Volkswagen Touareg 2023 Tow Test

It's hard to believe that the first Volkswagen Touareg was launched in Australia 20 years ago. That first-generation 2003 Touareg was an important model as the German brand – best known for the Golf and Beetle – took aim at the premium market with a flagship SUV that appealed to families, could really go off-road and tow heavy trailers. Since then, moving to a second generation in 2013 and then to the current third gen in 2019, the Touareg has found a solid following with its sure-footed, heavy-hauling abilities. While that holds true today, there's a slight towing hitch that prevents it from being the consummate all-rounder.

It's easy to forget that while the cheapest new Volkswagen Touareg was priced from less than $70,000 in 2003, its range-topper – the V10 – started at $138,500 plus on-road costs.

Even the V8 would not have left you change from $100,000 once you got it on the road.

Fast-forward two decades and despite an economy that's driving up prices, the 2023 Volkswagen Touareg – now powered only by a V6 turbo-diesel in two states of tune – is not all that different at face value.

The 2023 Volkswagen Touareg opens at $89,240 plus ORCs for the 170TDI and tops out with the vehicle on test here, the 210TDI R-Line from $117,540 plus ORCs. In between is the 210TDI Elegance from $108,240 plus ORCs.

VW prices are going up again from July 1, 2023, but the Touareg has been spared from this latest round and will hopefully hold firm until the mid-life facelift for the large SUV turns up in the first half of 2024.

Options on our test vehicle include silver metallic paint at $2200 and tow bar kit at $2463.

Other options available but not included here are a panoramic glass sunroof ($2615) and the Sound & Comfort package, which for $5076 includes Air Care four-zone climate-control air-conditioning with allergen filter, a surround-view camera system, premium audio, heated outboard rear seats, park assist plus with manoeuvre braking and parking bay and parallel parking assistance.

Volkswagen offers Touareg buyers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and a $3600 five-year service plan.

Other brands in this segment offer a third row of seats, however VW has stuck with a five-seater layout for the third-generation Volkswagen Touareg.

Despite not offering three rows, the flagship 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line is packed with premium equipment.

Headline items include 20-inch Nevada alloy wheels, R-Line exterior styling elements, rear privacy glass and a hands-free tailgate.

Inside, there's high-end R-Line monogrammed Varenna leather upholstery, multi-adjustable heated, cooled and deep-massaging front seats (both with memory settings), an R-Line multifunction heated steering wheel with shift paddles and ‘touch’ buttons, a head-up display and rear-door window blinds, to name just a few stand-out features.

The 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line has the safety tech you would expect, with the exception of a few items relegated to an option package or missing altogether.

The autonomous emergency braking system (AEB) is operational at speeds between 5km/h and 85km/h and the lane guidance system is very good as far as response and accuracy goes.

Cross traffic alert for both front and rear situations is provided, while the Touareg also has rear auto brake.

Meanwhile, blind spot active assist, driver attention detection and predictive pedestrian avoidance are part of the standard package.

To have the added security of manoeuvre braking (auto braking up to speeds of 10km/h) and a surround-view camera, you need to tick the box for the Sound & Comfort pack.

This third-generation Volkswagen Touareg has a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, although this dates back to 2018 under more lenient assessment criteria.

The 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line has a 15-inch centre touch-screen, which houses all the infotainment and climate controls and offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

It also features a 12.5-inch driver's display, which has different view set-ups for instrumentation.

Other tech highlights include wireless and wired phone charging, with one USB-A and one USB-C port up front and two USB-C outlets at the rear. A 12V socket features both front and rear.

The centre screen has proximity sensing so when you are about to touch it, menus go ‘live’. It does seem to be just another thing that draws your eyes away from the road to ensure you’ve made the right selection – not ideal.

Perhaps more familiarity with the system will improve this.

Both the 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI and 170TDI use a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine, with the 210TDI in action here producing 210kW of power at 4000rpm and a muscular 600Nm of torque from 1750-3000rpm.

The entry-level 170TDI develops 170kW/500Nm across the same rev range.

The 3.0-litre TDI V6 has been around in one form or another for quite some time, but it's still an excellent engine, particularly in 210TDI guise.

It's fuel efficient, responsive, quiet, smooth and has plenty of power and torque for a large SUV, with a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of 6.1sec.

While it teams well with the smooth eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission and 4MOTION all-wheel drive system, there is some clear turbo lag if you floor it off the line.

In most driving you don't notice this at all, but if you need to shift the Touareg from standstill in a big hurry, it’ll take a few moments to think about it.

With a combined-cycle fuel consumption claim of 6.8L/100km – again, better than some key rivals – the 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line also pretty thrifty.

The Touareg we tested varied from 6.9L/100km on the freeway to 17.0L/100km when towing a 2800kg caravan.

With the 90-litre fuel tank you’ll get about 480km (with an additional 50km as a safety reserve) out of a tank of fuel when towing – which is very good.

First off, some specs: the 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI has a 2218kg tare weight, 2850kg gross vehicle mass (GVM) and 6350kg gross combination mass (GCM).

That is all promising, as what it means is you can load up the Touareg to GVM and still tow a full 3500kg.

Although the Touareg has a 3500kg braked towing capacity, its specs offer a maximum nose weight, or tow ball mass (TBM), of just 260kg.

That ‘gotcha’ shouldn't affect anyone towing a mid-weight trailer of around 2500kg, but if you are planning on towing a 3000kg-plus trailer with the typical 10 per cent nose weight, you won't legally be able to do so with the Touareg.

We went to the guys at Jayco Sydney to borrow a suitable caravan for the tow test, ending up with a Jayco Base Station. This full-size tandem-axle van has a tare of around 2800kg and a TBM of 225kg – within our required specs for the Touareg.

Hitching up the caravan was easy with the rear camera screen – which has excellent resolution – clearly depicting the tow ball. Not all camera systems do.

The Touareg's self-levelling air suspension also meant no worry about suspension droop with a heavy trailer hitched up.

As before, we were pleasantly surprised by the Touareg's towing performance. It just simply gets on with the job of towing, and does so with plenty of power, smoothness, stability and efficiency.

While there was a small amount of front-end tracking at 100km/h on the freeway, the Touareg never felt unstable when towing.

The engine sat at around 2200rpm with the transmission in sixth gear on level ground, with an occasional upshift to seventh gear on anything approaching a descent.

Performance when towing was very good. Up the test hill, the Touareg kicked down to fourth at one point to maintain the 90km/h set speed, but then upshifted to fifth and held the speed to the measuring point, with about three-quarters throttle applied.

Heading down the hill, the Touareg was held in third gear but needed a dab on the brakes to help keep speed quelled.

While the 2023 Volkswagen Touareg is no longer offered with low-range, it does have air suspension that can be raised for better clearance and an off-road mode for traction and power delivery.

In essence, this is a vehicle you might take on hard-packed sand or well-formed tracks but anything more than that and you might find it hard going.

An inflatable space-saver spare, while better than none, is not the ideal option when you need to change a tyre out bush.

The 2023 Volkswagen Touareg is spacious and comfortable inside.

Although you don't get the third row of seats, it provides plenty of legroom and headroom for five occupants.

Some might consider three adults across the back seat a little tight, but in general terms the Touareg is a spacious five-seater family SUV.

It is also one of the easiest vehicles to get in and out of, as well as offering a decent squared-off cargo space. Maximum cargo volume is 810 litres, extending to 1800 litres with the rear seats folded.

With crisp design, ambient lighting and quality leather, the sense is of high quality in the cabin.

The 2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line is one of VW's better efforts – it's a very cohesive package that provides space, comfort and excellent towing capability.

The only fly in the ointment is that tow ball download limit. If only it was 10 per cent higher (350kg), a lot of Aussie buyers wanting to tow heavy trailers would have another excellent SUV on their shortlist.

2023 Volkswagen Touareg 210TDI R-Line at a glance: Price: $117,540 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowEngine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo-dieselOutput: 210kW/600NmTransmission: Eight-speed automaticFuel: 6.8L/100km (ADR Combined)CO2: 180g/km (ADR Combined)Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2018)

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