2018 Volkswagen Touareg vs Volvo XC90

What's the difference?

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 XC90 may have been the first of Volvo's new breed of cars, but it remains exceptional in its styling, refinement, technology and safety. The R-Design trim level makes it the burger with almost the lot in that it still gives you room to option more and doesn't assume you want, say a sunroof, when you might not.

The T6 engine is excellent – powerful, with plenty of torque. All that's missing is a beefy soundtrack to go with this brute of an SUV. A cool alternative to a large SUV from BMW, Benz and Audi.

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.

Can you believe the current Volvo XC90 came into the world in 2014 and still looks this good? Signature elements are the giant grille with its oversized badge, the 'Hammer of Thor' headlights, the unmistakable Volvo tail-lights and the tall profile with enormous windows. Yup, the XC90 is still a futuristic, stylish and elegant-looking brute.

The R-Design trim level enhances the look by adding a gloss-black grille, body-coloured side skirts and bumpers, silver wing mirror caps, aluminium roof rails, a roof-top spoiler, fog lights in the front spoiler, dual tail pipes and the 20-inch alloys you can see in the images.

The modern, minimalist design cabin has also aged well – although the portrait-orientated screen now feels a bit small. I remember writing about how outrageously large it was when it was launched – and then I sat in a Tesla with its mega touchscreen, taking displays to a whole new level.

The R-Design spec makes its presence known in the cabin, too, with the R-Design steering wheel, R-Design Sport pedals and R-Design carpet; it also adds carbon-fibre door inlays and a leather illuminated gearshift knob.

The R-Design trim level also gives buyers two seat trim choices – Nappa leather/Nubuck or Nappa perforated leather. Both are no-cost options and our test car featured the perforated hide.

How big is the XC90? Let's take a look at this seven-seater SUV's dimensions. The XC90 is just less than 5.0m long, more than 2.0m wide (with mirrors) and nearly 1.8m tall.

As far as prestige seven-seat rivals go there's Audi's Q7, Mercedes-Benz's GLS, the Land Rover Discovery and the soon-to-arrive BMW X7.

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.

It's a giant box on wheels, how could be it be impractical? Actually, there are ways it could be more practical, but first the good points.

There's plenty of room. This is one of the few seven-seat SUVs where even at 191cm tall I can sit behind my driving position with space to spare, and then behind that position in the third row with just enough room for my legs. Headroom in the second row is excellent, but the third row is getting tight although my head still isn't touching the roof.

The doors to the second row are large providing a tall and wide opening for easy entry and exit. The third row is a bit tricky to get into, but I haven't met a single seven-seat SUV where entry into the third-row is a breeze.

Even though the XC90 does well to slide and fold its second row (40/20/40 split) forward, I still ended up crawling in on my hands and knees. Older kids will be able to leap in, so put them back there.

The boot is enormous and with the optional air suspension the XC90 can lower itself like an elephant getting down on its knees to make it easier for you to load stuff into the back. Yup, with all seats up you have 314 litres of boot space; with the third row folded flat you'll have a cargo capacity of 1019 litres, and with all of the seats folded (no not the front ones), there's 1868 litres. Those are measured in ISO litres which are different to the VDA litres used by many other car makers.

Storage throughout the cabin is good but could be better. There are two cupholders in the third row, two in the second and another two up front, and while the storage boxes in the armrests in the third row are an excellent idea, the second row just has small door pockets and seat-back cargo nets. It would be good to see drawers under the seats or even a fold out tray from the centre console.

Storage in the front isn't great either – that long sliding panel next to the shifter (you can see it in the images) houses the cupholders, the glove box is also on the smaller side and so is the storage area under that armrest – but it does contain two USB ports. There's one 12-volt power outlet in the second row, another in the boot and a cigarette lighter (or another 12-volt) in the front.

There's four zone climate control – and directional air vents in all three rows.

The Volvo XC90 R-Design T6 lists for $104,900, plus on-road costs. The trim level below, with the T6 engine, is the Inscription which lists for $102,900, and the entry-model is the Momentum for $96,900.

So, while nearly $105K might seem like a lot (especially once you add the on-road costs) you can feel comfortable knowing it's actually mighty fine value for money considering the amount of equipment you're given in return.

Coming standard is the 9.0-inch portrait touchscreen and the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a head-up display and sat nav, there's a 10-speaker 330W stereo, Bluetooth and internet connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Android auto, digital radio, 360-degree parking camera, gear shifting paddles, power and heated front seats, four-zone climate control, a pop-out booster child seat in the second row, bending LED headlights, fog lights and a proximity key.

That's along with all the R-Design gear which we covered in the section above and the extensive safety equipment list which we'll cover below.

Our test car was fitted with the $8000 'Premium Package' which brings sunblinds for the rear doors, a Bowers & Wilkins sound system, air suspension, plus tailored dashboard and door trims. The 'Bursting Blue' metallic paint our car wore is a $1900 option.

Worried you're paying too much? Fear not, because relative to most other prestige seven-seat SUVs the XC90 R-Design T6 is at the more affordable end of the pricing spectrum.

Audi's Q7 3.0TDI Quattro lists for $106,900, Mercedes-Benz's GLS 350d is $118,729, while the Land Rover Discovery TD6 HSE manages to undercut it at $103,000.

It's interesting to note that while the XC90 T6 has a petrol engine, those rivals are diesels. Audi doesn't make a petrol Q7, Land Rover does make petrol Discoveries but only sell diesel ones in Australia, and as for a Benz GLS petrol there's only one - the GLS 500 and that lists for $165,129, which is $60K higher than our Volvo XC90. 

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.

The T6 in XC90 R-Design T6 refers to the engine – a 2.0-litre four-cylinder supercharged and turbocharged petrol.

You may have noticed in the images that our test car wears a tiny blue square on its tailgate. This is the badge of Volvo's Polestar performance tuning division. All R-Design XC90s come with the 'Polestar Optimisation' package which increases the T6's power output from 235kW to 246kW and its torque from 400Nm to 440Nm.

The Polestar Optimisation package also recalibrates the XC90's throttle response and increases the shifting speed of the eight-speed automatic.

Acceleration from 0-100km/h according to Volvo is 6.4 seconds which is a tenth of a second quicker than an 'un-Polestar-optimised' T6 - say in the Inscription T6 or Momentum T6.

The XC90 R-Design T6 is all-wheel drive and for the five of you out there who will ask, including my father in-law – it's a Haldex 'Generation 5' system.

My bet is the same people will also want to know its braked towing capacity: 2400kg.

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.

Volvo says the T6 four-cylinder turbo- and supercharged petrol engine with its eight-speed auto should use 8.5L/100km over a combination of open and urban roads – this goes for the Polestar Optimised T6, too.

We measured our test car's fuel economy at the petrol pump and calculated that after 246km of mainly suburban and city running we were using 14.3L/100km. The trip computer reported a slightly higher figure of 14.5L/100km.

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.

At 5.0m long, 2.0m wide and nearly 1.8m tall the XC90 R-Design T6 is big, but in comparison to other large SUVs it's one of the easiest to drive.

The images in this review were taken at the top of an eight-storey carpark: it's a good place to take photos of my review cars and at the same time test pilot them through probably the worst-designed car park you'll encounter.

Narrow ramps and tight turns are not really ideal conditions for a large SUV but the great visibility through the XC90's big windows, the excellent field of vision offered by the wing mirrors, the light steering and smooth throttle response made climbing to the summit pretty simple.

The flat, broad bonnet helps with being able to see exactly how much room you have between the concrete pylon and an insurance claim, too. Other large SUVs with curvaceous lines and noses that dip away from sight will have you sitting up like a meerkat trying to see how much room you have.

A four-cylinder petrol engine may seem small for such a large SUV but the T6 is outstanding – it's efficient and impressively powerful. Not once did I feel like it was lacking in grunt, but there were many times I wished the exhaust note sounded beefier.

Our car had the optional air suspension which for the most part turned out a composed and comfortable ride, although being fitted with fairly low profile tyres on large wheels (Continental ContiSport Contact5 275/45 R20) meant when the road surface turned bad the ride suffered.

And these aren't even the largest wheels. The R-Design T6 comes with no-cost option 22-inch wheels – they look good, but you'd be wise to try them before you buy.

The touchscreen will take some getting used to – I kept discovering more hidden 'pages' and functions the more I swiped around it.

A serenely quiet cabin, comfortable seats with uber-stylish surrounds, a commanding driving position and not being in just another German SUV made the experience even more special.

If this was Family Feud and the question was: 'Name a type of car that's safe? I'd bet the answer would be 'Volvo' every time. I'd also wonder if Volvo had paid for the question to be asked on the show.

Anyway, the reputation is justified and the brand continues to pioneer life-saving technology and equip its cars with the latest safety gear.

What's just as noble is how Volvo applies the full range of safety systems to all grades of XC90 – so even the base grade Momentum T6 comes with the same safety features as the R-Design T6.

This includes AEB which Volvo says is active from four km/h and can brake effectively to avoid a collision with a pedestrian at up to 45km/h. At speeds higher than 45km/h but below 70km/h the collision is mitigated.

According to Volvo the system will also detect cyclists and if one swerves into the path of the car, the XC 90 can reduced its speed by up to 50km/h. As for other cars, the XC90 can brake to avoid a collision if the speed difference between the cars is less than 30km/h.

The XC90 is also equipped with adaptive cruise control with stop and go function, lane keeping assistance, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert with AEB that works while reversing.

A run-off mitigation feature also brakes and uses evasive steering to pull the car back into its lane if the vehicle accidentally starts to veer off the road.

The XC90 is fitted with front airbags, side airbags, driver knee airbag, plus second and third row inflatable curtains.

For child and baby seats you'll find two ISOFIX mounts and three top tether points across the second row – there aren't any in the third row.

The XC90 R-Design T6 has a space saver spare located under the boot floor.

Chinese company Geely own Volvo, but the XC90s that are sold in Australia are made in Sweden.

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.

The XC90 is covered by Volvo's three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 15,000km or 12months – whichever comes first.

There are two service programs offered for the XC90. There's the 'SmartCare' plan which costs $2225 for three years/45,000km; $3500 for four years/60,000km and $4230 for five years/75,000km. Then there's the 'SmartCare Plus' plan which costs $3050 for three years/45,000km; $5350 for four years/60,000km and $6540 for five years/75,000km.

It would be good to see Volvo offer capped price servicing, which doesn't need to be purchased as an additional piece of coverage.