George from MD

I'm just curious but does anyone know the exact differences between a Toureag and Cayenne suspension? For instance, would it be possible to buy a Toureag and change the shocks, springs, sway bars and/or air suspension settings and alignment and have it handle exactly like the Cayenne?

It would seem that doing this would or should be very possible and would allow "Porsche" handling at a much lower price.

Jeffrey Behr

I don't know what the exact differences are, and I'll bet you'd never discover them all in a lifetime...and even if you did, you'd still have a Toureg, albeit MUCH more expensive.

I really am not a tough guy or hardass about these things, and I've not been a Porschefreak until I bought my Cayenne Turbo, but if you want the benefits of a Porsche, buy one. Otherwise you'll have merely a really expensive Volkswagen.

ltc

I believe this month's issue of Road&Track has a decent article focusing on the Cayenne Turbo vs the Touareg V8.
In summary, they are different vehicles for different purposes built on the same chassis. The Cayenne Turbo was a better on road car and the Touareg was a better off road car. Nice insight into some of the codevelopment and shared parts/technology.

EuroCarNut

The torque is also split differently, with the Touareg being 50/50 and the Cayenne being more towards a rear bias, somewhere around 38/62 (not sure about the exact split). This can make a fairly noticable difference in handling characteristics. I doubt that this is something that can be changed on either vehicle.

Torags

The motors are different. The gearing in the forward/rear bells are different vw 50/50, S 40/60. I would guess the gears could be changed they are assembled in Slovakia on the same shafts.

A 40/60 slit is not as good for offroad or snow (tail around - 911 C2 style).

The air suspension is from same third party vendor for each. If there are differences they could probably be substituted.

The brakes are a little different, Pcars have more sweep.

Having driven both back to back on freeways; I found the S more responsive stiffer (steel springs) - the Touareg V8 felt heavy. Virtually no difference on high speed swerving.

Car to car, I felt the S was not worth the differential in MSRP cost. The combination of an S discount and the PNA Dealer network policies, made the difference for me.

I'll have my S for 3 years. I'll look at the Touareg V10 then & compare for a new purchase.

I think that PAG should strongly consider including maintenance in the ourchase price. They're in the sandbox with the big dogs now, they'll have to make some changes. Secondly, it will be interesting to see how the dealer network can handle the increased volumes with the V6.

George from MD

Thanks guys. It seems to me you could duplicate alot of the Porsche "feel" for very little in $ but torque split and the whole VW "thing" is another story.

Of course if I want another Porsche I will indeed buy it! But there are a lot of things on the T I like better- not to mention my local P dealer is not the best and the local VW dealer has a steller rep.

And I'm still happy with the X but we may sell it this Spring. I am surprised P does not include maintenance- I just took the 3 year old X in and was pleasantly surprised- no charge- even though they flushed and filled the coolant, changed the wiper blades and brake pads- all really "wear" items. Does VW include maintenance?

I would think the maintenance for the first few years would be minor cost to any manufacturer which would pay big dividends in goodwill. BMW does it and I think Audi does too.

chris walrod

George, I dont think VW includes maintenance. Like mentioned earlier, now that VW is in different 'waters' (upscale market), they should have a good look around and compare.