First drive: Volkswagen Touareg R50 car review

Model tested: Volkswagen Touareg R50 5-litre TDi 6sp tiptronic
Price as tested: £61,990
Insurance group as tested: 19
CO2 emissions as tested: 333g/km (Band G, £400)
Average range CO2 emissions: 298g/km
EuroNCAP result: *****
On sale date: Now
Date and place tested: April 2008, Horsham, W. Sussex
Road tester: Stuart Milne

Volkswagen has taken its full-fat Touareg SUV and given it a heavy dose of aggression – and one of the most powerful diesel engines in the world. Say hello to the Volkswagen Touareg R50.

Sporting a 5-litre V10 engine, which produces 347bhp and a barely-believable 627lb/ft of pulling power, the Touareg R50 shoots straight to the head of Volkswagen's SUV range.

We put it through its on-road paces on the winding roads around West Sussex.

View more pictures of the Volkswagen Touareg R50

Sports utility fans have got plenty of choice when it comes to straight-line drag cars with off-road ability.

Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and Land Rover all offer SUVs with huge engines offering performance car pace.

And now Volkswagen has joined the party with its Touareg R50.

It packs a 5-litre V10 diesel engine which produces a healthy 350bhp and a supercar-bothering 627lb/ft of pulling power.

And that adds up to an incredible 6.7 second 0-62mph time and a top speed of 146mph – hot hatch performance in a vehicle which weighs more than three tonnes.

To put that into perspective, the 'standard' 5-litre Touareg – which has 'just' 552lb/ft of pulling power – is capable of towing a Boeing 747 along a runway.

So it was with that prodigious power in mind we took to the roads.

Heavy metal thunder

The first thing to hit you is the Touareg R50's soundtrack. It might have a typical diesel clatter at tickover, but under hard acceleration it's more like a thoroughbred muscle car.

It doesn't take long before you're approaching the speed limit either (it'll reach 62mph just 0.2 seconds later than the hot Golf R32), but driving like this soon reveals it Achilles heel. It might boast enormous brake discs with chunky blue callipers gripping them, but they feel spongy and require a firm foot to bring the chunky Touareg to a halt.

But while its brakes don't always inspire confidence, the handling does. The R50 comes equipped with Volkswagen's Continuous Damping Control (CDC) which has had a sports modification. It has three settings: Comfort, Sport and Auto which vary the ride – which is excellent in all three.

And that's a surprise, given the lack of flex offered by the low profile 35-section tyres on its 21-inch alloys.

There's no getting away from the fact the Touareg is a big car, regardless of the amount of trick suspension, but it can still be thrown into bends like few other full-sized SUVs.

And another reminder the R50, while a bone-fide performance car, has more humble underpinnings is the steering. SUVs usually have a degree of 'play' in the steering which means the steering wheel won't spin round unexpectedly in a muddy rut when off road. That compromise means it doesn't offer a huge amount of feedback.

Imposing looks

Not that this handling deficiency will deter fashion conscious buyers.

The Touareg R50 certainly looks the part, and will appear at home in any Premiership football club car park.

It features massive 21-inch alloys and the Touareg 'R' design package which includes a roof spoiler, unique front and rear bumpers, extended wheelarches, blue brake callipers and big exhausts.

And the cabin feels suitably special too, with fancy aluminium trim, heated Nappa leather seats (the outermost rear seats are heated too, although the middle seat does without) and a smattering of off-road controls for different gear ratios and suspension heights.

Other equipment highlights include bright bi-xenon headlamps, a DVD-based touch-screen sat-nav and dual zone climate control, as found on the Touareg Altitude V10, which previously topped the range.

Naturally all this doesn't come cheap. The top of the range R50 comes with a top of the range price; £61,990 - £3,885 more than the Altitude V10.

And keeping it on the road won’t be one for the weak of wallet. Volkswagen says it'll cover an average of 22.4mpg, dropping to 16mpg around town, and emissions of 333g/km place it into tax band G, which currently costs £400 a year.

So its not surprising Volkswagen will only sell a handful a year; so that £62,000 will buy its owners exclusivity a Range Rover or X5 cannot.

And it will certainly buy SUV performance few others can match.

View more pictures of the Volkswagen Touareg R50