Volkswagen Touareg 2024 review: Desert trooper still a contender

The popular SUV has had a series of upgrades that make for a noticeably improved product

The 2024 Volkswagen Touareg R-line is here. All photos: Volkswagen AG

The road awaits

The R-line's exterior 'black style' design package

Good ground clearance helps the Touareg in its off-road ambitions

Fans of the brand will instantly recognise the Touareg's classic body shape

Sand? Okay then

The cabin retains a luxury feel

The 2024 Touareg remains a contender in a crowded SUV market

A passenger-side view

Getting some speed up on tarmac

The Touareg's R-line monogrammed leather seating

Plenty of room in there for the holiday essentials

Ever since it first appeared more than 20 years ago, the Volkswagen Touareg has always been a car with a certain degree of kudos. The 2024 version could be forgiven for riding on the coat-tails (or tail-gates) of its predecessors with the merest cosmetic upgrade.

And, at first glance, you could be forgiven if you thought there isn’t a terrific amount of difference between the newest arrival and the models that came before. The 2024 car’s appearance is similar to previous models without a doubt – it has that same blocky but smoothed-off body shell – while inside, the feel of a luxury SUV definitely echoes its recent ancestry.

That is only half the story, though.

We’re looking at details with the latest Touareg, and the sum of all the minor changes make for a vehicle that feels like it’s had a half-decent shove in a positive direction.

The car’s suspension has been upgraded as has the operating system, and the design of the front and rear sections have had toning up.

We’re testing the R-line version, but the manufacturer offers two more basic options in the guise of the Trend and Elegance.

As you rattle along in it, Volkswagen’s desert trooper feels distinctly solid. You might think this is a given with any modern SUV, but that's not the case. This newbie gives off all the sensations of a car that won’t ever go wrong.

It’s reasonably fast for a hefty ride, too – the 2024 R-line will do 0-100kph in well under six seconds – and, at any speed, it’s as comfortable as any worthy competitor.

There’s plenty of room in the back for both little ones and those of greater girth.

You’d be OK taking this one off-road, too.

Its sibling, the Teramont, is, realistically, strictly for the tarmac, but the Touareg would be acceptable to take out on to less forgiving terrain, retaining as it does a worthy all-wheel-drive system and selection of off-road configuration options.

We’ve already mentioned the inside retaining a luxury air, and that comes across as soon as you get into the tidily monogrammed R-line seats.

What Volkswagen calls its Innovision Cockpit has always been an integral part of successive Touaregs. Now, it includes a high-end infotainment system referred to as the Discover Pro Max. Drivers can access all this on a new continuous screen spanning across the dashboard.

When the Touareg first appeared on the world stage in the early 2000s, Volkswagen was evidently still trying to find a place for it – the first models were offered with five, six, eight, 10 and 12-cylinder engines, which is an eclectic mix, to say the least.

In the past few years, though, the car has found its niche – a quality SUV from a manufacturer that is largely seen as competent in all automotive areas.

These days, the Touareg is still a totally solid choice if you’re after something with this pedigree.

It’s hard to stick out in a crowded marketplace, and SUVs have that obstacle to contend with, but this latest version of Volkswagen’s toughest ride does enough to make itself if not a tall poppy, certainly a quality high-end one.

Any car named after a tribe who’ve survived in the harsh conditions of the Sahara for centuries would be letting itself down if it collapsed amid a little automotive competition, and the Touareg shows no signs of falling by the wayside just yet.