touareg Archives | AutoDepot

First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

Filed under: Hybrid, SUV, Technology, Volkswagen, First Drive, Luxury

A Porsche Cayenne Hybrid For The People

2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

Fuel economy is a funny thing. In Europe, better efficiency has always boiled down to two simple concepts: diesel fuel and turbos. But like the 35-year-old who won’t drink tequila because of a bad experience in college, American buyers’ stomachs start turning whenever manufacturers talk about oil-burners – clean or otherwise. That’s a problem for carmakers like Volkswagen. You see, the company can build an arsenal of clean diesel vehicles that have no problem turning out excellent fuel-economy numbers without the weight, complexity or burden of lugging around a partially electric drivetrain, but that doesn’t mean Americans will buy them. Nope. On this side of the pond, fuel efficiency translates into just one word: hybrid.

And that’s exactly why Volkswagen has taken to electrifying its beefy 2011 Touareg, the very first production hybrid in the company’s history. Volkswagen has made no secret of the fact that it plans to be the world’s number one automaker, and that part of its plan for global domination involves broadening its appeal in the still-juicy American market. If you were wondering exactly what that meant for the company’s lineup on our side of the world, wonder no more. We’re living in the future, and it’s a place stocked with a blazingly-quick, fully capable and quasi-efficient SUV from Germany with love.

Gallery: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid: First Drive

Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid”

Report: Volkswagen Touareg R will be sold in U.S. with a diesel by 2012

Filed under: Performance, SUV, Europe, Volkswagen

2011 Volkswagen Touareg

2011 Volkswagen Touareg – Click above for high-res image gallery

Last time we talked about the next-generation Volkswagen Touareg R it was to relay rumors that the high-performance SUV might drop the automaker’s venerable 5.0-liter diesel V10 TDI engine in favor of a V8 hybrid powertrain. Car and Driver is kicking the ball the other way with a report that the next version of the Toureg R will indeed still be a diesel, although carrying over the V10 probably isn’t in the cards.

Instead, C/D reports that VW will be using its new 4.2-liter diesel V8 already available in the European Touareg. For Touareg R duty, the oil burner will likely be pumped up from its current 340-horsepower output to 380, along with delivering enough torque to move the SUV with irresponsible abandon. That’s more power than the V10 TDI produced in the old Touareg R at 350, and probably enough for the new Touareg R to keep pace with other high-performance SUVs in the segment.

The bigger news is that C/D claims the next-gen Touareg R will actually be available for sale in the U.S in 2012 as a 2013 model. The new 4.2-liter diesel V8 will apparently meet current U.S. emissions standards, at least when installed under the hood of a Touareg R.

To date, the only R model ever offered by VW in the States was the Golf-based R32. We’ve never had a shot at a Touareg R, though VW did intermittently sell a version of the last-generation Touareg here with the same diesel V10 TDI as the R model in Europe (also called the R50), though tuned for less power and minus the performance goodies.

Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg

[Source: Car and Driver]

Report: Volkswagen Touareg R will be sold in U.S. with a diesel by 2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Report: Volkswagen Touareg R will be sold in U.S. with a diesel by 2012”

Rumormill: Volkswagen Touareg R Hybrid under consideration

Filed under: Hybrid, Performance, SUV, Technology, Volkswagen, Rumormill

2011 Volkswagen Touareg – Click above for high-res image gallery

The words “performance” and “hybrid” are typically only bandied about in the same sentence by marketing types. Here in the real world, lugging around an extra few hundred pounds of batteries is no way to sharpen a vehicle’s dynamics, but if the rumors kicking around the interwebs are to be believed, that’s exactly what Volkswagen has planned with a new R version of the Touareg. Auto Evolution reports that engineers are hard at work on a new version of the CUV that will pack a punch from both a gasoline V8 and a powerful electric motor.

As you might imagine, specs for such a monstrosity aren’t exactly solid, but the Italian rag says VW is shooting for 500 horsepower from the V8 and 47 horsepower from an electric motor. Sure, that means the high-rider will pack a grand total of 547 ponies, but we’re more interested in the mountain-moving levels of torque available from such a combination. Sounds like a fine way to embarrass a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, if nothing else.

Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg

Photos by Jonathan Ramsey/ Copyright (C)2010 AOL
[Source: Auto Evolution]

Rumormill: Volkswagen Touareg R Hybrid under consideration originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Rumormill: Volkswagen Touareg R Hybrid under consideration”

Rumormill: Lamborghini developing Touareg-based SUV, V8 Gallardo [w/poll]

Filed under: Coupe, Sedan, Performance, SUV, Lamborghini, Rumormill, Luxury

Lamborghini LM002 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Hold on to your butts, Lamborghini fans. Word from Car and Driver’s German correspondent is that the bullish Italian automaker is strongly considering re-entering the hardcore SUV segment. Considering that the brand’s last effort into such uncharted territory brought us the Hummer-esque LM002, you can officially color us intrigued.

If the machine does make it past the planning stages, it will reportedly be based on the platform shared by the Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, but we imagine it would get a powertrain more suitable for Lamborghini use – we can only hope that means a V12, as was the case with the LM002.

Another market Lamborghini is said to be considering is the entry-level V8 supercar segment. If a production model does indeed come about, it would slot below the V10-powered Gallardo. As with the aforementioned SUV, this would not be the first time Lambo has dipped a toe in these waters, as its Urraco, Silhouette and Jalpa played in the exact same market in the 1970s and 1980s before the Italian manufacturer pulled out in favor of traditional range-topping supercars like the Diablo and Murcielago.

Sadly, rumor has it that Lamborghini will not pursue the Estoque concept, leaving the Maserati Quattroporte as the only Italian to do battle with the likes of the Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide. Still, the company must at least be considering the Estoque since it went ahead and produced a concept to gauge reaction. So, which of these new Lamborghini rumors would you most like to see fulfilled? Take part in our totally unscientific poll after the break.

Gallery: Lamborghini LM002

[Source: Car and Driver]

Continue reading Rumormill: Lamborghini developing Touareg-based SUV, V8 Gallardo [w/poll]

Rumormill: Lamborghini developing Touareg-based SUV, V8 Gallardo [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Rumormill: Lamborghini developing Touareg-based SUV, V8 Gallardo [w/poll]”