Originally Posted by nu11eaf
I had a forced change of car several weeks ago due to someone reversing into my XC90 Inscription which then required the bumper repaired so I had a VW Touareg R design as a hire car for a week.
Impressions of the VW Touareg:
Cargo area although big is no where near as big as the XC90, I had dropped my family off at the caravan the day before the accident with the XC90 loaded up, when I picked the family back up I could not get everything in the VW even though there were less bags as there were no food provisions etc on the way back and some of the cargo had to be put on the rear seat.
Engine, the VW being a V6 was lovely and smooth, very quiet and very responsive, a really good engine, I wish Volvo had a V6.
Steering, was more precise and there was much less body roll when cornering, being the R design it had stiffer suspension.
Brakes, the brakes were better than the Volvo, very little effort required and it pulled the car up very fast, again R design may have better brakes than the standard car.
Comfort, the ride around town was very jittery and you felt every bump or joint in the road so not as comfortable as mine but again R design v my air suspension.
Auto wipers, Miles better than the Volvo rain sensing wiper, they worked just perfectly.
Retracting towbar, again better than the Volvo, it swung out and locked in place with a touch of the button, no need to manually pull it up to lock it in position.
Driver convenience, no remote start, etc and what I did find most odd that it had no heated mirrors. I missed not being able to remote start and have the car defrosted when I got in it, and no pilot assist either or 360 camera just a rear camera.
So the VW has a nicer quieter more responsive engine, better steering, better brakes, better wipers, and a better towbar, not as comfortable as my XC90 but I dont know how it compares to the Volvo R design.
Would I pick one over the Volvo, Although it was better in many ways, overall the Volvo is a much nicer car to be in and live with so no I would choose the Volvo every time, I was very pleased to get my XC90 back, its just a nice car to be in.
One other thing that let the VW down was the DAB radio, most of my journey to the caravan was in radio silence as the DAB had no signal and I could not see any FM radio, after a week with the car I still could not find FM.
|