Audi A8 vs Volkswagen Touareg

What's the difference?

The Audi A8 swims in a luxury car shark tank where those paying the big dollars expect top-shelf everything. It delivers a serene driving experience whether you’re in the front or the back, in a superbly engineered and executed luxury sedan package. Not perfect, but very, very impressive.

A car as impressive as it is frustrating, the Touareg R is a vehicle for a very specific buyer. Someone whose daily commute consists of limited distances, someone who can always charge at home overnight and someone who appreciates the subtlety of the performance and luxury the Touareg brings.

For everyone else - there are better options. Performance-focused PHEVs can be tricky to charge and extract the full benefit from, and at this price you have access to some serious performance-oriented combustion SUVs or the choice of going fully electric.

While this R-badged VW might be the most mind-bending of the lot then, it also has the most 'specific' appeal.

The A8 is close to 5.2 metres long, yet instantly recognisable as an Audi thanks mainly to its evenly weighted proportions, gently curved roofline and overall high-waisted design. Worth noting its drag coefficient (Cd) is an impressively slippery 0.25.

The characteristic look is accentuated by the brand’s signature, six-sided grille, in this instance highlighted by a matrix of high-relief chrome accents. And typically angular LED Matrix headlights sit either side.

Check out our video review for the carefully orchestrated animation they run through when the car is unlocked.

The car looks equally svelte and contemporary from the rear, with just the right amount of chrome lifting the tone and multi-spoke 20-inch rims filling the wheel arches nicely.

As you’d expect, the top-shelf look and feel continues inside with the seats trimmed in aniline leather, perforated on the front and outer rear positions, with genuine hide also covering the centre console, door rails and armrests, steering wheel and upper dashboard.

Fine grain ash wood inserts sit alongside brushed metal elements and a meticulous attention to detail is obvious… everywhere.

For example, the interior door handle design has been thoroughly thought through, requiring a simple underhand tap to open the door, rather than the more conventional, and ergonomically convoluted, ‘over the top’ movement.

Three sleek screens dial up the tech - a 10.1-inch multimedia interface at the top of the centre stack, an 8.6-inch display below it for heating and ventilation, and a 12.3-inch version of Audi’s ‘Virtual Cockpit’ in the instrument binnacle.

And the spacious rear is the epitome of cool, calm Teutonic form and function. You feel relaxed the moment you get in, and isn’t that the primary aim of a car like this?

The Touareg, as always, screams big Volkswagen. It’s more subtle than the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 with which it shares its underpinnings, yet looks as slick as either up close.

It’s defined in its face by a massive black grille, integrated light fittings, and as usual with Volkswagen, some pretty subtle highlights and tail-lights in attractive LED patterns.

The wheels sell the vibe of an R. They’re enormous and gloss black, matching the theme and style of its smaller siblings, black highlight trims replace chrome or body colour bits to set it apart from the rest of the range.

It doesn’t look quite as modern as something like Kia’s Sorento or EV9, and it doesn’t look as elegant as the Volvo XC90 or as defined as the Land Rover Defender, all in the same price bracket.

This helps the Touareg maintain a certain mainstream appeal, and a sporty edge, without being too egregious.

Still, some might want some more overt visual flourish to indicate they’re driving a vehicle which is capable of sprinting to 100km/h from a standstill in 5.1 seconds.

Perhaps I’m in a different camp, one which appreciates the ‘sleeper’ nature of a giant family SUV capable of incredible driving feats when pushed.

Inside is always a pleasant surprise in a Touareg. While it might be the most affordable of the giant SUVs on this platform, it maintains the air of luxury and plush nature of its more expensive counterparts from Audi and Porsche.

You’re met by nicely trimmed leather seats and a chunky VW R steering wheel, massive screens and lavish amounts of padded leather surfaces everywhere. It feels every bit the luxury SUV the price indicates, in case you were worried you’d be getting something which feels more like a T-Roc than an Audi. For what it’s worth I quite like all the Volkswagen switchgear.

Space is luxury, be it a large house, a first class seat or a spacious car, and at nearly 5.2 metres long with a close to 3.0m wheelbase the Audi A8 measures up. 

Even before you get in, the doors have an amazing sense of solidity and quality. It’s like opening and closing a bank vault… if that huge circular door had a power-assisted soft-close function. 

There’s copious amounts of space for the driver and front passenger with lots of storage including a lidded box between the front seats, complete with a two-piece longitudinally split top design, so you can sneak your half’s open without displacing your neighbour’s elbow.

The door bins are decent but there isn’t a specific cut-out for bottles, so it’s more a case of laying them down than standing them up. There’s also a handy covered cubby at the end of the door armrests.   

The glove box is a good size and there are two cupholders under a pop-up cover in the centre console.

Of course, the back is where space really counts, and there’s as much room as you’d find in, well… a limo.

Sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm position, I enjoyed copious amounts of head, shoulder and legroom. 

There are electric sunblinds for the rear and rear side windows, controlled by buttons in the door as well as the rear seat remote, a 5.7 inch OLED display housed in the beautifully trimmed fold-down centre armrest (which also has a soft close function!). The remote also allows adjustment of the lighting and climate control. Classy.

There’s a shallow storage box and twin cupholders in the armrest, medium size door bins and hard shell pockets on the front seat backs. The rear armrests also feature a small lidded cubby. 

In terms of connectivity and power options there’s wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a USB-A and USB-C in the front, and an identical pair in the rear, as well as a 12-volt socket in the front and two in the back.

Boot volume is a useful 505 litres (VDA) and the lid is electric, with gesture control. It’s able to easily swallow our three-piece luggage set or the bulky CarsGuide pram. And while the rear seats don’t fold there’s a ski port door to accommodate long items. Just make sure you use the tie-down anchors in the boot to ensure they’re properly secured. There’s a handy netted section behind the left wheel well and a cargo net is included.

Maximum towing capacity, for a braked trailer, is 2.3 tonnes (750kg unbraked) and in more good news, the spare is a space-saver rather than the increasingly prevalent inflator/repair kit.

It’s a big SUV with big interior dimensions. It feels spacious and wide on the inside with a large centre console area for spreading out and a highly adjustable driver’s seat.

The seats are plush and comfortable, and visibility is pretty solid out of the cabin. Again, you're greeted by excellent touchpoints, from the steering wheel to the door cards and there’s even lashings of padded leather trim down the sides of the centre console for your knee to rest on.

Volkswagen’s screens are usually some of the best in the business and that continues here. They’re bright, sharp and served up with attractive and mostly functional and easy-to-navigate software.

The hardware behind them is also enough to keep them lightning fast when reacting to inputs, with satisfyingly smooth animations, too.

The one thing I like a bit less is how a few of the menus can be confounding. It took me a while to figure out I needed to set the default battery level higher than its current charge to get the engine to stay on, and I’d also love a button to simply switch between EV and hybrid mode.

In fact, the lack of buttons is one of the major issues in this car. Sure, the enormous centre screen is an impressive feature, syncing up with the dash design nicely, but you’re also forced to negotiate with touch elements for key climate functions. No matter how fast or slick the software is, there’s no compensating for a toggle or dial you can easily reach while you’re focused on the road.

For what it’s worth, the wireless Apple CarPlay worked seamlessly with the car in my time with it (and looked good too) while the wireless charger is rubberised and in a good location so your phone will be able to at least maintain its state of charge on the go.

Storage is plentiful up front, with large pockets with integrated bottle holders in each door, a large dual cupholder set-up in the centre console with variable edges and a large armrest console box.

In the back seat I have enough room for myself behind my own driving position at 182cm tall. It’s plenty wide and tall, but I don’t feel as though I had an enormous amount of legroom considering the size of the vehicle.

Still, the width will give you space for three adults across in relative comfort. Yes, there’s a large raise in the floor in the centre position to accommodate the all-wheel drive hardware underneath, but the width of the floor should allow a centre passenger to put their feet on either side.

Big door openings and the wide cabin make for easy child seat fitting, and there's even built-in window shades alongside two rear climate zones with physical controls, large bottle holders in the doors and a drop-down armrest, with some flimsy nets on the backs of the front seats to round things out.

Boot space is allegedly enormous at a quoted 810 litres, but the shape of it is less than ideal. Sure it’s nice and wide and oblong shaped at the base, but the rake of the boot quickly eats into the amount of height available, making it tricky to fit larger objects.

The space accommodated our CarsGuide three-piece luggage set with ease, but it didn’t leave much room to spare. It doesn’t feel like it’s double the 400 litre space typical of a one size-down SUV. 

There’s also a needlessly complex two-piece shelf, which lifts with the tailgate, but the boot wouldn’t completely close with the luggage set present unless you removed it. To the Touareg’s credit, the second row seats hinge forward significantly to expand space by a fair bit.

Under the floor there’s only a repair kit, as the huge PHEV battery takes up the rest of the space. A decidedly less than ideal flat tyre option.

Is the Touareg R good value? Seems like a silly question doesn’t it?

One school of thought says, of course it isn’t. Nobody needs a giant $129,990 (before on-road costs) SUV which is this fast. What the halo Touareg variant has always offered is excess with a modest exterior wrapper.

On the other hand, the Touareg R is great value when you consider you’re getting much the same hardware as a Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid ($188,600) with a Volkswagen badge.

In its size and price-bracket, the Touareg R directly rivals the Land Rover Defender 110 PHEV ($126,184), Lexus RX HEV ($127,434), Range Rover Velar PHEV ($131,536) and Volvo XC90 Ultra T8 PHEV ($128,390).

I see two problems with this. Firstly, all of those price rivals are premium brands, and secondly, at the circa-$130K price-tag there’s also the awkward reality you could be choosing one of a few very appealing fully-electric options, from the Kia EV9 GT-Line ($121,000), to the Polestar 3 ($131,054), Mercedes-Benz EQE ($134,900) and BMW iX ($136,900).

So, it’s great value from one perspective, but not so much from a few others. Then again, this is the biggest, baddest Volkswagen you can currently buy, so whether you’re in the market for an R-badged car or a PHEV of this size, you’re likely familiar with a six-figure price-tag.

Do you at least score good equipment for the money? Aside from all the complex drivetrain hardware, this VW is an impressive place to be, with extensive plush leather interior trim in the seats and doors, power adjust for the front two positions with heating and ventilation, a 12.0-inch digital dash with Volkswagen’s slick-as-ever digital cockpit software, a head-up display, a massive 15.0-inch multimedia touchscreen (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), matching wireless phone charger and quad-zone climate control.

Outside, there’s the brand’s signature matrix LED headlights, massive gloss black 22-inch alloy wheels, enormous ventilated disc brakes and a sports exhaust with air suspension hiding below.

It’s a lot of kit for a mainstream SUV, and performance, which we’ll talk about later, is impressive (with a few caveats). 

The Audi A8 50TDI is powered by a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine sending 210kW (from 3500-4000rpm) and 600Nm (from 1750-3250rpm) to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission (with ‘Tiptronic’ sequential manual shift function) and Audi’s quattro constant all-wheel drive system using a self-locking centre differential.

It also features a 48-volt electrical set-up for mild hybrid functionality built around a belt connected starter/generator, AC to DC converter and a 48-volt lithium-ion battery. 

With energy recovery of up to 12kW from regenerative braking, it enables the A8 to regularly coast with the engine switched off and helps the extended stop-start system to operate smoothly. 

The Touareg offers a performance-focused plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivetrain. Usually this means a little turbo four-cylinder engine and an electric motor, but instead this big SUV offers a 100kW electric motor and a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-petrol engine which combine for a whomping “total system power” of 340kW/700Nm.

This allows a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 5.1 seconds. Power is sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission and Torsen central differential. Up to 70 per cent of power can be sent to the front wheels, with up to 80 per cent of power going to the rear.

It is capable of driving at up to 135km/h under electric power alone, with the V6 kicking in beyond that speed.

It’s a rare set-up for two reasons. Firstly, it’s a plug in which maintains a large six-cylinder engine, and it runs even electric power through the transmission to all four wheels.

Some PHEV rivals, for example, use front combustion-drive only with no mechanical connection between the engine and the rear axle, which is driven purely electrically.

When it comes to towing specs, the Touareg offers solid official figures of 750kg for an unbraked trailer and 3500kg braked, although the maximum towball download is 220kg.

Audi’s official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 6.6L/100km, the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 emitting 175g/km of CO2 in the process.

Over a week of city, suburban, and some freeway running we averaged 11.1L/100km, which is acceptable for a 2.1-tonne luxury sedan.

Also worth noting the standard stop-start system works beautifully thanks to the 48-volt starter/generator.

You’ll need 82 litres of diesel to fill the tank and using the official number, that translates to a range of just over 1240km, which drops to around 740km using our real-world figure.

Like other plug-in hybrids, the official combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle fuel efficiency number for the Touareg R is an eyebrow-raisingly low figure which you know won’t be achievable in the real world, but is probably technically feasible in lab-style conditions. 

In this case, it’s 3.3L/100km. When I picked up the car it had a low charge level, and the next day I was able to top it up to just 50 per cent because I don’t have a power point in my garage, and the achingly slow 3.6kW maximum AC charging speed is severely limiting if you need to rely on the public network, as the 17.9kWh battery is relatively large.

This should bring you to the obvious conclusion the Touareg R is not a good hybrid if you can’t charge at home, as you’ll never extract the full benefit of the electric set-up. Perhaps adding evidence to this is its official energy consumption which comes in at a painful 21.1kWh/100km.

As for hydrocarbons, in my week of driving (in which I tried to pick up charge wherever I could) I saw over 14L/100km. Makes sense for a heavy petrol V6 SUV. I’d say you’re likely to see a figure like this on a longer journey or if you drive it with enthusiasm as the R badge encourages. To add additional pain, it requires 98RON premium unleaded fuel.

With a realistic maximum pure-electric range of closer to 40km compared to the official WLTP-rated 51km (more on this in the driving section of the review), the R is also best for people whose daily commute is relatively short.

I can’t imagine, for example, the best benefit of this car will be extracted from someone who lives in the urban sprawl and commutes to the city every day with distances in excess of 50km for a return journey.

Additionally, the hybrid mode is very EV-heavy, draining the battery relatively quickly unless you manually put it in preservation mode.

For nerds who could be bothered, this mode is potentially a nifty feature allowing retention of some EV range at the end of a long freeway journey. But it takes a certain buyer to even be bothered with this.

Can you see why plug-less hybrids are the Australian new car buyer’s electrification configuration of choice?

Despite extensive use of aluminium in the ‘ASF’ platform and body panels, the A8 tips the scales at a sturdy 2095kg, yet Audi says the A8 will accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 5.9 seconds. And with 600Nm of peak torque available across a flat plateau from 1750-3250rpm this big four-door gets up and goes hard when asked to. 

At more sedate speeds you’re occasionally reminded there’s a diesel engine under the bonnet, with that characteristic engine and exhaust noise only making their presence felt under pressure. 

In fact, under normal circumstances, noise, be it the engine, tyres or wind is minimal, thanks to a combination of the car’s aero-efficient shape, thick acoustic glass and other sound-deadening measures throughout the car.

The eight-speed auto transmission is suitably smooth, with the central shifter or wheel-mounted paddles able to make snappy sequential ‘manual’ shifts.

There are four drive modes in the ‘Drive Select’ system - ‘Comfort’, ‘Auto’, ‘Dynamic’ and ‘Individual’ - enabling tweaks to the steering, transmission, throttle and suspension. Comfort felt most appropriate most of the time, although dialling up the throttle and transmission to more aggressive modes in Individual adds an enjoyable edge.

The suspension is five-link front and rear with an adaptive air system smoothing even high-frequency bumps and ruts amazingly well.

Push into a corner and the A8 feels nicely balanced, its wide track, sophisticated suspension, plus the quattro AWD system seamlessly distributing drive between the front and rear axles, keeping the big body under control. In fact, you feel the ‘big car shrinking around you’ syndrome from the get-go.

The steering is precise without being overly sharp and road feel is good. Again, with that 2.1-tonne kerb weight in mind, braking is appropriately powerful with big ventilated discs front (350mm) and rear (330mm).

It pays to remember the turning circle is 12.5m, and it’s worth picking your spot for a U- or three-point turn.

Although there’s a lot going on for the driver in terms of screens, buttons and switches it all makes sense ergonomically. The head-up display is helpful and there’s a common sense mix of digital and physical controls, the latter including an audio volume knob. Yes.

Here’s where things get a bit frustrating, and your experience will vary dramatically depending on how you use this car.

One thing we can get out of the way immediately is the Touareg is deeply technically impressive when you attack a few corners. Its immediate electric thrust is capable of propelling this large object forward with eye-widening speed, and the air suspension, wide grippy tyres, Torsen centre differential and tidy steering tune conspire to make it mind-bending to carve corners in.

It’s flat, stable, and far more accurate and agile than expected. The only hint as to the sheer physics of wrangling the Touareg around bends is the tyres screaming out in agony as the suspension and all-wheel drive system work their magic to keep it all under control.

Once the electric torque pushes you out from the corner, the deep satisfying thrum of the 3.0-litre petrol V6 quickly takes over as you lurch forward on the almost fluid-feeling suspension. It’s laugh-out-loud satisfying and certainly enough to capture passengers' attention.

In this sense, the R fulfils its mission of transforming the big Touareg into a handling and acceleration hero, but despite all the cleverness it doesn’t feel as sharp or lean as the Golf R, T-Roc R or Tiguan R.

There’s still a massive battery, as well as huge complexity and weight to deal with, no matter how technically fast it is. There’s always the unsettling feeling of this amount of weight moving around, and the occasional slight delay from the transmission as it figures out what’s going on between the electric motor and big engine.

Then there are the compromises. Normally, I’m a huge fan of how plush and luxurious the Touareg feels. It’s usually such a step above its station in the VW Group, occasionally even feeling preferable to its platform relations, but the R has some issues.

For a start, the enormous 22-inch wheels and low-profile tyres ruin the day-to-day ride quality, crashing over bumps and road imperfections, despite the fact there’s also air suspension supposedly providing a buffer between you and the tarmac.

Even in the more comfort-oriented drive settings you can hear and feel every bit the moment the wheels contact a pothole or bump. Clearly, it’s tuned more toward handling than maintaining the same luxury feel as the rest of the range.

The transmission is also occasionally hesitant, either from a standing start or when switching between electric thrust and the engine. This is much better when the battery is charged up from the reserve level, as there isn’t enough charge when driving around as a hybrid to push a big, heavy (and always) all-wheel drive very far.

But hybrid driving is also frustrating, for reasons mainly related to the software. With the battery charged, the 51km of claimed driving range feels a tad ambitious. I was able to charge it to about 50 per cent (the battery is huge, at 17.9kWh, and I could only pull about 3.5kW from a local AC charging unit) and scored about 20km of driving range.

It drains quickly, even in the hybrid driving mode, as it relies on the electric motor a lot for initial take-off.

This means unless you set the battery preserve mode manually in the hybrid settings screen, it will likely run the battery dry before you’re even able to get it somewhere where it can take full advantage of the extra electric thrust.

As an electric vehicle it’s also only alright. The short time I was able to spend in full EV mode proved the battery will drain faster than advertised, and the regen is so-so for assisting in braking.

Other more performance-focused PHEVs suffer the same issue. For example, I felt largely the same way about the much-maligned four-cylinder PHEV Mercedes-AMG C63.

While hybrids like this may be impressive when conditions are ideal, they’re ultimately frustrating to use in reality. It’s a shame, because I wanted to like it more but it doesn’t quite capture the same magic of its R-badged forebears and siblings.

All of the safety kit is standard and present on the Touareg R, including autobahn-speed auto emergency braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, front and rear cross-traffic alert, blind spot monitoring, road sign recognition, driver fatigue detection, a surround view camera and adaptive cruise control.

The best part is these systems not only work, but they’re well calibrated so they generally don’t interfere with the core driving experience.

Additionally, the Touareg has a suite of eight airbags and maintains a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating achieved in 2018.

The A8 is covered by Audi Australia’s five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is now par for the luxury market course, and 24-hour roadside assistance is included for the duration.

Paint defects are also covered for five years, with rust (to the point of perforation) covered for 12. Nice.

Service is required every 12 months or 15,000km with a five-year capped-price plan for the A8 coming in at $3830, or $766 per year. That’s a fair wedge but not outrageous for the category.

The standard five year, unlimited kilometre warranty features with one year of complimentary roadside assistance provided (renewed for another year with each service at an authorised dealer).

Servicing is required once every 12 months or 15,000km and the most affordable way to do it is with pre-packaged service plans bundled in with purchase. These come in at $3400 for five years (a saving of $668 over the a-la-carte program) or $2050 for the three year plan (a saving of $222).

Even in its most affordable form this makes servicing average $680 a year which is a far cry from most affordable brands, but it could be worse considering the complexity of the powertrain.