What is it?

With 462bhp, it’s the most powerful production car in Volkswagen’s history, and the first R model to utilise electric power, an eHybrid with plug-in hybrid technology  - it’ll also set you back in excess of £70k, before options.

On road

You’d think that being a 462bhp monster the Touareg R would be a one-trick pony, but select Comfort mode and it has the ability to waft you along in surprising comfort, even with 22” wheels.  The adaptive air suspension helps a lot here, and soaks up any road imperfections with ease.

On the subject of 462bhp, a 0-62mph time of 5.1 seconds feels much quicker, which is feat considering it weighs 2.5 tonnes, and there’s more than enough grip through corners, and for its size feels quite dynamic.  I’m not going to say it’s agile, it’s too big for that, but it’s still fun.

The Touareg R has seven driving profiles: ‘Eco’, ‘Comfort’, ‘Normal’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Individual’ for on-road driving and the ‘Off-Road’ and ‘Snow’ profiles for venturing off the beaten path.  The majority of our 3 days together I kept it in Comfort as I really liked the ride.

On a 3 hour uninterrupted journey at a steady 70mph using cruise control, the 3.0 litre, 6-cylinder petrol achieved 29mpg, and around town with a touch of green laning thrown in it was down to 25mpg.  I could have easily improved on these figures up to the mid thirties if I’d had time and inclination to charge up the battery.

On the subject of electric, the car defaults on start up, and VW claims an 87mph top speed in EV mode.  If you choose to do that, and this isn’t a criticism, but there is a fair degree of tyre noise, which makes sense, really.

If towing is your thing, the R can drag things up to 3.5 tonnes even when you’re only using the 134bhp electric motor, and there’s also a fancy Trailer Assist system to help with parking too, though I didn’t get to try it out.

Off Road

Despite having a permanent 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system and a Torsen central-differential lock, I took one look at those huge 285/35 R22 tyres wrapped around the expensive looking ‘Estoril’ alloy wheels and decided that I wouldn’t be taking this Touareg R green-laning anytime soon!

If green laning with low profile tyres doesn’t faze you, you can feel safe in the knowledge that if you do take your Touareg R off-road, then the asymmetric dynamic torque distribution system acts as a transfer box, and allows a maximum of 70% of drive to reach the front axle and up to 80% to go to the rear.  So, with the appropriate wheel and tyre combo, it should take you pretty much anywhere.

Interior

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first.   The 15” infotainment screen that dominates the dash is, in my humble opinion, too big of a distraction, but worse than that was the heating and ventilation controls.  

Spend a few minutes in a Mazda, Toyota or a Range Rover for instance, that have proper knurled dials for fan speed, and you will find the Touareg overly complicated by comparison.  I don’t want to tap a screen to adjust the fan speed. Enough, I say!  I know it’s cost saving having everything on a screen, but it’s not practical, or safe.

Putting my soap-box away, other than my little moan the Touareg R is a lovely place to be, the quilted leather seats, front and back, are very comfortable and supportive, views all around are excellent and there’s plenty of room for all occupants to swing a number of different cats.  

Though it may surprise you to learn, the Touareg only offers five seats, if you want more check out the Tiguan.  

Speaking of space, in the boot, with the seat up there’s 665 litres, and with the rear seats laid flat, 1,675 litres. 

When it comes to features, for a £70k plus SUV, you can assume it has everything that you can ever wish for - I could include them all, but that would take up too many pages!

Engine ’n’ transmission 

The Touareg R uses a 340 PS 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine, a 136 PS electric motor and 14.3 kWh (net capacity) battery.  These are coupled to the 4MOTION all wheel drive system and an eight-speed auto, the exact same powertrain that you’ll find in the Porsche Cayenne e-Hybrid.

VW claims the R can manage 28 miles of e-range if charged for a minimum of two and a half hours on a full battery. 

Two charging cables are included with every Touareg R, one for 7.2 kW/32 A wall boxes (mode 3), and another for standard mains sockets (mode 2).  The battery can be charged in as little as 2 hrs 30 minutes using the former method. 

Conclusion

Apart from the heating and ventilation controls (which in all honesty would put me off buying one), I really enjoyed my few days with the Touareg R.  It’s as quick as a stabbed rat, yet quite comfortable on long and interminable journeys.  In fact, despite having the R badge and all that horsepower, I think the latter style of journey suits it better rather than being a hot SUV.