By Otsile Kadiege

The Volkswagen Touareg sits at the top of the automaker’s T-SUV line-up and it has sold over 1 million units since the birth of the nameplate. The latest Touareg was due for a refresh. It now gets a more striking exterior design, an improved interior with new tech and it’s available with a range of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

Updated Touareg exterior

The new Volkswagen Touareg can be recognised immediately by the new front and rear design. At the front, the complete unit with radiator grille and headlights and the front apron have been given a new look. Particularly striking are the IQ.Light HD LED matrix headlights, which come as standard except on the basic model. The centre horizontal strip in the radiator grille is also illuminated for the first time on the Touareg.

Depending on equipment, the new wheel rims in the designs Coventry (19-inch, standard for R-Line), Braga (20-inch, standard for R), Napoli (21-inch) and Leeds (21-inch) immediately catch the eye in the side view. As part of the surround lighting function, the Volkswagen logo or the R symbol (Touareg R eHybrid) are now projected on to the road from the exterior mirror housings when the VW Touareg is opened and parked in darkness.

At the rear the updated Touareg features a continuous horizontal LED strip for the tail light clusters and incorporates a red-illuminated Volkswagen logo for the first time (standard except for basic model).

Updated Touareg interior

Inside, the updated Touareg is equipped as standard with the Innovision Cockpit – an intuitive combination of digital instruments (Digital Cockpit, display diagonal 30.5 cm, 1,920 x 720 pixels) and the Discover Pro Max high-end infotainment system with a central touchscreen (display diagonal 38.1 cm, 1,920 x 1,020 pixels). As a ‘one-screen design’, the two displays form a continuous digital landscape on one viewing and operating axis. Among other things, the Innovision Cockpit now offers lane-level navigation and high-resolution HD map data.

The voice control system of the Touareg is also based on a new development level. App integration via smartphone and App Connect (Apple CarPlay, Android Auto) can now also take place wirelessly. Volkswagen has upgraded the buttons and the thumb wheel for volume control in the centre console – they are now finished in high-gloss black. In addition, Volkswagen has redesigned the illuminated trims in the dash panel and added the Touareg logo as a finishing touch.

New USB-C connections with a charging capacity of 45 watts (previously 15 watts) permit fast charging of electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets or laptops. The optional cockpit features include a powerful 730-watt Dynaudio sound system and a head-up display (virtual screen size: 217 x 88 mm).

Petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains

The new Touareg will be launched in five powertrain versions. These all come with 3.0-litre V6 engines: one turbocharged petrol engine (250 kW), two turbodiesel engines (170 kW and 210 kW) and two plug-in hybrid drives (V6 petrol engine plus electric drive motor). The plug-in hybrid drive of the Touareg eHybrid develops a system power of 280 kW. On board the Volkswagen Touareg R eHybrid, the system delivers an output of 340 kW. All engines are paired as standard with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and the 4Motion permanent all-wheel drive system.