VW Touareg Hybrid

The use of the word hybrid here is laughable

I personally hate this car and others like it with a passion.
You simply cannot put the S4's engine in a 4x4 and call it anything other than a gas guzzler, however many batteries you put in it.
It's an ugly car, in my experience normally driven by unobservant mothers doing a school run, or tailgating wideboy salesmen, abd when found stationery, usually so badly parked it takes up 2 spaces.
Concentrate on making 'proper' GTI's again VW; nobody in this country actually needs a car of this ridiculous size.

By Bugeye on 16 March, 2010, 8:24am

"Green" is clearly a word with a different meaning to Jon Morgan

Firstly, Green laning is merely wrecking otherwise perfectly good tracks. As a walker, I detest it and the damage to my enjoyment of the countryside.
Secondly, I agree with Bugeye. You don;t even suggest what teh fuel consumption might be. VW have nothing on their UK site, but your competitor What Car says Average fuel consumption of 34.4mpg and emissions of 193g/km. That is Band J for road tax (scale A to M), so 10th of 13. Hardly green in the sense of environmentally friendly.
Come on Mr Morgan, less of the headline grabbing and more reality please.

By fellwalker2000 on 16 March, 2010, 9:41am

Both bugeye and fellwalker are like many others in that they have completely missed the point with all of this.

You should be applauding companies that move in this direction together with the people that buy the product. High end products generally produce max profit and provide capex for technology research. The hybrid concept is now widely understood at a superficial level by the general public and so the market is right for wide spread marketing. The benefit is the overall efficiency gains. The car in question is at least 15% better than the diesel in terms of consumption and for a vehicle of that power and performance, it's in a class of it's own. The more people that buy them the more the prices will drop. The key element to all of this is battery technology. When the revenue stream from these hybrids becomes consistent and strong for the battery providers their own research will completely transform not only motor vehicles of all sizes but also the way we live. This technology has the potential to lead the way in changing how we use energy and where it comes from in the future.

The car in question despite the potential as described is a real achievement.

By burtondd on 16 March, 2010, 12:30pm

The right place?

Quote by fellwalker: Firstly, Green laning is merely wrecking otherwise perfectly good tracks. As a walker, I detest it and the damage to my enjoyment of the countryside.

Walkers and 4x4 drivers using the countryside have a history of not seeing eye to eye, which is why the Ramblers association is often trying to get these so called "Green Lanes" restricted by downgrading them. Even though 4x4 drivers can only use about 5% of all the tracks available in the UK, it's 5% too many in the eyes of some.

But this is a car site for car based discussion. I don't think it's the right place to continue the argument between walkers and 4x4 drivers.

And lets face it, this car is not for greenlaning. People will use older 4x4s they don't care about scratches on. This is a car to use on the road and maybe park on a bit of grass occasionally.

By Top90 on 24 March, 2010, 9:07am