Auto News 5

Maybe Adolf Hitler got it right. I don't mean the part about world domination, the master race, or all the illing and killing for which he's so justifiably reviled. I'm talking about consumer credit and the way the Third Reich got hard-working citizens to divert a little bit from their pay packet each week to purchase their very own Volkswagen. Theirs to use and enjoy, once they'd finished paying for it. In advance.

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.

Scirocco? Isn't that some Car my Father Drove?
I admit that I'm probably not the most objective person in the world when it comes to the new, European-market Volkswagen Scirocco, as I have a 22-year-old Scirocco sitting in my garage. It's covered, sleeping quietly in safety, and in the eleven years I've owned this VW, it's never been kicked out of the garage, come hell, high water, or $200,000 Aston Martin test cars that happened to be in my possession. I'm so fond of the Scirocco because I love the GTI, and the Scirocco is simply a GTI with more... GTI.