Geneva Motor Show is a premier show and companies usually put their best foot forward. Volkswagen’s performance division “R” has taken a new approach to performance and are offering the top end Touareg R as a hybrid vehicle. The car has been provided with an intelligent system integrated with the navigation system which understands and analyses the road and terrain ahead to ensure optimal utilisation of the battery. It also ensures that at the end of a journey, sufficient battery power is available so that the journey within built up areas of a city can be undertaken with zero emission.

The car has been designed to always start in all electric mode if the battery is charged. It can attain speeds of up to 140 km/h in pure electric mode. Thereafter the 3 litre V6 turbo petrol kicks in to support the battery. This engine produces 340 PS of power while the electric motor generates 136 PS giving a combined output of 462 PS. The combine power plant also generates 700 N-m of torque. The Touareg R has an 8-speed automatic gearbox driving all the four wheels at all times.

Externally the car would feature the Black Style exterior design package along with 20-inch alloy wheels (Braga) and R-Line interior trim which comprises Vienna leather interior with Crystal Grey stitching. As far as the electronic nannies are concerned, the Touareg has two new systems, the Trailer Assist for automated manoeuvring with a trailer. Incidentally it can pull a 3.5 tonne trailer. The other system is the Travel Assist which enables assisted driving up to speeds of 250 km/h.

The Touareg R is expected to hit the showrooms by second half of 2020.

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