VW Australia has confirmed the arrival Down Under of the Volkswagen Touareg V8 TDI R-Line – the most powerful production Touareg in the lineup.
The VW Touareg V8 TDI R-Line will arrive towards the end of this year with pricing expected to come in at under $160,000 as VW attempts to play hardball with the competition. Indeed, VW Australia boss, Michael Bartsch, claims the top-spec Touareg will undercut the starting price of premium rivals.
The business end of the Touareg TDI R-Line is a 4.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine making 310kW and 900Nm of torque. Maximum torque is present between 1250rpm-3250; full power from 3500-5000rpm. This is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. But the headline grabber is the 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds which is just 0.1 seconds behind the Golf R.
While the Touareg shares a lot of its oily bits with its cousins at Porsche, Bentley and Audi, VW claims the engine is all their own. Instead of using an electric compressor like its cousins, it runs sequential turbochargers and a clever engine management system that can tweak the engine on the run. For instance, the engine can switch from a four-valve cylinder head at low revs to a three-valve head. And, up until 2200rpm the camshaft slides and closes off one of the exhaust valves to ensure a good start-off oomph.
The Touareg V8 will arrive in fully equipped R-line specification. So there won’t be much of a cost-options list, according to VW. Customers will be able to choose their own colour or option a panoramic glass roof.
“Even fully loaded, the Touareg V8 will undercut the starting price of its rivals to be the best value proposition in the premium large SUV segment,” Mr Bartsch said in announcing the arrival of the Touareg TDI R-Line.
“Luxury SUV performance of the Touareg V8’s calibre won’t be found elsewhere for less than $160,000. Nothing will approach the value of the Toaureg’s standard equipment for very much under $180,000 at the most competitive.
“Volkswagen Group Australia was the first European national sales company to establish five-year unlimited kilometre factory warranty for all its brands, which is still not universal among our rivals. This warranty remains permanently available in all new Volkswagens along with optional Care Plans that reduce the cost of ownership further below Touareg V8’s obvious rivals.”
While you’re here subscribe to the MotoFomo Newsletter
Sign Up for the latest news, reviews, advice, buying guides and more delivered to your inbox every week