2018 Audi Q7 vs Volkswagen Touareg

What's the difference?

It's difficult to pick between the 160 and the 200. Neither are particularly cheap but this is another of those occasions where it would be a waste of money to bring in a comparatively stripped-out entry level that nobody would buy.

If pressed, I'd say spend the extra on the 200 - it's got a fair bit more gear for the extra outlay and in both the theoretical and real worlds, it doesn't really use that much more fuel for the decent performance boost.

The e-tron is a long shot for a bigger wad of cash and is really only for those keen on a plug-in hybrid Q7. The limited competition isn't any better.

The Q7 is a belter of a large SUV - quiet, refined and reasonably capable off-road, despite its decidedly on-road focus. It goes about its business quietly, confidently and with a minimum of fuss . You know it's big, but it doesn't shout about it and, crucially, it doesn't feel like it from behind the wheel. That's a neat trick.

The Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI takes a great SUV and adds some much-needed items – such as AEB and adaptive cruise control while improving the looks further with those wheels and upholstery.

Better suited as a comfortable highway cruiser that will eat up the kays without being too thirsty, the Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI is a superb choice for towing.

The thing you really must be aware of is the next generation Touareg is expected in 2019, and will be more modern in every way. Are you willing to wait?

The second-generation Q7 is a familiar sight on our roads. I remember the change from the first to second iterations clearly - I wasn't a fan of the old one's overbearing looks and it always looked as though it rode too high, especially on smaller wheels. As its long model cycle wore on, it became ever more bejewelled and the basic shape was lost in bling.

Thankfully, the second generation went light on the chrome and flashiness. Always riding on big rims, it looks less imposing than the original. There are some off-road nods, like vestigial wheelarch extensions, but anything with a rear diffuser is meant more for tarmac than gravel.

This Q7 is more a high-riding wagon (or higher-riding of you take the A6 Allroad into account) and seems more optimised for passenger space and utility rather than shouting 'Look at my massive car!'. Like the bulk of the current Audi SUV range, it's quietly elegant.

And inside, it's tremendous. The now de rigueur 'widescreen' feel to the interior means an airy, light space. Materials are spot on, the design coherent and sensible and the ergonomics are close to faultless. You'll want for nothing in here, with plenty of space, gadgets and style.

The Monochrome edition adds black touches to the mirror caps, grille and roof rails, while inside you’ll find two-tone black and 'Moonrock Grey' vienna leather upholstery, aluminium and gloss black trim to the dashboard and a 'Titanium' and black headliner.

But the Monochrome styling isn’t enough to hide that this tough-looking big brute, like Schwarzenegger, is looking elderly. That’s understandable because this current model has been around since 2010 and as mentioned a new generation of the SUV will be out in 2019.

The Touareg and Porsche Cayenne share the same architecture, platform, engines and many other components, and you can see some obvious family resemblances, particularly those big curvy haunches and the rear of the car.

That said, strategic styling updates over the years have gone a long way towards giving the Touareg SUV its own look.

The Touareg’s cabin is roomier than the Cayenne, but more on that below. That interior, though, is beginning to age, and if you climb out of a new Volkswagen, like a Tiguan, and into the Touareg you’ll feel like you’re getting out of 2018 and into 2013. Still the interior is well crafted, with an excellent fit and finish.

How big is the Touareg? A look at the dimensions shows it to be 4801mm end-to-end, 1940mm across, and 1732mm tall.

As a model comparison the Toyota Kluger is 4865mm long, 1925mm wide and 1730mm high, while the Jeep Grand Cherokee is 4828mm bumper-to-bumper, 1943mm in width, and stands 1802mm tall.

The size of this car is undeniable - interior images confirm loads of space and comfort for passengers and cargo. The interior dimensions match the huge exterior (the Q7 measures 5052mm long, 1968mm wide, and 1740mm high).

The diesel-only Q7s are seven-seaters, with access to third-row seating provided by tumbling the middle row forward. You can change how many seats by specifying it with just five as a no-cost option. The e-tron is available as a five-seater only.

Rear legroom in the middle row ranges from almost zero if you slide the seats all the way forward, to 'limousine', and that obviously affects the back row. The four-zone climate control (optional in the 160) also means third row passengers don't have to sweat it out when it's hot, which is a nice touch.

Boot space starts at an already-massive 770 litres with the third row stowed, and up to 1955 litres with the middle row down. The e-tron, with its underfloor gubbins, has a slightly reduced capacity with 650/1835 litres. The bottom line is, luggage capacity is excellent when the third row is out of the way.

The car comes standard with a cargo cover, roof rails (but no roof rack, although I'm certain a dealer will sell you one from an extensive accessories list). A net-style cargo-barrier can be erected either behind the middle or front rows of seats.

Storage space is good - the interior features a shallow centre console up front, a cupholder each for up to six passengers, a good glove box and bottle holders in each door.

Gross vehicle weight is rated at 2940kg for the 160 and 200 while the e-tron, with its higher kerb weight as a result of the electric gear, is rated at 3185kg. Double the turning radius and you have a turning circle of 12.4 metres. Ground clearance is 245mm unladen and wading depth, if you're game, is 535mm.

The inside of a shipping container would feel cramped after being in the Touareg’s cabin with excellent head, leg, and shoulder room in the front and back. At 191cm tall there aren’t many vehicles that offer this much space behind my driving position. There’s about 60mm between my knees and the seatback, which is exceptional.

The only seating issue I can see is that there are just five of them. There’s no third row, and this is a weakness in that the Touareg is big enough to handle more, just like the Toyota Kluger, but there’s not even an option to have them fitted.

The Touareg’s cargo capacity is good at 580 litres, beating the Kluger’s 529 litres of luggage space.

Storage elsewhere in the cabin is great, too: there are two cupholders in the fold-down armrest in the back, two cupholders up front and bottle holders in all the doors. Under the split-opening centre console armrest is a deep and long storage bin, another covered smaller tray in front of the shifter and drawers under the driver’s and front passenger’s seats.

There’s only one USB port but three 12-volt outlets – one in the front, another in the second row and a third in the boot.

At $74,990, the Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI costs $6000 more than the 150 TDI it’s based on, but this special edition adds extra equipment. We’re talking a proximity key and push-button start, power tailgate, heated steering wheel with paddle shifters, tinted rear windows and 19-inch ‘Moab’ wheels.

The Monochrome also comes with advanced safety equipment and design elements which aren’t on the 150TDI - you can read more about this in the sections below.

Along with those additional bits the Monochrome picks up all of the 150 TDI’s features. There’s an 8.0-inch touchscreen with sat nav, rear view camera with guidance lines, DVD player, Bluetooth connectivity, leather upholstery, heated and power adjustable front seats, bi-xenon headlights and LED running lights.

There’s also dual-zone climate control with directional vents in the second row.

Be prepared for know-it-all neighbours peering over the fence telling you the Touareg’s too expensive. Yes, it’s pricey for a Volkswagen, but when you compare it to high-end SUVs such as BMW’s X5, Mercedes-Benz’s GLE and Audi’s Q7 it’s at least $20K less.

If that still doesn’t convince those next door, drop the C-bomb on them. No, not that one, the other one – ‘Cayenne’, as in Porsche Cayenne. Being part of the Volkswagen family the Touareg is the Cayenne’s close sibling, and shares a high percentage of design DNA (including the same platform) but the Porsche costs about $110K for the base diesel V6.

The Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI’s price is interesting, because it’s not too far above the list price of the similarly sized top-of-the-range Toyota Kluger Grande ($69,906), and Mazda CX-9 Azami ($64,790).

With similar dimensions but a bit dearer, the Lexus RX350 ($84,700) is also in range. Finally, and you may not have considered it, the closest fit to the Touareg Monochrome is a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited ($67,700).

The standard features list for the Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI may look great, but the truth is much of the gear isn't that modern. For starters, the screen's graphics feel dated, as does the instrument cluster.

So, here’s the thing you must know before you buy the Touareg: a new-generation Touareg is scheduled to arrive in 2019. This will be a totally new car, with different styling and more up-to-date technology.

If it was me I’d hold off until this came out. If you’re looking for a bargain on an already excellent car, you might want to purchase this Touareg – you can bet the new one will be more expensive and dealers will be keen to shift the current version.

All Q7s are available with same engine size - a turbo-diesel 3.0-litre V6. In the base model it spins up 160kW/500Nm. Step up to the second spec and with a bit of extra turbo boost and some software tweaks you have 200kW/600Nm. 

The e-tron plug-in hybrid runs the same diesel engine with an electric motor added. The diesel specs come in at 190kW/600Nm while the electric motor brings 94kW/350Nm to the party. It's not as simple as adding the figures together, however - Audi quotes the combined specifications as 275kW/700Nm. The battery is a 17.3kW/h lithium-ion pack under the boot floor.

Charging times vary from 2.5 hours from a 400V/16-amp supply to 10.5 hours from a household socket. 

All Q7s ship with an eight-speed automatic transmission (from ZF) with power going through all four wheels. All Australian Q7s are all-wheel drive.

Towing capacity is 750kg for unbraked trailers and 3500kg braked - the ratings are identical across the three trim levels. A tow bar is on the optional features list.

The 0-100km/h acceleration times are an impressive 6.2 seconds for the e-tron, 7.3 for the 160 and 6.5 for the 200. These are good performance numbers for a 2000kg-plus SUV with decent fuel mileage.

The question of whether the engines use a timing belt or chain has a simple answer - the Q7's engines all use a chain. The engine also features a diesel particulate filter and the turbocharger is inside the engine V for quick response. The oil type is listed in the owner's manual.

There is no manual transmission or LPG version.

The Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI has a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 making 150kW/450Nm. This is the same engine as the V6 TDI grade but with a lower output.

This engine is a gem – it’s exceptionally quiet and smooth for a diesel, and the torque comes in 500rpm lower than the V6TDI at 1250rpm.

An eight-speed automatic transmission shifts gears seamlessly, but a little slowly, which is fine because the Touareg is for cruising, not racing.

Touaregs are all-wheel drive with a braked towing capacity of 3500kg – that’s up there in our top 10 vehicles for towing alongside the Ford Ranger, Toyota’s LandCruiser 200 Series and HiLux. Apart from the ‘Cruiser you’ll be hard pressed to find a better, comfier SUV for towing.

For the 160kW, claimed consumption is listed at 5.8L/100km, while the 200kW is barely more at 5.9L/100km. Our time with a 200kW with a few options on board resulted in an average of 8.2L/100km.

On pure electric, Audi says you can shift the e-tron Q7 up to 56km with a top speed of 135km/h. This is purely academic - after a full charge we managed about 20km on pure electric, which isn't terrible but a fair way off the claimed range.

The e-tron's claimed combined consumption figure is 1.9L/100km but we got 4.5L/100km.

The fuel-tank capacity is a hefty 85 litres with the exception of the e-tron, which carries 10 fewer litres at 75.

As the Q7 is available only as a diesel or diesel PHEV, petrol consumption is a non-issue.

Diesel engines use less fuel than petrol engines, but even if you wanted a petrol Touareg you’d have to find a second-hand one because they were dropped from the Australian line-up years ago.

The 150TDI is the most economical in the range with Volkswagen claiming it’ll only use 7.2L/100km over a combination of urban and open roads. If you plan on not leaving the city you’ll see something closer to 10.3L/100km which is the number our test car's trip computer reported. Still, good for a 2.1 tonne vehicle.

Hit the start stop button (like most cars, carefully hidden from view behind the steering wheel) and the 3.0-litre V6 starts quietly (or not at all in the e-tron). As soon as you're out driving, you realise how little road noise invades the cabin, even with the fat tyres all Q7s wear.

Acceleration is good in all of them, even the 160 feels quick. At speed, the cabin is super-quiet and with the air suspension the ride is almost supernaturally good. With the steel springs, you do feel the weight of the car more than with the air suspension, but it handles the bumps and grates of Sydney roads very well indeed.

The e-tron feels heavier, but the standard air suspension copes nicely with the extra bulk. In all other ways it feels extraordinarily similar to the 160 and 200, with the predictable penalty in handling. While the pure EV range might be a little disappointing, the stats tell a rosier story. Around town, you might see 0km in the digital display for electric range, but stepping off from a standstill - a big contributor to city fuel consumption - is electric, with the diesel quietly intervening at around 20km/h. All up, the MMI system told us electric drive accounted for half of city running.

From the day this Q7 landed on our roads, we've praised it for its overall refinement, good steering and handy chassis. Ride is excellent on the standard and air suspension, although the latter is clearly better but does add weight (and cost). 

This isn't an off-road review, but the capability of Audi's SUV range surprised me last year on a trip to the Audi Driving Experience where I put Q5s and Q7s through a reasonably tricky set of obstacles and alarming angles, all without the aid of off-road tyres.

If you don’t have much time all you need to know is the Touareg Monochrome 150TDI has a comfortable ride, plenty of grunt and good grip, but it’s not the most dynamic beast with body roll in the corners and heavy(ish) steering which makes navigating through car parks feel a bit like hard work at times.

The Monochrome 150 TDI doesn’t come with air suspension (the V6 TDI does), but the double wishbone suspension front and rear (with aluminium control arms) does a great job of keeping the ride civilised.

This Touareg doesn’t have anywhere near the off-road capability of say a LandCruiser, but the all-wheel drive system will take you further afield than many SUVs. Approach and departure angles of 25 degrees aren’t bad, and neither's a wading depth of 500mm, but a low 205mm ground clearance will be an issue if you’re planning on venturing too far off the highway.

The Touareg hasn’t been tested by ANCAP or its continental cousin EuroNCAP, so I can’t give you a star rating, but I can tell you it’s worth going for the Monochrome because of the extra advanced safety equipment it brings, such as AEB (city) and adaptive cruise control. The LED tail-lights this edition adds could also come under the safety heading, too.

As you'd expect there are airbags galore with curtain bags extending to cover the second row and outer rear seat airbags, too. And, of course, there’s traction and stability control and even a rollover sensor system which will deploy the airbags if it detects you’re about to really mess things up.

The Touareg was once a leader in terms of advanced safety tech, but again the age of this car means the standard equipment is no longer stand-out stuff.

For child seats, you’ll find three top tether anchor points and two ISOFIX mounts across the rear row.

A space saver spare wheel can be found under the boot floor.

Audi offers a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty along with roadside assist. An extended warranty is available from your dealer.

The maintenance cost of the Q7 is controllable if you purchase an Audi service plan. This covers the basic service costs for three years/45,000km and at the time of writing costs $1900.

The stocks of Q7s appear reasonable, particularly during the current dip in the luxury market, so unless you have a weird set of options, your waiting time will be short.

Second-hand resale value stats appear strong. Audi certainly got on top of the common problems, complaints, faults and issues of the first-gen and the new car appears free of major reliability issues. The automatic-gearbox problems and diesel-engine problems of the past seem absent during my usual sweep of prominent internet forums.

Where is the Audi Q7 built? Same place as the forthcoming Q8 - Audi's Slovakian factory in Bratislava.

The Touareg Monochrome 150 TDI is covered by Volkswagen’s three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Servicing is recommended every 15,000km or 12 months. According to Volkswagen’s servicing price calculator you can expect to pay $495 for the first service, $719 for the next, $593 for the third, $909 for the fourth visit and back to $495 for the fifth.