Toyota Land Cruiser vs Volkswagen Touareg

What's the difference?

The Sahara version of the LandCruiser 300 is an impressive large 4WD wagon: refined and comfortable on-road, and it adequately retains that renowned ’Cruiser capability off-road.

It's supremely comfortable seven-seater and has heaps of potential as a touring vehicle, but while there's plenty to like about the Sahara spec, the updated seven-seat GXL (up $2029, to $110,820 excluding on-road costs) offers a more appealing compromise between price and features, especially now that it has a cool box in the centre console, four-zone climate control (previously two), and eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat (with lumbar support), among other additions.

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 LandCruiser 300 Series in Sahara spec strikes a nice balance between practicality and prestige.

The Sahara's exterior has a distinctive LandCruiser appearance: chunky but modern-ish and ready to be fitted with Toyota genuine accessories or aftermarket gear.

The Sahara is 4980mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1980mm wide and 1955mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2620kg.

The Sahara’s exterior has that distinctive LandCruiser appearance, but modernised.

Otherwise, there are chrome exterior mirrors and door handles, and dynamic indicators front and rear that add to its overall quietly classy appearance.

The Silver Pearl premium paint on our test vehicle costs $675. Other paint choices include Glacier White, Ebony, Crystal Pearl, Graphite, Merlot Red, Eclipse Black and Dusty Bronze.

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.

There's a sense of familiarity in the 300’s cabin – it's a functional yet premium space – and it's an easy cabin in which to become instantly comfortable.

The driver gets a heated and power-adjustable steering wheel, and ventilated, heated and power-adjustable seat (with power lumbar adjustment), while the front passenger gets a ventilated, heated and power-adjustable seat.

All seats are leather-accented, comfortable and there are soft-touch surfaces throughout the interior.

The Sahara's 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen is a main feature in the cabin and it's easy to use, now with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there's a wireless charging pad near the shifter. There are USB-A and USB-C charging points upfront.

The centre console houses a cool box and its lid can be opened from either side, so driver or passenger can access whatever is inside.

And – will wonders never cease? – the Sahara has a powered sunroof (aka moonroof).

There are the usual storage spaces, cupholders, receptacles in the doors for bottles, and myriad other spaces for the stuff that you carry every day.

Second-row seats are in a 40/20/40 split-folding configuration, and the third row is a power-folding arrangement that stows away forwards and flat.

The Sahara's cargo space, when all seven seats are in use, is a listed 175 litres (VDA) behind the third row, increasing to 1004 litres when the second and third row are stowed away.

The rear cargo area has a 220V/100W inverter and four tie-down points.

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 Sahara has the 300 line-up’s 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel engine, producing 227kW at 4000rpm and 700Nm from 1600 to 2600rpm.

It has a 10-speed automatic transmission, high- and low-range 4WD, as well as a centre diff lock.

What it also has is a handy array of 4WD-focussed driver-assist tech onboard, which includes crawl control, downhill assist, hill-start assist, multi-terrain select, multi-terrain monitor with panoramic view, and active traction control (A-TRC). 

It also has what’s called turn assist which, when activated through crawl control, helps to reduce the 300’s turning radius by braking the inside rear wheel – and while it initially seems like a bit of a novelty, this feature may come in very handy if you have to work your way through especially narrow and twisty bush tracks.

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.

Official fuel consumption is listed as 8.9L/100km on the combined cycle.

I recorded 12.4L/100km on this test, which is reasonable considering I did a solid half-day of low-range four-wheel driving, book-ended by 100km of highway driving.

The Sahara has an 80-litre main fuel tank and a 30L sub-tank (totalling 110-litre fuel capacity) so, going by my on-test fuel-use figure (12.4L/100km), you could expect a driving range from a full 110 litres of almost 890km.

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?

The Sahara is quiet and well-behaved on-road.

Steering is light and responsive and, with a 11.8m turning circle, this big 4WD feels nimble in the bush, even on tight tracks or pinched approaches to hills or creek crossings.

The V6 offers up plenty of power and torque, and that’s smoothly managed through the 10-speed auto.

Ride and handling are well sorted but, this being a LandCruiser, it’s soft and comfortable, rather than dynamic.

Its suspension – double wishbone, independent at the front and live axle and multi-links at the rear, with coils all-around – manages to soak up most imperfections in the road surface.

The 300 Series' brakes – ventilated discs all-around – brought the big Cruiser to a controlled stop during two emergency-braking scenarios.

The Sahara does miss out on some of the handy 4WD gear featured in the two higher grades (Sahara ZX and GR Sport), namely Toyota's sway-bar-disconnect equivalent electronic Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (included onboard the GR Sport), front and rear differential locks (GR Sport), adaptive variable suspension (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) and a rear torque-sensing limited-slip differential (ZX).

But ultimately, unless you're really going all-out to break your Cruiser while 4WDing, then the Sahara has enough old-school and new mechanicals and driver-assist aids to get you through the majority of off-road challenges.

Put it this way: we managed all obstacles at our testing ground without any strife.

The V6 produces more than enough power and more torque – up 27kW and 50Nm over the V8 – and that power and torque is consistently delivered across a broad rev range.

The 10-speed auto is a clever match for this engine, making for a smooth pairing, never floundering through ratios in an attempt to find the sweet spot; it’s always pretty close to bang-on.

High- and low-range gearing are solid in the 300 Series, and the Cruiser has a 50:50 centre diff lock.

There’s also a comprehensive suite of driver-assist tech onboard aimed at making your off-roading escapades easier and safer.

The traction control system has been well calibrated and is quite seamless in its application.

The 300's multi-terrain select system includes driving modes such as Sand, Mud and Rock to suit the terrain you're on. These modes adjust various vehicle systems – including throttle control, engine output, and transmission response – to give you the best chance possible of tackling every off-road obstacle safely and in a controlled fashion.

Off-road measurements and angles are decent: ground clearance is 235mm, wading depth is 700mm, and approach, ramp-over and departure angles are 32, 21, and 25 degrees, respectively.

As well as its dialled-in off-road traction control and all of those driving modes, it has handy tech such as crawl control, which works like a low-speed cruise control.

Its tyres are the only real flaw in the 300 Series’ off-road set-up, as its standard Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains (265/65R18) are better suited to dry-track, light-duty 4WDing in good weather than taking on any hardcore 4WDing.

In terms of towing capacity, the 300 Series can legally tow a 750kg unbraked trailer, and the industry-standard of 3500kg braked for large 4WD wagons.

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 LandCruiser 300 Sahara is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is par for the course in the mainstream market. Owners may extend the engine and driveline warranty to seven years by adhering to service schedules.

Service intervals are scheduled for every six months or 10,000km, whichever comes first. Those timings are shorter than the more usual 12 months/15,000km.

Capped-price servicing applies to the first 10 services at a cost of $420 each (correct at time of writing).

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.