Volkswagen Touareg

Development

The Touareg (internally designated Typ 7L) was a joint venture project developed by Volkswagen Group, Audi and Porsche. The goal was to create an off-road vehicle that could handle like a sports car. The team, with over 300 people, was led by Klaus-Gerhard Wolpert and based in Weissach, Germany. The result of the joint project is the Volkswagen Group PL71 platform, shared by the Touareg, the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne, although there are styling, equipment, and technical differences between those vehicles. The Touareg both seat five, while the Q7's stretched wheelbase accommodates a third row for seven passengers. The Volkswagen Touareg is built at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, alongside the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne.

Due to the demand, and the exchange rates of euros against the US dollar, as well as different pricing and environmental policies in the USA, the V6 and V8 engine variants make up most of Volkswagen's American Touareg offering. Compared to other Volkswagen-branded vehicles sold in the USA which are aimed at the mass market, Touaregs came in the more upscale trims and placed in competition with other luxury crossover SUVs from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. However, a limited number of the V10 TDITurbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) diesel engines were available in the 2004 model year (before being pulled for environmental reasons). They were brought back to the United States for the 2006 as a "Tier I emissions concept (43 state emissions)".

1st generation

The Touareg comes as standard with a four-wheel drive system. It has an automatic progressively locking centre differential (with manual override), and a "low range" setting that can be activated with in-cabin controls. Options to make the vehicles more capable off-road include an available 4-wheel Adaptive Air Suspension (plus Continuous Damping Control) which can raise the car's ride height on command, and an interior switch allowing the rear differential to be manually locked. Its load level ground clearance is at 6.3 in (160 mm), Off Road Level is at 9.6 in (244 mm), and Xtra clearance of 11.8 in (300 mm).

2nd Generation

The third generation (Typ 7P5) was revealed on February 10, 2010 in Munich, and later in 2010 Beijing International Auto Show.

The new Touareg features a world first in automotive headlight technology: the "glare-free high beam". ("Dynamic Light Assist’’ at Volkswagen). Unlike an adaptive high beam system, the newest system continually and gradually adjusts not only the range of the high-beam, but also its pattern. The beam pattern changes its direction continually so that vehicles in front are not being illuminated, while the area surrounding them is being constantly illuminated at high beam intensity.