Volkswagen Touareg review
A classy and comfortable 4x4, but it's a little expensive to buy and there's no option for a seven seater.
Front assist uses a radar sensor to monitor the traffic in front, letting the car maintain a constant distance behind the vehicle in front up to the speed limit that you set. It works really well and is easy to adjust, both for speed and distance, using the control stalk to the left of the steering wheel. The system can’t be used to automatically apply the brakes in an emergency though, which is a shame as Ford has this on the new Focus.
You can easily adjust the cruise control speed and the distance to follow the vehicle in front at.
Parking sensors are fitted as standard to the front and rear, making parking such a big beast much easier, particularly in small spaces in London.
The clear parking sensor display makes it easy to part this large vehicle, even in tight spots.
They can be activated to come on automatically, but this can be annoying in some situations. Driving through rush hour traffic in London we were constantly bombarded with beeps as the parking sensors activated automatically by cyclists zooming behind us. Switching the system off so that it’s only activated by putting the car in reverse is pretty easy thanks to the central touchscreen control system, plus there’s a dedicated button to activate the system.
You can manually enable the parking sensors if you don’t want them to turn on automatically.
This touchscreen control system is also used for the satnav system built in. It’s clear and easy to follow, with postcode and town searches. We like the way that you can display the next instruction on the driver’s information screen in the middle of the instrument cluster, leaving the main screen for other uses, such as changing media.
We found the satnav system easy to program and easy to follow with a clear map and voice instructions.