The Demo Site

You may dispute whether Volkswagen is a premium brand or not, but few can dispute whether the Touareg is a true premium SUV. Based on a platform shared with the Porsche Cayenne, this off-roader runs with the best; modesty was never its strong point. To wit, in Europe and Asia, there is a gasoline W-12 version, rated at 450 hp, and the V-10 TDI with its 310-hp engine producing 553 lb-ft of torque was the king of diesel SUVs until its sibling, the Audi Q7, changed the rules with a titanic 500-hp, 738-lb-ft V-12 TDI.

But now VW is adding a nice, socially conscious version to the Touareg lineup. The 3.0-liter V-6 clean diesel launched at the L.A. auto show gets 25 mpg on the highway and 18 mpg in the city, and VW claims that it is one of the cleanest engines available on the market. It is 50-state-legal, partially through the use of a costly catalytic converter that nearly eliminates NOx emissions, although it is interesting to note that it is sold in Europe without the converter, since it won't have to meet strict emissions standards there until 2014.

Keep Reading: 2009 Volkswagen Touareg 3.0 TDI Diesel - First Drive Review