Volkswagen Touareg vs Range Rover

What's the difference?

The Touareg is a plush, comfortable SUV which is very nice to drive and, in R-Line guise, it has a welcome bit of saucy sportiness about it.

Let’s be honest: this is not a hard-core off-roading wagon, but to expect it to be such a vehicle is to miss the point entirely. 

The Touareg is more than capable of tackling the large SUV market’s own version of dirt-driving adventures and it does it with aplomb and it does it while the driver and passengers enjoy supreme comfort.

The Range Rover Autobiography long wheelbase is an outstanding SUV that is not just beautiful to drive but makes family practicality a priority, too, 

The price is reasonable relative to the competition, the features list is long and complementary servicing offers peace of mind.

If you don’t need the third row, I’d consider the standard wheelbase Autobiography even if it does reduce legroom, there’s still plenty of space.

My son stopped short of giving the Range Rover Autobiography full marks "because there are no massaging seats in the second row".     

This large SUV is 4878mm long (with a 2899mm wheelbase), 1984mm wide, 1686mm high and has an official kerb weight of 2169kg.

There are nice touches inside and out and surely features like chrome roof rails, highlights and exhaust tips will bring at least a slight sly smile to even the most jaded SUV admirer’s face.

This is a sleek, stylish and so very premium-looking and feeling vehicle that it makes a lowly peasant like me feel more than a little bit uncomfortable.

This fifth-generation Range Rover debuted in 2021 and despite its smooth, modern styling this SUV retains the familiar traditional Range Rover look with the short squared bonnet, flat roofline and tall windows.  

Let’s talk about the wheelbase, because it has a huge impact on passenger space.

We had the long wheelbase which is 3197mm between the front and rear wheels - that’s 200mm more than the standard wheelbase. 

Just look at those stretched rear doors in the photos - this is a go-anywhere limousine, or go-anywhere daycare centre in my case.

The overall length of the long wheelbase Range Rover is 5252mm. That’s big, but the design of this SUV doesn’t make it appear enormous.

What I don't like are the retractable door handles. They take a while to pop out and they look and feel cheap. Land Rover has used these on its other SUVs and if I had time I’d pen a letter asking the company to please stop. I’m sincerely hoping this review will do the same thing. I await your response JLR.

I think the tail-lights are pure genius. The pencil thin design is such a brave move away from the norm where brands are going over the top with LED lighting, and the simplicity is refreshing.

Inside, a traditional-looking Range Rover cabin awaits you with the flat dashboard, the low window sills contrasted by super modern touches like the displays and fully digital dials.

It’s sumptuous, luxurious, but not over the top. Again some people are looking for bling and gimmicks, but you won’t find them here - and I like that. This interior feels solid and substantial, but plush. 

If you’re considering a Touareg as your next SUV, there’s a good chance that you’re already pretty familiar with all that’s on offer inside, but I’ll give you the drum: this interior manages to succeed at being a nice mix of luxurious and practical. 

While there are leather and soft-touch surfaces seemingly everywhere, there are also plenty of storage spaces, cup-holders, bottle-holders, USB charge points (front and second row), 12-volt power outlets (front and cargo area), temp and air-vent controls (front and second row), bag hooks (on backs of front seats and in cargo area), cargo tie down hooks/rings (cargo area) and a raft of other features that are well suited to real life.

All seats are supportive and comfortable. 

The driver and front passenger seats are power-adjustable and heated and ventilated.

The rear seats are a 40/20/40 split configuration and the row can slide and recliners two separate sections. It has a fold-down centre arm-rest with cupholders.

There is 1800 litres of cargo area volume with the second row folded; 810 litres with it in place.

Range Rovers have been a family favourite for decades and they’ve been doing school runs and trips away long before other brands even thought about producing SUVs for families.

So what you’re buying is Land Rover’s decades of knowing how to make a family SUV and you can tell by little things such as, how wide the doors open, how easy it is to get in and out of (even for little kids), the flat floor, the good visibility (thanks to low window sills), and then there’s the space and cabin storage. Stuff other brands seem to be still working out.

The second row seats in the Autobiography have electric sun shades, dual-zone climate control and the window seats are power adjustable and heated.

My eight-year old couldn’t resist playing with his electric sunshade and the seat adjustment, but fortunately the driver has an override switch which let me turn off his 'seat privileges’ as he called it. 

Being the long wheelbase means the rear doors are long and heavy. So while the eight-year old could open them, he had trouble closing them. 

The long wheelbase offers unrivalled legroom in the back and that meant my wife and I could put our own seats back further for our own comfort -even with a baby seat behind us.

Enormous door pockets, a giant centre console storage area, cupholders in all three rows, USB ports, wireless phone charging and in our case an optional domestic power outlet ($130) made this a comfortable, roomy, well equipped cabin.

Sure, the third row isn’t exactly spacious, but I’ve never met one that is. 

The intelligent seat folding system is remarkable. From the boot or side doors you can electronically adjust the second and third rows - either to raise them or lower them so they are flat for storage.

With all seats in place there is 229 litres of cargo space still left in the boot, but with those back seats folded flat you have 713 litres of capacity - and that’s just up to the cargo cover. 

The Range Rover Autobiography has air suspension and this means the SUV can lower itself to an 'Access' height to make it even easier to get in and out.

The Autobiography sits high in the Range Rover line-up and only the SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) models command higher prices.

Our Range Rover Autobiography was the long-wheelbase with the twin-turbo petrol V8 engine and has a list price of $312,193.

The standard features include retractable door handles with a proximity key, the LED headlights and tail-lights, a power tailgate and the panoramic sunroof.

Inside, 'Caraway' perforated semi-aniline leather seats are standard, too. So is a 13.1-inch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus sat nav. There’s a fully digital driver display, a head-up display, wireless phone charging, and a Meridian 'Signature' sound system.

Four-zone climate control is standard and will keep the kids comfortable in the back, while the sun shades will project them from that giant fireball in the sky. 

Up front there are heated and cooled seats which also massage, while the outboard rear seats are heated and power adjustable.

Our Autobiography was the seven-seater and it’s only about $1600 more than the five-seat version.

Ours had a few options fitted - there are the 23-inch wheels, the standard alloys are 22-inch, there’s also the black contrasting roof and the privacy glass which is so dark it’s almost impossible to look in. 

All up the total list price for ours came to $318,603.

This diesel Touareg has a 3.0L turbocharged V6 engine – producing 210kW at 4000rpm and 600Nm at 1750 rpm – and it has an eight-speed automatic transmission. 

It has VW’s 4Motion AWD and a variety of driving modes including eco, comfort, normal sport, individual, off-road (auto and expert), and snow, which adjust vehicle characteristics, such as engine performance, throttle response, and damping and steering, to suit your selection.

The 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 is a perfect match for the Range Rover Autobiography.

There’s enormous power at 390kW and a colossal 750Nm of torque, but it’s delivered so smoothly and without sounding like Armageddon is beginning.

You might here the engine referred to as the P530. That signifies it’s petrol and makes about 530 horsepower. 

All that grunt means that despite weighing more than 2.7 tonnes, this SUV can hurl itself from a stand still to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds. 

An eight-speed automatic sends the drive to all four wheels. And making this SUV incredibly capable off-road is an excellent four-wheel drive system with a low range gear, plus a maximum ground clearance (thanks to the adjustable air suspension) of 283mm and a wading depth of up to 900mm.

There is a six-cylinder diesel, but if you decide on that instead of the V8 then it's all over between you and me. That’s how good this V8 is.

It has an official fuel-consumption figure of 6.8L/100km on a combined cycle, but on test we recorded 11.7L/100km, measured at the pump.

It’s worth noting here that we did do some low-speed AWDing along a very washed-out track. 

This Touareg has a 90-litre fuel tank so, going by that as-tested fuel-consumption figure, you can reasonably expect a driving range of approximately 719km from a full tank, but that’s factoring in a safe-distance buffer of 50km.

It has a 24-litre Adblue tank.

Now, you’re going to use a lot of fuel. But that’s okay because this will probably be your last petrol car and the next one will be electric so let’s go out with a bang - last drinks at the petrol bar! Land Rover says you’ll use 11.8L/100km.

After a week of punishing my Range Rover with school drop offs, shopping centre car parks, hilly suburbs, motorways and rural roads the petrol pump told me we’d used 19.8L/100km.

I’m not shocked by that consumption. This is a 2.7 tonne all-wheel drive twin-turbo V8 SUV that was almost always ferrying around four people with a pram, garden supplies and shopping in bumper to bumper traffic. A real world fuel test. 

There is that six-cylinder diesel and a hybrid version of the Range Rover, but this V8 engine suits the character of the SUV perfectly - anything else and it’s like eating reduced fat ice cream.

Very comfortable. 

For starters, as driver you have the ability in the Touareg cabin to set up your preferred position with almost-pinpoint accuracy via the 18-way powered seat (with memory) and the tilt- and telescopic-adjustable steering wheel/column. The steering wheel is even bloody heated!

The 3.0L V6 is a punchy unit and the Touareg manages to harness its 210kW/600Nm via the eight-speed auto with mostly considered control.

This is a reasonably dynamic vehicle – for a large SUV – and it manages to maintain a commanding stance on-road and on the move, while feeling nimble enough around town and on bush tracks – more about that later – to deftly avoid any criticisms about being a clumsy drive. 

It has a turning circle of 11.19m.

Acceleration is mostly okay from a standing start and while overtaking on the open road, although persistent turbo lag in those scenarios is off-putting. 

Cycle through the driving modes (eco, comfort, normal, sport, individual, off-road (auto and expert), and snow) – via a dial near the auto shifter – to further determine your sweet spot in terms of steer-ability, throttle response, engine performance, damping and steering, among other characteristics, to match your selection.

Speaking of steering, its all-wheel steering is pretty sharp as is and, as mentioned, the auto is generally on-point, but for an even more direct driving experience switch to manual mode and have fun with the paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

Adjustable air suspension with electronic adaptive damping control lends a welcome flexibility to ride and handling, which is generally well sorted. The rotary dial control to adjust the air suspension is to the left of the drive mode dial. 

If you notice an all-wheel drive system actually working then that’s probably not a good sign and if you notice the Touareg’s 4Motion kicking in then you’re more sober than I am: it’s a seamless application, capable of sending up to 70 percent of drive torque to the front axle, or up to 80 percent to the rear axle, depending on driving conditions. It is quietly effective during daily driving and seemingly masterful in traction-compromised circumstances of which we have had many due to recent heavy rainfalls; I’m talking about rain-slicked blacktop through to muddy gravel tracks – again, more about that soon. 

The Touareg’s tyres – Pirelli P Zero (285/45 R20) – are well suited to driving on sealed surfaces and well-maintained and dry gravel and dirt roads, but they’re far from ideal for anything more challenging than that.

It has a "weight and space saving inflatable spare wheel”.

Driving the V8-powered, long-wheelbase, 2.7-tonne, Range Rover Autobiography is a lot easier than it sounds. Really, it’s the Range Rover’s height above sea level which will strike you first.

You’ll lord it over other cars. The length doesn’t come into it - even for parking because the visibility is so good, the steering is so light and the engine is civilised and smooth.  

This is truly an easy and enjoyable SUV to drive, with power and performance whenever you need it. 

There are several drive modes from a 'Dynamic' sporty one, which makes the engine more responsive and suspension firmer, to off-road settings.

Most of the time I left the Range Rover in 'Comfort' mode for the softest ride, but with 530 horsepower lurking in the background ready to jump out and eat up hills and overtaking.

The front seats are wide, comfortable and supportive even after hours of driving. 

The Range Rover was given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it was tested in 2022.

For second-row child occupant protection the Range Rover scored a high 86 per cent in frontal and side impacts.

Standard safety tech includes AEB (junction and forward) with cyclists and pedestrian detection, there’s blind-spot warning, lane keeping assistance and rear cross-traffic alert, but no rear AEB.

For child seats there are ISOFIX mounts in the second row, and top tether anchor points in the second row and third rows.

Along with an entire suite of airbags it’s good to see a centre airbag up front and also head-covering curtain airbags all three rows.

The Touareg has a five year / unlimited kilometre warranty and that includes one year of 24-hour roadside assistance.

This variant requires a service every 12 months or 15,000 km, whichever comes first.

Assured Service Pricing applies to the first five standard scheduled services with listed prices of $539, $886, $539, $1306, and $539.

The warranty is good with five-years and unlimited kilometre coverage.

There’s also five years roadside assistance and a complimentary five-year/130,000km service plan.

Yep, that's complimentary, as in free servicing for five years. I didn’t believe it myself and called Land Rover to check and was told that it does indeed mean free-of-charge.