Looks are deceiving: The VW Toureg has lots of real New England Moxie!

Youthful bombing over the backroads on crap tires in the Berkshires is generally good training for anything but open warfare driving in New York (you KNOW that they are gonna do it), Boston (they are gonna do it with no warning, maybe) or Berkeley ( I know Officer, I know that, I'm going down a one-way street, I AM going one way . . ..)

This is the 3.0-liter engine that delivers a strong 225 horses!

A Volkswagen Toureg Diesel was the response.

When the first snowflake drifted over our windshield,the heated seats went on -- ah, comfort.

Programming the large screen map system revealed one hiccup. We were not in Boston, Ohio, going to Peabody, Massachusetts. We were in Boston, Massachusetts, going to Peabody, Mass.

Move it: Load the Toureg, check the engine, now, shoot some pictures!

We spawned upstream through the rush hour Boston Escape Throng. Arriving intact and not the least bit frazzled, The Toureg had not allowed the road to take a toll on our attitude.

After a long flight and a big dinner you would expect that the kids would have been exhausted. Not a chance, a milk and cereal run was in order. The kids were left with Grandma and we were off.  We glided past stately homes of brick and whitewash, board construction that had a feel of permanence that makes houses in California seem like they were built during rush hour.

What looked like the right direction took us south towards swirls of light chimney smoke fading into the dancing snowflakes. Real life live picture post card New England.

Ramp it UP: This is a surprisingly lusty and agile automobile!

The Toureg TDI shows the usual deft touches of interior elegance. Fully-supportive leather thrones, intuitive radio and heat controls with large easy to read buttons, corporate boardroom with cavernous interior, tailgate storage great for swallowing and hiding our luggage. 

Boston traffic does not slow for anyone, diving into the Boston commute feels about like playing Russian roulette.

Fortunately, the 3.0-liter TDI has 225 horses and a massive 406 foot pounds of torque from 1,750 rpm, the latter handily on the Baldwin Locomotive scale and good for a 7,700 pound tow capacity.

The 8-speed automatic has a nose-bleed .69 overdrive. Yes, you can feel the heft of the Toureg when changing lanes, it is far from being a light-weight at 4,974 pounds.

While the standard Toureg is not a road burner, this diesel felt darn quick even with the 4Motion permanent all-wheel drive. Pushing it we saw fuel consumption  at 170 miles to quarter-tank and 287 to the half-tank, with a 26 gallon tank. 

If calculations serve, then we were looking at 26 miles per gallon for the highway section and 22 around town, versus EPA of 19/28 -- simply superb.

My daughter loved the nearly full-roof dual-sunroof. Really nice cup-holders, and head rests that were not too high. Very comfortable. And she said it had a lot a of room and it was not “squishy” in the back.

My son loved being able to charge his iPod from the back-seat form the 12-volt center console charger port.

What’s not to like ?

The new style headrests that ensure that your head does not flail back if you are rear-ended sit right behind your head and push it forward a bit more than this author is used to.

I went back to my notes from driving the Toureg TDI at the Western Automotive Journalists' Media Day in early March: 

"A step above the crowd in terms of deftness in snap lane-change maneuvers, not crisp like a Lotus, but smooth and communicative with a clear statement from the helm. With a 114-inch wheelbase and 18-inch wheels, driving coastal roads around Carmel California showed that this is a large vehicle.

"But the dynamics are so resolved, the composure and control so well-matched, that the Toureg bettered the new MINI 4wd utility which felt as stiff as an old Chevy S10.

"Back to back, the Lexus, felt utterly sloppy and underdeveloped in terms of road control. The scale of the difference was unexpected. The Honda Pilot and the Lexus SUV both reacted harshly to potholes  and overly soft suspension that make them comparatively bouncy with jarring reaction when asked to do anything but go in straight line. 

"The Toureg never skipped a beat in maintaining a fast pace with the speedier group, while offering true luxury accommodations. Very balanced in terms of acceleration, braking, handling and maneuverability."

The Volkswagen TDI has an MSRP of $47,950, and earned top points in every category. It hands-down wins the prize for most desirable luxury SUV on the market regardless of price.