A southern drive with the new Volkswagens

MANILA, Philippines - The last time I drove a Volkswagen, the car had its engine way out back and it emitted a very distinctive chugga-chugga sound. It was the family van known in various parts of the world as “Microbus,” “Kombi,” or just plain “Bus.” To VW cognoscenti, it was also known as the Type 2.

I was in high school then, and I remember my father being particularly proud of the fact that our 1979 Kombi was the last of the German-made VW’s—subsequent local VW’s being sourced from Brazil. Even earlier than that, I carpooled with a schoolmate who lived one block away. Even if they were several houses away, I could hear him and his mom driving up in their pristine white Beetle.

Years after that Beetle and our Kombi, I restored a friend’s Brasilia. I was in college and I had a small car painting and body repair shop. The Brasilia underwent a “body lift” restoration—“body lift” then being the oft-used term for a body-off-the-frame repair. (VW’s of that time had body-on-frame construction—as opposed to today’s unit body or monocoque construction.)       

Fast forward 25 years. It’s 2013 and the cars from Wolfsburg, Germany are certainly not my father’s Volkswagens. The wizards from Wolfsburg turned everything 180 degrees. The rear-wheel-drive/rear-engine layouts have become front-wheel-drive/front-engine ones.

The new VW’s have also graduated from their humble “people’s car” origins and now bristle with state-of-the-art drivetrains and heretofore higher levels of luxury and equipment.

Which is why I looked forward to a Bonifacio Global City (BGC)-Batangas-BGC drive in three of their new models: the Touareg, the Tiguan, and the Touran.

Powering the three cars are torquey common-rail direct-injection (“TDI” in VW-speak) diesel engines. The Turbo Direct Injection (TDI) engines are engineering innovations, which work towards maximizing power while limiting fuel consumption. To further squeeze power from every drop of fuel, diesel powered TDI engines are coupled with turbochargers, making these new Volkswagens capable of exhilarating performance—unheard of with their ancestors.

Apart from the turbo-charging technology, Volkswagen leads the way with other technological advancements such as Electronic Stabilization Program, which help manage the car’s stability during critical driving situations; Dual Clutch Gearbox (DSG), which consists of two independent gearbox units controlled through a mechatronics module, allowing drivers the ease of a conventional automatic with the power and control of manual transmission on normal or sports mode; and Intelligent adaptive chassis control (DCC)—a function in the Touareg—which offers drivers different programs (sport, normal, or comfort mode) to suit their needs. 

“The Volkswagen vehicles that we are offering are everything Filipino drivers are looking for:  high pulling power, fuel-efficient, and environment friendly. But don’t just take my word for it, try it out for yourselves. Visit our showroom, request for a test drive, and take these machine marvels for a spin,” said JP Orbeta, president of Automobile Central Enterprise, Inc., official importer of Volkswagen, before the start of the day-long drive.

Taking off from the Volkswagen showroom at 28th Street, Bonifacio Global City, the three VW models each had three journalists and one VW executive. There were driver and vehicle changes throughout the drive to Canyon Woods in Batangas (to ensure that everyone got to drive and ride all three cars), before we doubled back for a lunch break at Taal Lake Yacht Club for some impromptu sailing lessons.

I first got to ride then drive the flagship P4,290,000 Touareg. It has a 3.0-liter TDI V6 developing 245ps and a whopping 550Nm of torque—mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. Needless to say, it made short work of the uphill stretches of the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay road, delivering the trademark Germanic combination of plush ride and responsive handling. The Touareg, which shares its platform with the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne, boasts a 4-corner air suspension and VW’s patented 4Motion four-wheel-drive system.

Next up was the Tiguan—a compact (Honda CR-V-sized) SUV with a retail price of P2,109,000. It, too, had a TDI engine—albeit a smaller 2.0-liter displacement 4-cylinder developing 140ps and a still generous 320Nm of torque. Mated to a 6-speed automatic, the powertrain hardly broke a sweat climbing up Taal. The Tiguan delivered a similarly Teutonic feel—smothering bumps and other imperfections on the road like a true European-bred automobile. It’s expected to be the bestseller in the local VW lineup. 

Last but not last was the P1,775,000 Touran, a five-door, five-seat tall wagon/crossover also powered by a 2.0-liter TDI engine but with a lower power output of 110ps and 280Nm of torque (mated to a 6-speed DSG gearbox). One-hundred and ten horses might not be anything to tweet about, but coupled to 280Nm of twisting force (a typical gasoline-engined sedan would produce roughly half the torque), it still felt plenty energetic.

Arriving back at the VW showroom in BGC, I couldn’t help but wonder how the new Volkswagens could be so different from their predecessors of a quarter-century ago, but still retain those unmistakable VW values of being easy to drive, surprisingly spacious, and fuel-efficient. They may not look as quirky as their forebears, but they’re distinctive enough to stand out in a sea of lookalike cars. I guess the more things change, the more they truly remain the same.