2004 4x4 Truck Of The Year Vehicles

Volkswagen Touareg V-8Highs*Gorgeous interior*Adjustable ride-height suspension*Sports car handlingLows*How the hell do you saythat name?*Tires are wuss*Not enough low-end torque

VerdictWell-balanced SUV that proves you can have it all-for $50,000

As far as 4-Wheel & Off-Road is concerned, the Touareg is the first real SUV Volkswagen has ever built. It's a move some may think a bit risky for a carmaker best known for building Bugs and Golfs, but not nearly as risky as entering said SUV in our grueling 4x4 of the Year test-a test where you should know that we also invited the Touareg's 450hp step-brother, the Porsche Cayenne, to compete this year. Evidently those in charge at VW were a little more confident in their 4x4 than the Cayenne people, because Porsche didn't send us one.

A few testers greeted the VW with a sigh of relief that the Touareg "got all the looks that its ugly brother didn't." The sleek Touareg unibody came packed with a 310hp 40-valve V-8 engine that had the sweetest exhaust tone of the test. Though we would love to have had the V-10 diesel we hope to see in the Touareg next year, the V-8 packed plenty of get-up-and-go to keep it moving through the corners. A couple days at our mountaintop test site confirmed that this vehicle does in fact handle...even though it is loaded down with almost all the amenities a wheeler could ask for. Locking center and rear differentials and a height-adjustable suspension are just two of the components that made this a 4x4 of the Year top competitor.

Off-road there was not much flex in the suspension or unibody, but with all the traction devices it had, it didn't really matter as long as it was upright and had one wheel on the ground. We loved piloting the VW gunship over any terrain in the comfort of the saddle leather interior. Had we gotten lost we trust the onboard navigation and vehicle interface system would have helped us find the way home. As refined as it is, the Touareg had the guts to get out there and compete with the best of them. If money were no object and we didn't have a power steering failure on the fourth day of the test (possibly due to a collision with some rocks-we admit nothing!), the Touareg may have won by a landslide.