Volkswagen Touareg R review

The Volkswagen Touareg R is proof that sports SUVs are changing – and fast. They used to be all about effortless speed, built to get a well-heeled family plus ski gear to the Alps as quickly as possible. 

Now, though, with many cities introducing strict emissions regulations and the public attitude towards "gas-guzzling" vehicles changing, it’s much harder to sell a sports SUV on performance figures alone. Enter the Touareg R – VW’s first plug-in hybrid (PHEV) R model. 

The fastest version of the VW Touareg has the same 3.0-litre V6 engine and electric motor combination as the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid but with some tweaks. As well as being VW's most powerful production car to date, the Touareg R has an official electric-only range of 30 miles. 

The question is, should you have the Touareg R over the Cayenne – or the BMW X5 xDrive50e for that matter? That’s what we’re going to find out in this review, as we compare it with the best sports SUVs for everything from performance and comfort to practicality and costs.

Read on to find out how we rate the VW Touareg R...

With a total of 456bhp at its disposal, the VW Touareg R is just as potent as you might expect, and its electric motor makes sure it gets off the line quickly before the 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 kicks in. 

Despite having plenty of punch across the rev range, the Touareg R never feels as sporty as the BMW X5 xDrive50e or the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid.

That’s partly due to the standard eight-speed automatic gearbox being less responsive than those rivals', but also because the exhaust note is subdued by the standards of the class. Even when you’re approaching the 3.0-litre turbocharged V6’s red line, it sounds flat and tuneless, which is a real shame as the same engine sounds wonderfully characterful in the Cayenne E-Hybrid.

That also sets the tone for the car’s handling. Even in Sport mode (unlike the VW T-Roc R and VW Tiguan R it has no dedicated R mode), the Touareg R never quite comes alive.

That’s reflected when it comes to handling too. Yes, there's plenty of grip and, despite weighing more than 2.5 tonnes, it exhibits impressive body control, but the handling balance has clearly been set up to prioritise safety over fun.

When you plant your foot on the exit of a corner, the Touareg R simply pushes wide at the front – unlike the Cayenne, which will kick out its rear end. The X5 is a more dynamic car too, and feels better qualified as a sports SUV.

At least the Touareg R is comfortable when you’re driving normally, with its standard air suspension doing a great job of shielding you from road imperfections and never thudding over potholes. Indeed, driving the R around town feels no different to driving the regular Touareg Black Edition, which – like the R – has air suspension as standard. 

Like a standard Touareg PHEV, the R defaults to E mode when you switch it on, providing the battery has enough charge, and slinks off the line silently as you press the accelerator. The motor is impressively flexible and can easily power the Touareg R up to motorway speeds without the V6 engine ever having to chime in.

The official electric-only range of up to 30 miles (less than the Cayenne E-Hybrid's) should be enough to do most commutes without needing to use the engine. You will need to plug it in both at home and at work if you want to get anywhere close to its claimed 120mpg though. 

Driving overview

Strengths Strong engine; comfortable air suspension; little wind and road noise

Weaknesses Not particularly dynamic; gearbox could be quicker

The VW Touareg R's interior – aside from its plethora of R badges and some blue contrast stitching on the seats and dashboard – is fairly indistinguishable from a regular Touareg's.

The flat-bottomed steering wheel, for example, is standard across the Touareg trim levels and its electrically-adjustable seats (with four-way lumbar adjustment) are the same as the Black Edition’s, albeit with slightly nicer leather.

They're not quite as supportive as the aggressively bolstered ones in the Porsche Cayenne, but you’ll have no trouble getting comfortable and you sit higher above the road, improving visibility. In fact, the view in every direction is fantastic, thanks to the tall windows.

The Touareg R comes with front and rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera as standard – for even more help, you can add the Parking Assist Pro option, which allows the car to park itself whether you’re sitting inside it or not (using a smartphone app).

Matrix LED headlights also come as standard. They can stay on main beam but shape their light field to avoid dazzling other road users, so making progress at night should be stress-free.

Infotainment wise, the Touareg R gets VW’s new Innovision Cockpit, giving you a brilliant 12in digital driver display which seamlessly blends into a massive 15in touchscreen infotainment system on the centre console.

The infotainment screen is really crisp and has large icons to make hitting them on the move easier, but we’d still prefer physical knobs and dials for things like the climate control, because they’re less distracting to use as you drive.

The software itself is an improvement on the otherwise quite buggy VW systems that we’ve become accustomed to. For the most part, it responds to your prods really quickly and rarely pauses as you switch between each bit of the system. Alternatively, you can bypass the system entirely and use the standard-fit Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. 

In isolation, the Touareg R’s interior is a pleasant place to be, with all surfaces covered in squishy materials or glossy plastics, and any scratchy plastics hidden low down and largely out of sight. The thing is, though, it doesn’t feel any more special than the standard versions of the Touareg – a problem when you’re up against the BMW X5 and the Cayenne, two cars that feel especially high quality and premium.

Interior overview

Strengths Great visibility; good driving position; class-leading driver display 

Weaknesses Interior isn’t as special as rivals'; less supportive seats than in a Porsche Cayenne

The VW Touareg R is a five-seater only, but it’s still a very practical SUV. It’s worth noting that, outside of the far more expensive long-wheelbase Range Rover, you’ll be hard pressed to find a PHEV rival with seven seats. The Audi Q7 and the BMW X5 can be had as seven-seaters but not in PHEV form.

Regardless, front space is verging on palatial in all respects, and the rear seats are almost as roomy. There's enough rear leg room for adults who are 6ft and taller, and head room is equally generous, despite the R coming with a panoramic roof as standard. Only the wide central rear floor tunnel is likely to cause a slight inconvenience for a middle passenger.

Better still, if your rear passengers fancy a snooze, the Touareg R’s versatile rear bench can be reclined to three angles, ranging from upright (to prioritise boot space) to seriously chilled.

You can slide the rear bench backwards and forwards, depending on how much cargo you’re carrying and how long your rear passengers’ legs are, and the bench splits into three sections (40/20/40) to allow individual passenger perches to be sacrificed for added luggage space.

Talking of luggage space, with the batteries for the hybrid system sitting beneath the boot floor, the R loses around 145 litres compared with the standard Touareg Black Edition. However, that still leaves 665 litres (more than the X5), which is enough luggage space for a large family’s holiday luggage.

The boot is a useful square shape with virtually no loading lip, and because the R comes with air suspension as standard, there’s a function that lowers the back of the car to aid access.

Practicality overview

Strengths Big boot; lots of interior space; versatile rear seats

Weaknesses No seven-seat version

It might come as a surprise that the VW Touareg R costs roughly the same to buy as a Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and slightly more than the BMW X5 eDrive50, but it’s worth bearing in mind that it comes with far more kit as standard.

As well as matrix LED headlights and the infotainment gadgetry, you also get 22in alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, heated and cooled front seats, and four-zone climate control with separate controls for those sitting in the back.

In terms of running costs, Volkswagen says that the Touareg R should be able to return up to 120mpg, but you will have to plug it in regularly to get anywhere close to that figure. Based on the same engine in earlier Touareg Rs, we’d expect to see 25mpg with the battery empty.

If you’re a company car driver, the Touareg will cost you more per month in benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax than the X5 eDrive50 and the Cayenne E-Hybrid. That’s down to the Touareg’s 30 miles of pure electric range being less than those rivals' and its CO2 emissions being higher. The Touareg R sits in the 15% BIK bracket while the rivals are in the 8% one.

When it was tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP in 2018, the standard Touareg received the full five stars. That said, there were some issues over chest injuries for adults in the front, which lowered its adult occupancy score to less than that of the Volvo XC90.

Even so, we’d still consider the Touareg a very safe SUV and it comes with lots of standard safety features, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), driver attention monitoring, traffic-sign recognition and lane-keeping assistance.

Reliability wise, neither the Touareg or the Touareg R were included in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey. VW as a brand was, and managed to claim 22nd place out of the 32 included car makers – that’s above Audi and Land Rover but below BMW and Porsche. 

A three-year/60,000-mile warranty comes as standard but that’s pretty par for the course, with BMW and Porsche both offering a three-year/unlimited-mileage warranty.

Costs overview

Strengths Lots of standard equipment; plenty of safety equipment

Weaknesses Reliability could be better; more expensive than rivals as a company car

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