Volkswagen Touareg To Get 280-HP VR6 Engine
The Touareg is also expected to receive a facelift within a year’s time. The new, 2007 model has been spied, undisguised, in cold-weather testing wearing new teardrop-style headlamps, new tail lamps that mimic the luxurious Phaeton, as well as new lower fascias all around. Inside, Volkswagen has planned minor revisions which include a reworked centre console, as well as new instruments. These changes mirror similar ones expected to show up on its Porsche Cayenne sister-ship. Expect the new engine to debut with the facelifted car later this year; possibly in New York, or even as a last-minute offering at Geneva.
In other related news, the Audi Q7, which is loosely based off the Touareg/Cayenne architecture, but with seven seats and without the added weight of the off-road specified undercarriage, may also feature the new engine. At its North American debut in Detroit, Audi announced that base-model Q7s would use the 3.2-litre FSI V6 engine in the A4 and A6. At 255-horsepower, it seemed plenty, that is, until the announcement of the more powerful Touareg VR6. In order not to be out-classed by its lower brand, it would make logical sense for Audi to adapt the more powerful FSI VR6 engine to the new Q7.
Aside from the standard V6 and V8 offerings that most premium luxury SUVs now offer, Audi intends to buck the trend by offering not one but two alternative fuel options for the Q7 in order to increase brand awareness and improve the SUV’s appeal. Audi has shown its intentions to produce a gasoline-electric hybrid version in a special prototype-concept form, which is said to be on its way. The big surprise, however, is that Audi will also ship over a turbodiesel variant, most likely the 3.0-litre TDI V6 engine from its European lineup. While the diesel is important for Audi, it won’t be as much of a statement as Volkswagen’s 5.0-litre V10 turbodiesel Touareg. Both the hybrid and the diesel are expected to arrive in 2008.
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