The 2010 VW Touareg TDI Offers Unique Characteristics for a Four Wheel Drive Luxury SUV

The 2010 Volkswagen Touareg is considered to be a "Crossover SUV" and as such it really does fit the mold of what a crossover is truly intended to be. These world class SUVs have all the amenities of a luxury sedan, plus they offer similar off road abilities as some of the most aggressive SUVs on the market.

Volkswagen has incorporated their TDI engine into this model, and with it you get a potent 3.0 Liter V-6 Turbo Diesel engine. This engine has the TDI designation which simply means that they employ the renowned VW designed "Turbocharged Direct Injection" fuel and air delivery system. This "Direct Injection" system along with a "Turbocharger" are the two reasons that this engine delivers such high horsepower plus it gives out awesome amounts of torque. In the old days you would call this type of vehicle with that much power a "Stump Puller"

This particular V-6 TDI delivers a whopping 225 horsepower, and incredibly 406 foot pounds of torque! This power is accessed via a small flat rubber coated plate just under your right foot, and when you mash it down, you had better be holding onto something! Thanks to traction control computers, seventeen inch tires, plus ABS braking, this car actually stops much faster than it gets going.

As with most car companies today, you can have this vehicle in a wide array of colors, and there are nine choices for the 2010 Touareg, but in my opinion there are only two colors that can make this attractive SUV really stand out in a crowd, my first choice would be the cranberry metallic, and second would be the sapphire blue metallic.

It is not easy to get a test drive in this exact model since the gasoline engine version is much more popular where I live, plus you really need to make an appointment in order to get a test drive with any of these higher end models. The gas version has similar handling and many of the other specifications are also common to the Diesel version. After a recent test drive I will tell you one thing for certain, the Touareg model has done nothing but improve when compared to the older models. I can say this for a fact since I have been in both the 2010 and also an amazing friend's 2006 Touareg earlier this year.

The list of amenities are really quite substantial, and the more desirable items are already standard on the Touareg TDI. Some of the best features are: Keyless access and starting system, 4X Motion permanent all wheel drive, Tire Pressure Monitor, 17" Wheels, Front and rear park distance control, and much more! This car comfortably seats five adults, and has a rather lush interior. The big thing I focused on inside this Touareg would have to be the huge cargo capacity rated at 71 cubic feet of space with rear seats folded flat. The normal seating arrangement yields 31 cubic feet of luggage space.

The 3.0 Liter V-6 engine is a masterpiece of mechanical intensity that is renowned for it's reliability and performance. With the TDI engine option you get an amazing amount of power and almost twice as much torque. This really is an awesome and luxurious vehicle packaged into in a very capable four wheel drive crossover SUV. The price range is not really as high as I might have thought it would be, and with incentives and rebates you can get a base model with gasoline engine for around $38,000 if you shop around. MSRP for the Turbo diesel model that I liked could start at around $44,000.

Fuel economy on this TDI version is 18 mpg city, and 25 highway, and with a 26.4 gallon tank you can go up to 660 highway miles on a full tank of diesel fuel. Out here in Northeast Ohio you could cover at least states before stopping to refuel! I would imagine this would make it an awesome road trip vehicle or getaway car as well.

The vehicle sits high enough to give a full eight inches of ground clearance, and this translates to a very high drivers vantage point. Combine this ride height with the panoramic wall of glass you have all around you, and this is a really secure car to drive. Plus it handles like a tight sports car, with sharp steering, and quick acceleration, braking is quite impressive as well. This was definitely one of the finest SUVs that I have ever driven, and if I could afford the TDI Touareg then I would be driving one tomorrow!

The specifications and prices came from a visit to the local VW dealership, plus the VW website, and Edmunds.

www.vw.com/touareg/
www.driveclassic.com/
www.edmunds.com

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