2015 VW Touareg 1st Drive: Acquiring Spiffy to Keep Current

1st Drive Review

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Not fixing what ain’;t broke.

For a vehicle named right after a tribe of Saharan nomads, the Volkswagen Touareg (pronounced “twar-egg”) hasn’t wandered far from the middle of the road. That’s been great enterprise for VW, which says it has sold a lot more than 720,000 copies of this mid-size SUV worldwide over 11 model years now, nearly 130,000 of them in the U.S. So VW didn’t see much require to go wandering off into the desert with this midterm update for 2015. The Touareg is a single of our Editors’ Decision picks, and the 2013 TDI model won a comparison test of diesel SUVs, so we’d agree that not significantly needed to be fixed.

This second-generation Touareg debuted in 2011, and this newest one is mechanically unchanged whether you select the normal gasoline V-6 model, the TDI turbo-diesel, or the overall performance-oriented hybrid. The exterior is dressed up with a new 4-bar grille, chrome trim, lighting upgrades, restyled wheels, and new colors. Inside, there’s more shiny silver stuff, better switchgear, and richer-looking leather and wood trim details. Ultimately, to keep in contention with newer competitors, VW added a suite of electronic driver safety aids such as adaptive cruise handle, a lane-departure warning system, blind-spot detection, and pre-collision braking.

Normal 4MOTION all-wheel drive, a rated towing capacity of 7716 pounds, far more than 6 inches of fore/aft travel for the split-folding rear seat, and a hands-cost-free liftgate for access to the cargo hold (32 cubic feet with the seat up or double that with it folded) all carry more than as allures to those purchasers who still need to have genuine SUV functions and will not settle for less-capable crossovers.

Déjà Vu All More than Once more

Our very first knowledge driving the 2015 model was a lot like our final drive in a 2014 Touareg. This went double due to the fact VW staged its media event minutes from C/D’s Ann Arbor offices, utilizing a route incorporating roads we use routinely for our 10Best testing. As you’d anticipate, the driving character of each the gasoline FSI and diesel TDI V-6 variants carries more than with very good really feel from the hydraulically assisted steering (only the hybrid makes use of electric assist), a relatively taut and responsive chassis, and a nicely firm and readily modulated brake pedal. The family-oriented VW’s character tilts toward the compliant and comfy mainstream virtues, leaving a lot more expressive driver-oriented attributes to its VW Group platform-mates, the Audi Q7 and the Porsche Cayenne. The VW, for instance, does not provide paddle shifters for its 8-speed automatic transmission, despite the fact that there’s a manual mode accessible on the shift lever.

The manual mode is semi-necessary to maintain the 3.6-liter FSI V-6 on the boil to propel 2.5 tons of mass. Programming for the transmission is fairly prompt to kick down when the driver pushes hard on the accelerator and sensible about holding gears through a series of bends, but it is also calibrated to maximize economy on the EPA cycle. As has been the case at least given that the diesel’s horsepower total was bumped to 240 (from 225) in 2013, the TDI version’s abundance of torque (406 lb-ft) tends to make it the driver’s decision when accelerating out of slow corners. The penalties for diesel are minimal right here, with only a quite slight coarseness in the power delivery to give away the game, plus the get-in cost and the pricier fuel that offset the true fuel-economy advantage. The greater peak output of the gas engine is evident only in passing maneuvers at greater speeds. Yet the genuine performer of the variety is nonetheless the expensive hybrid, which enjoys a large energy benefit more than its siblings.

Creeping Toward Autonomy

We regard the new security-technology characteristics significantly as we do the exterior chrome: Superfluous steps that maintain the Touareg competitive with newer offerings in the segment without having genuinely adding a lot desirability. The lane-departure warning comes in the kind of a vibration in the steering wheel, adjustable via the central touch screen by way of 3 degrees of severity. At its gentlest, we identified the warning that we’d crossed a lane line without having signaling our intentions nearly indistinguishable from the vibration induced by slightly roughened pavement and much less so than the edge-warning grooves on some highways. The harshest setting ought to be reserved for the chronically inattentive, who may well effectively envision the shaking wheel as indication they’d just run more than an alligator.

The adaptive cruise control operates properly and, with the pre-collision braking feature, can bring the Touareg to a complete cease when site visitors demands. The blind-spot warning, delivered via lights on the inner edge of the exterior mirror housings, worked as advertised but never told us something we didn’t already know by paying focus to correctly adjusted mirrors. The lights glow to indicate the presence of a car in an adjacent lane, flashing if the driver signals a lane adjust in that circumstance or with traffic fast approaching (VW calls this latter function Side Assist). The primary reason VW requirements these “aids” is to preserve shoppers who insist on them from wandering off to other brands.

Purchasers can opt for some of these technologies on Touaregs beginning in the mid-$ 40,000 variety, but the diesel is not accessible till the value begins with a 5. The base model is the Sport, followed by Sport w/Technology that adds navigation, a towing package, and Side Assist. This level is the lowest trim for the diesel, which costs $ 3500 a lot more than the FSI engine, a margin that carries by means of the mid-level Lux (with Park Distance Handle) and best Executive (with surround-view camera) trim levels. The hybrid partially justifies its exorbitant MSRP by such as all the new driver assists, some of which are optional even at the Executive level, as standard gear.

Jeep sells virtually twice as several Grand Cherokees in any given month as VW sold Touaregs all final year, and VW’s mild update doesn’t provide any compelling argument to drastically move the scales, but it should hold this appealing SUV on buying lists for a couple of much more years

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2015 VW Touareg 1st Drive: Acquiring Spiffy to Keep Current

Soul Glow: Kia Soul EV Priced, Sits Mid-Pack Among Current Crop of Small Electrics

Kia has just announced that its first-ever electric car, the 2015 Soul EV, will join the electron-powered vehicle fray in California by the end of October at pre-federal-rebate starting prices of $ 34,500 for the base model and $ 36,500 for the Plus. (The rebate will slash $ 7500 from the sticker.)

Standard goodies include a rear camera, Bluetooth connectivity, power windows, cruise control, a 6.6-kW onboard charger, and a unique climate-control system designed to minimize energy use. The price also includes 5 years of UVO EV services, which uses an embedded Verizon telematics system and an attendant smartphone app to give owners real-time battery state of charge and range information, heat or cool the interior remotely, as well as help search for nearby charging stations. Oh yeah, and it tosses in a navigation system, too. The EV Plus model adds seats upholstered in leather—heated for all outboard seats and cooled as well for front-seaters—plus fog lamps and power-folding exterior mirrors.

Compared to the current crop of EVs, the Soul is priced higher than the 2015 Nissan Leaf ($ 29,860) and the 2015 Fiat 500e ($ 32,650), but comes in below the 2015 Ford Focus Electric ($ 35,995) and VW’s new e-Golf ($ 36,265). Factor in the federal tax credit and regional government incentives, which remain pretty generous in California, and the price for any EV can come down considerably. An introductory lease price of $ 249 per month with $ 1999 down is also an option for the Soul EV.

Kia promises to start selling the Soul EV in other markets that it has identified as having increasingly robust EV infrastructures starting next year, which may include as New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, among other states.

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Soul Glow: Kia Soul EV Priced, Sits Mid-Pack Among Current Crop of Small Electrics

Chasing Anti-Sales: Tesla Steering Potential 2015 Model X Customers Toward Current Model S

“So we will not have any apples for a even though, but how would you like 1 of these lovely oranges?”

That appears to be the line of questioning Tesla is running on clients marching into its stores prepared to drop a $ 5000 deposit on the upcoming (and significantly delayed) Model X electric crossover. With the order cue for the X developing longer by the day—some reports say that a lot more than 20,000 deposits have been placed—Tesla is attempting to get some of its eager potential Model X customers into the Model S sedan.

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk had this to say about the Model X throughout the company’s 2014 Q2 earnings announcement last month: “There are no vehicles available for a test drive. There is no information about the automobiles in our retailers simply because we’re only promoting the S. In fact, if somebody comes in who desires to buy the X, we try to convince them to acquire the S.

“So we anti-sell it. And we do not really give all that a lot info or details about the automobile or give [indiscernible] on when you can get it. Despite all that, there’s huge demand from about the globe for the X.

“We can drive demand up at will,” Musk continued, implying that if he was to release much more details that about the X, demand would grow even higher. “But if we drive it up too significantly, then folks would get upset with us since they waited as well long for their vehicle . . . [W]hen I was visiting in China, the only unhappiness I saw was . . . because customers had been upset about waiting as well extended for their auto. So it is like, boy, we greater not stoke demand in that scenario.”

When reached for comment on the “anti-sales” concept, Tesla didn’t offer much further info about how many deposits are at the moment in the bank for either the X or the S. The firm also didn’t elaborate on exactly how numerous buyers set on a Model X have thrown up their hands and shelled out the $ 70,890 and up for a Model S. Tesla has not announced pricing for the X, but the SUV is extensively expected to be less costly than the S sedan. So for each Model S Tesla pushes on a prospective X client, it ekes more dough that it would with a Model X—and the money’s hitting Tesla’s coffers sooner than early 2015, when the X is to begin hitting customers’ driveways. Speak about driving a challenging (anti-)sell.

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Chasing Anti-Sales: Tesla Steering Potential 2015 Model X Customers Toward Current Model S

Honda Debuts Most current ASIMO Humanoid Robot, Machine Takeover Imminent

Everyone’s favorite soccer-playing, plastic-spaceman-wearing-a-backpack–style humanoid robot, ASIMO, is back and greater than ever! Honda’s bizarre robot adore child receives a rash of improvements this year, some of which are undoubtedly regarding for any tinfoil hat–wearing readers concerned about an eventual robot takeover of society. The Honda robot’s other new features, however, may just have a practical use in automobiles. That is a lot more than we can say for ASIMO’s potential to “leap” a whopping 1.97 inches. 

ASIMO has been about for nearly 14 years, and that followed a lot more than a decade of study Honda put into walking and humanoid robots. Over time, ASIMO—which stands for “Advanced Step (in) Revolutionary MObility”—has gained the capacity to walk semi-naturally, carry items in his arms, turn, move rapidly (by “leaping,” an action throughout which each feet leave the ground), answer queries, recognize postures and gestures, recognize faces, shake hands, and collaborate with a second ASIMO to achieve a objective. This year, ASIMO takes the next step, so to speak, toward being a completely autonomous becoming, rather than a semi-human-controlled machine.

Honda has imbued ASIMO with what it calls “autonomous behavior handle technologies,” which is an ominous way of saying that the robot has a rudimentary choice-producing engine. ASIMO can now greater comprehend and react to his environment, as nicely as predict the motions of others and formulate a decision to, say, move out of someone’s way and return to his intended path afterward. Element of this ability comes from Honda’s installation of a kind of intelligence, so that ASIMO now “evaluates inputs from several sensors that are equivalent to the visual, auditory, and tactile senses of a human becoming.”

Whilst it may well sound kind of eerie, ASIMO’s new capabilities bode well for the improvement of far more sophisticated autonomous-driving aids. Critically, ASIMO’s ability to take in and react to his surroundings to steer clear of collisions is a rudimentary step toward a automobile carrying out the identical thing. Fully autonomous automobiles are nonetheless a lengthy way away, even so, so ASIMO’s other new talent, the capability to home in on a single speaker in a group (even if they’re all speaking at once) could preview a much more imminent true-planet automotive function. In-car voice controls could, in essence, borrow the facial- and auditory-recognition tech behind ASIMO’s social capabilities to respond to numerous voice inputs, therefore bringing into the digital age the age-old fight more than which radio station is chosen.

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But that’s all in the future—for now, Honda’s friendly robot remains just that: A friendly companion . . . albeit 1 that can now also stroll on an uneven battlefield—er, uh, surface—perform surgical human experiments—we imply, “tasks with dexterity” making use of his fingered hands, and . . . Let’s just say that as soon as ASIMO is spotted behind the wheel (figure of speech, there is no wheel!) of one particular of Google’s autonomous vehicles, we’re running for the hills.

Honda Debuts Most current ASIMO Humanoid Robot, Machine Takeover Imminent

IRC Study: Lawyers Involved in Much more PIP Claims Over Current Years

What you need to know:

• The share of PIP claimants represented by an attorney was 36% in 2012, up from 31% in 2007.


• Claimants represented by a lawyer typically “waited longer for payment of claims” compared to those who had no representation.


• Florida was the no-fault state with the highest rate of attorney involvement. More than half of Florida PIP claimants hired an attorney in 2012.

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A new study shows that more drivers are hiring attorneys for claims they file under personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, a coverage type that was first created with the goal of reducing litigation in car insurance claims. The study, published by the Insurance Research Council (IRC), shows that more than 1 out of every 3 PIP claimants hired an attorney in 2012, which is more than double the rate in 1977.

Under PIP coverage, the policyholder’s insurer compensates him or her for medical bills related to a crash, regardless of whether or not that policyholder shared any fault in the crash. This is supposed to help reduce the number of car insurance claims that make it to court.

But the percentage of PIP claimants who hired an attorney recently increased 5 percentage points, going from 31 percent in 2007 to 36 percent in 2012.

According to the IRC, half of claims submitted under bodily injury liability involved attorneys in 2012. That was a only slight increase compared to 2007, when that figure was 49 percent.

Here is a further breakdown of the numbers provided by the IRC:

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The IRC said that claimants represented by a lawyer typically “waited longer for payment of claims” compared to those who had no representation. Among other findings in the study, according to the IRC, auto injury claimants with lawyers were:

• “much more likely” than claimants without lawyers to “receive treatment in a pain clinic” and receive an MRI for similar injuries


• “more likely” to be linked to “apparent claim abuse”


• on average, awarded lower “net payments” than lawyer-less claimants after payments are adjusted for attorneys fees and other expenses

“The attorney involvement trends shown in this study undercut 2 of the envisioned benefits of no-fault auto injury systems: a less adversarial settlement process and more timely payments,” said Elizabeth Sprinkel, IRC’s senior vice president, in a statement. “The role of attorneys is implicated in many of the factors driving up the cost of auto insurance.”

The IRC’s analysis looked at more than 35,000 auto injury claims that were closed with payment over the last 3 decades.

IRC: More than Half of Florida PIP Claims Involve Attorneys

PIP coverage is required in some states, and it’s been in those so-called “no-fault” states where controversy has brewed in recent years.

“Corrupt lawyers” are often a key ingredient to “medical mills” that criminals set up to produce bogus claims, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III), which added such operations are typically based in no-fault states “where PIP benefits are generous.” The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has also reported on PIP-based auto insurance systems and their vulnerabilities to crime.

In October 2013, authorities said they uncovered a PIP scheme in Minnesota that rang up more than $ 1 million in kickbacks. Lawmakers responded with a push for legislative reforms of the PIP system. Minnesota drivers are required to have at least $ 40,000 in PIP coverage per auto accident.

According to the IRC’s recent study, the highest rate among no-fault states of PIP claimants hiring attorneys for injury claims was in Florida, where more than half did so in 2012.

In Florida, PIP coverage is required and provides benefits of up to $ 10,000 to a driver suffering an “emergency medical condition” from an auto accident; a $ 2,500 PIP benefit is the maximum allowed in Florida for “nonemergency medical conditions.”

Florida’s 2-tiered system of PIP benefits was just one of the many points of debate between lawmakers in 2012, when they implemented major reforms of the state’s no-fault system. The push for reform was fueled by what some lawmakers said was an alarming increase in fraudulent PIP claims.

IRC Study: Lawyers Involved in Much more PIP Claims Over Current Years

Year	% of BI claimants represented by an attorney	% of PIP claimants represented by an attorney
1977	47%	17%
1987	55%	31%
1992	57%	31%
1997	52%	30%
2002	47%	28%
2007	49%	31%
2012	50%	36%