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For me, the Touareg has always been something of a disappointment - a car without a purpose. It's neither as sporty as its European competition (BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz ML) nor as useful, practical, and functional as the American SUVs that it was patterned after. Poor sight lines, a relatively space-inefficient interior, and a lackluster powertrain compound the problem. The engine lacks torque down low - it's not helped by the Touareg's substantial heft - but frustatingly, the six-speed automatic downshifts as if its innards were mired in molasses. The adjustable suspension (Sport/Automatic/Comfort) alternates between wallowy and painfully brittle, and finding pavement that the Touareg actually liked was something of a challenge.

As the phrase "tuned at the legendary Nürburgring" has found its way into ad copy for more and more performance cars, lap times at the Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack have become the newest measure of performance, taking their place alongside top speed, quarter-mile, and 0-to-60-mph times. Most recently Chrysler, which had not done any development work at the track, took a 2009 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR to the 'Ring, seeking to beat the time set only a couple months before by the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. "One of the big driving factors for us going," said SRT engineer Mike Shinedling, "was that we got so many letters and e-mails from Viper owners." The result? The Viper ACR's time beat the ZR1's, and Viper owners everywhere have a new bar boast. There's no official sanctioning body for Nürburgring lap times, but figures for some recent production cars are listed to the right, as reported by their manufacturers.