An SUV for 163 thousand dollars — and a swamp near Smolensk? It's hard to believe. Who would go for cranberries in such a car? Although, to be honest, the VW Touareg W12 Sport is capable of that too. But its main weapon is, of course, speed.
2005 Volkswagen Touareg W12 Sport
© Photo: 5 Koleso
Once you see the Touareg W12 in the Sport version, all other Touaregs cease to exist. They simply fade against its backdrop. Next to it, they look stripped bare. They seem solid, and representative, and cost a lot, but they are absolutely bland. But the W12 Sport is something that is hard to convey in words. You can, of course, recite the side steps, fender flares, spoiler, and other body kit details of this monster, under whose hood 450 horses rage (the specification alone spans two pages of dense text), but the whole picture won't become clearer from that. It needs to be seen, heard, and, most importantly, felt. Feel how, at the press of a button on the center console, the six-liter engine awakens with that pause characteristic of such displacements. Take the massive selector of the six-speed automatic in your palm, move it into Sport mode, and floor the gas pedal. Then feel yourself pressed into the seat. No, not pressed — that's too mild a word. Squeezed. And this force doesn't let go at 60, nor at 100, nor even at 200 km/h. The torque of 600 Nm continues to push even when the speedometer needle approaches 250. Then electronics step in, reining in this flight, although the power reserve is clearly not exhausted yet.
2005 Volkswagen Touareg W12 Sport
© Photo: 5 Koleso
Now let's set aside emotions and look at this car soberly. It becomes very sad. Sad because it will have to drive on the same roads as everyone else. And what does that mean? It means that in Russia, this Touareg will stand out from the traffic for at least a third of its life only by its menacing appearance. Neither the rules nor the road conditions will allow it to show its character. Using even half of the power of this engineering marvel on our roads is sheer blasphemy. It's a different matter if the owner sometimes takes the car for a spin where there are proper roads. To Europe, for example.
2005 Volkswagen Touareg W12 Sport
© Photo: 5 Koleso
Although, as I said, off-road is not a problem for this beauty. The car has plenty of capabilities for conquering it. There's adjustable ground clearance, permanent all-wheel drive, an electronically controlled center differential with forced locking, forced locking of the rear differential, and hill descent and ascent assist. However, all this is also available on the Touareg with a smaller engine. The main trump card of the W12 is its dynamics. And again, it becomes a pity. Not for myself, but for a country where so much is simply impossible.
But what 'cannot' can be spoken of if someone has a real opportunity to become the owner of such a car? Let it be forbidden, let it be impossible, let it even be foolish. But there are few such cars. And there won't be more.
Technical specifications of the VW Touareg W12 Sport
- Body — station wagon;
- number of seats — 5;
- curb weight, kg — 2665;
- gross weight, kg — 3080;
- dimensions (length/width/height), mm — 4754/1928/1726;
- wheelbase, mm — 2855;
- trunk volume, l — 555–1570;
- maximum speed, km/h — 250;
- fuel consumption (combined cycle), l/100 km — 15.9;
- fuel tank volume, l — 100;
- engine — W12; displacement, cm3 — 5998; power, hp at rpm — 451/6000; torque, Nm at rpm — 600/3000–3250;
- transmission — automatic, 6-speed;
- wheel suspension — independent;
- price, $ — 163,000.
© 5 Koleso