New Volkswagen Touareg now on sale – the Touareg R costs as much as a Porsche Cayenne S

The recently updated Volkswagen Touareg goes on sale in the UK from £67,640 rising to £80,370 for the Touareg R.

Back in May, VW revealed a bit of a facelift for its original SUV – the Volkswagen Touareg – with cosmetic tweaks, some new tech and a bit of a general makeover to keep it going for a few more years and help boost VW’s struggling coffers.

Still based on the same underpinnings as the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7, and built on the same line, the Touareg comes with the usual tweaks to bumpers, grille lights and alloys, better infotainment on lesser models, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and tweaks to the suspension.

Engine options remain much the same as before with a pair of 3.0-litre V6 diesels with either 288bhp or 282bhp, a 3.0-litre V6 petrol with 335bhp and a pair of eHybrid models with 376bhp on the normal Touaregs and 456bhp on the Touareg R.

Three trim levels are available – Elegance, Black Edition and R – with Elegance models costing from £68,810 and coming with 20″ alloys, heated seats, climate, 15″ infotainment, Nav, wireless smartphone mirroring, panoramic roof and IQ lights.

Black Edition models add black exterior trim, 21″ black alloys, memory seats, air suspension Parking Assist and comfort seats with prices from £67,640 for the lower-powered diesel, rising to £72,070 for the petrol V6.

Topping the range is the Touareg R, which costs from £80,370, which we expect to add goodies to the offerings in lesser models, but VW hasn’t told us exactly what, although we do know it comes with 455bhp and 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds.

VW’s Hannah Doherty said:

The new Touareg really does offer everything, whether you’re looking for a rugged off-roader, a smooth long-distance cruiser or a towing workhorse – and all with the superior comfort and high-tech features you’d expect from Volkswagen’s flagship model.

The new HD matrix headlights are an especially exciting development, both for the Touareg and for Volkswagen’s future SUV models, as the technology spreads across the range.

The VW Touareg is a decent SUV in the current generation and the titivations VW has made are welcome. But the prices seem a bit strong, especially when you can buy the new Cayenne S, which dumps its V6 for a 468bhp 4.0-litre V8, for the same money.

We know where our money would go.