Associate Editor Brandon Turkus shows off the Off-Road Mode on the 2015 Volkswagen Touareg TDI.
TranscriptBRANDON TURKUS: Hey Autoblog. This is associate editor Brandon Turkus.
You know, at the $60,000 price point, there are a lot of options if you're looking at crossover SUVs and if you want to go off-road. One that most people probably won't think of is the Volkswagen Touareg.
I'm with the 2015 Touareg TDI. I have the mid-level vehicle. I believe it's called the Lux. It's about $60,000. And while it has all the sort of like on-road accouterments that you might expect, it also has this little knob, On Road, Off Road. Turn it to Off Road. I'll come back to the display.
The changes aren't very, you know, serious. Basically you turn it, the front park assist will shut off. [INAUDIBLE] control kicks in, and you get this nice little display showing you your steering-- your front steering angle. So when you turn the wheels, it records it right there. You can know exactly what the angle the front tires are at.
It doesn't do much more than that. There's-- there's not-- You know, this model doesn't have an air suspension. There's not a low range gearbox. There's not some of the stuff you might see on a much more dedicated off-road crossover or SUV like the Land Rover LR4 or Jeep Grand Cherokee. So if you were looking for something that, you know, really had a lot more capability, you're going to want to look at one of those two vehicles.
The Touareg is great as an on-roader, but it doesn't quite have its-- have the chops to really keep up with those-- with those two competitors. But then again, most people don't really take the SUVs off road anyways, so-- But here I am with the 2015 Volkswagen Touareg TDI.
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