody from the 80s would believe it was a diesel.

The new turbo diesel engines on the market today are amazing. They’re quiet, they’re clean enough to pass

environmental muster even in California, their power is astonishing and they even get impressive mileage.

Volkswagen made the new V-6 turbodiesel engine available in the 2009 Touareg, a classy 5-passenger SUV that can get you from zero to 60 in 8.5 seconds and use fuel sparingly while doing it. The 221-horsepower 3.0-liter turbocharged V-6 diesel will produce an astonishing 407 lb.-ft. of torque, yet it will get you 17 miles per gallon in the city and 25 mpg on the highway.

The Touareg can also tow 7,716 pounds, which puts most of our boats and other toys within towing range.

Gasoline models are available in a V-6 and V-8, but I’ll take the new V-6 turbodiesel, which replaces last year’s V-10 diesel. A 6-speed automatic transmission and permanent four-wheel drive are standard on all Touaregs.

While the five-passenger Touareg has what it takes to get the job done, the range of this car is what is really exciting. If you hate to stop at filling stations as much as I do, especially for diesel, you’ll be thrilled to hear that with a fuel tank capacity of 26.4 gallons, the range of the Touareg is more than 600 miles.

The interior of the test Touareg creates a warm and luxurious environment with lots of leather and wood trim. The driver’s seat adjusts 12 ways, so if you can’t get comfortable in this seat, it may be time to see the chiropractor.

Other than the torque output, there’s nothing really sporty about the Touareg, which has a soft, smooth ride aimed at comfort. Controls and gauges are arranged sensibly and intuitively. My only real gripe was with the dash-mounted navigation and back up camera screen. When you start the car and put it in reverse, it takes too long for the back up camera image to appear on the screen. Several times I had already backed nearly all the way out of a parking spot before the camera’s image showed up.

The Touareg is one of the safer cars on the road, garnering five stars in government safety tests in frontal and side crashes for all passengers. The vehicle gets four stars in rollover protection, which is about the best most SUVs can hope for.

The V-6 TDI has available luxury and technology packages, which can really add to the diesel Touareg’s $42,800 base price. The gasoline powered V-6 starts at $39,300 and the gasoline V-8 begins at $48,900.

Standard V-6 packaging on both diesel and gasoline models includes 17-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, privacy glass, heated seats, AM/FM/CD player with Sirius Satellite Radio, power sunroof, power lift gate, parking assist and automatic headlights.

One last item: additional periodic maintenance on the new turbodiesel engine is required. An advanced catalytic converter of sorts uses four and one-half gallons of a solution called AdBlue, which has to be refilled about every oil change. The urea-based liquid is continuously sprayed into the car’s exhaust stream, which is converted into nitrogen and water by the advanced “DeNOx” catalyst.