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car review

No doubt about it, this is a big country. Canadians have a reputation in the world for thinking nothing of driving hundreds of kilometres for a bag of milk. Few actually do, of course, but if we did, the Volkswagen Touareg would be as good a choice for a vehicle as any.

The Touareg is VW’s largest SUV, and I drove it with a friend from Toronto to New Brunswick’s Fundy coastline for a motorcycle rally. It helped that the tester was the loaded Execline edition, which adds $13,500 to the basic model’s $51,960 MSRP.

Photos by Mark Richardson

The 280-horsepower V-6 engine is the same, but Volkswagen stuffs the loaded truck with all the options it can think of, from heated leather seats to driver’s assistance.

This was fine. It’s about 1,500 kilometres to Suffolk, along the Trans-Canada Highway through Quebec and down beside the Saint John River through New Brunswick, and then 1,500 kilometres home again.

We were comfortable, with plenty of space for our riding gear in the back. Fortunately, our motorcycles were waiting for us there, but the Touareg could have towed them easily if needed.

There’s always something forgotten, however, and with the Touareg, it’s the USB port. Duh! Three or four years ago, this would barely have been noticed, but today, it seems almost as important as the engine. If you have teenage passengers, even more so.

Volkswagen has a workaround with an MDI cable in the centre console that has multiple ends, so the driver can plug in a phone, but there’s nothing for the passengers, just four 12-volt sockets. We made do with one of those cigarette lighter/USB converters designed for older cars; our phones stayed charged and connected by Bluetooth, but even so.

Cars these days have multiple USB ports to keep everyone’s phones connected and charged – the Chrysler Pacifica minivan holds the record, with eight – so why is VW behind the times?

Anyway, moving on, as we did comfortably and rapidly, we broke up the drive east by staying overnight in Montreal. Good thing, too – it rained all night and most of the next day.

The vehicle might be pleasant and safe, but it’s tiring to drive in the constant grey spray of trucks, blinking to the beat of the windshield wipers.

Spoken-word podcasts help keep you alert on such long drives, as does arguing: “Shouldn’t you be moving back to the right lane already?”

“You’ll know it’s time when I do.”

“Well, wouldn’t that be around now?”

“No, it’ll be when I’m ready.” You get the idea. Time passed.

The last Touareg I drove was a so-called “Clean Diesel” that claimed fuel consumption of 6.7 litres/100 km on the highway. I slurped through 8.9 driving west into the headwind toward Calgary, unknowingly belching greenhouse gases across the prairie. I knew this 3.6-litre gas-powered model would be thirstier, but even so, our average on the highway was 11.7 litres/100 km.

That’s actually not too bad for such a large vehicle, and an improvement on the official combined average of 12.2, but it still stings. Especially when it’s drinking the recommended premium fuel.

It would have been really painful if we’d filled up in Quebec, where gas is routinely more expensive than almost anywhere else in Canada, but the Touareg has a huge 100-litre tank and we blew right through La Belle Province without needing fuel. Sweet.

We arrived at the motorcycle rally earlier than expected – we’d thought we would need to stop more often, but the Touareg was a nice place to shelter from the cold and rain. Then we jumped on dirt bikes and rode happily through the cold and rain before throwing our filthy kit back into the SUV for the drive home.

This time, we didn’t stop in Montreal. We swapped driving duties every three hours, each wanting to be the person in the 14-way-adjustable driver’s seat, and just kept going. It was easy, really.

A lunch stop, a dinner stop, coffee and late-night snacks, and we never needed the Plan B of a Quebec motel.

Not many vehicles are so comfortable for such a long drive. The Touareg is a large SUV and has space to move around, though the back seats have a little less room for passengers. The Execline’s standard adaptive cruise control made it relaxing on the long highway, and the lane-assist system was there if needed, though I turned it off. I didn’t want to need it.

The weather was dry on the return drive and the cool night held few clouds. When darkness fell, I rolled back the screen for the panoramic sunroof that’s standard on this loaded edition and looked upward at the stars. My friend was asleep in the passenger seat and I felt like a ship’s captain navigating the route home.

When we arrived at my house, 16 hours and 1,500 kilometres later, I felt I could have driven on to Calgary. Maybe next time.

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