I know luxury off-roaders are seen as desirable objects, but this was ridiculous. In my week with the Touareg I'm not sure if I had to remove more interested onlookers from the driver's door window or flies from the headlights. Either way, it was a close run thing. People are very interested in the car, regardless of their apparent ability to afford it.Volkswagen is keen to stress that the Touareg is a very capable off-roader, but whether or not most owners will make use of this is another matter entirely. For an indication of its prowess in this area, I'll therefore refer you to Graeme Giles's comments in the second half of our launch report. This test is concerned more with how the Touareg behaves in normal road conditions, a subject on which I can speak with some authority since I managed to cram 1000 miles of motoring into a rather frenetic two-day period.I'm not a great fan of big journeys, because after two hours behind the wheel I'm usually starting to make creaking noises, but I must say the Touareg is remarkably comfortable. On one day I managed to drive for nine hours with just two stops, which is very unusual for me. The usefully supportive seats are the key factor here, though the very high driving position also helps as it allows you to see a long way ahead without having to peer round the traffic in front.There is a potential downside to this. The Touareg is very tall in relation to its length and width, and of course its suspension is designed to cope with serious off-road conditions. As a result, even minor corners and bumps have quite a big effect on body movement.This is often the way with off-roaders, of course, but when rival machines encounter the corner/bump they often make a big deal of it. Driving activity seems to be suspended for a second or two while the vehicle regains its composure. The Touareg is quite different; it still has to deal with the change in attitude, but it considers this to be its own problem and sorts itself out while letting you get on with other matters. The body certainly moves, but it does not lurch.The considerable height has another effect which isn't so easy to hide. Driving the Touareg involves pushing a large volume through resistant air and therefore requires a lot of energy. Our test car had the 3.2-litre V6 also seen in, for example, the Golf R32, and although this is one of the more modest engines in the range it's still quite a thirsty blighter.Add to this the building-like aerodynamics and you can see how running costs might mount up. According to the trip computer (whose results were more or less confirmed by some back-of-an-envelope calculations), I never got much more than 23mpg out of the car - and that was when I was specifically trying to use as little fuel as possible. I would tell you how much I spent on petrol during the 1000-mile trip but I don't want my bank manager to start crying again.If you're paying around £30,000 for a car, of course, you might expect it to cost a fair bit to run. Potential owners will be more interested in the fact that, among other attributes, the Touareg has a superbly roomy and beautifully put-together interior, and a general air of refinement and purpose which even today is exceptional among cars in this class. In the unlikely event that somebody gave me a choice of off-roaders to drive from, say, Inverness to Marseilles, I suspect that the Touareg would be right at the top of my list.Second opinon: Yes, it's remarkable just how many miles we managed to put on this car, including a day of my own which involved a north-and-south run through the Scottish Highlands on some of the most enjoyable hill and moorland roads in the UK. Climbs, descents, bends, bumps, corners of every imaginable kind, no dual carriageway and plenty of single-track. While many bulky 4x4s would be completely out of their element in this kind of motoring, the Touareg soaked it up. As mentioned above, you can't ignore the laws of physics when pressing on in a car of this size, height and weight, but if you have your cornering speed and approach angle sorted out before you turn the steering wheel, the Touareg will cover the ground very smartly and comfortably. It doesn't feel muscle-bound. Our test car had the six-speed Tiptronic transmission, although I'd have been just as happy - maybe a shade happier, in fact - with the manual. For Volkswagen's first effort (apart from some military vehicles) at an off-roader, the Touareg is a mightily impressive machine on the road. And the interior design people really have done a top-class job. The choice of trim materials and woodwork, and the way they're so carefully fitted, definitely put the Touareg in the luxury 4x4 class. Ross Finlay. Engine 3189cc, 6 cylinders Power 217bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 20.5mpg / 331g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.9 seconds Top speed 122mph Price £30,275 Details correct at publication date
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