Volkswagen’s Diesel V-8 Finds Its Hearse: The Touareg Last Edition

Whether or not you believe Volkswagen has cleaned up its act in the wake of its diesel emissions cheating scandal, the company still sells diesel-powered cars in markets all across the world. In fact, the company has said 27 percent of all Volkswagens sold in 2018 ran on gasoline’s unrefined counterpart. It is therefore safe to say VW still cares about its diesels, and now the automaker must mourn the death of one of those—its mighty diesel V-8. That makes this limited-edition Touareg SUV—the last to get the oil-burner V-8—a sort of hearse, right?

You remember the Touareg, don’t you? VW hasn’t sold the Touareg in the U.S. since 2016, when it was replaced by the Atlas, but the nameplate lives on elsewhere and is the brand’s most expensive, most luxurious, and most tech-laden product. The aptly named Touareg Last Edition will be limited to just 400 units and will be powered by (you guessed it) VW’s 4.0-liter, biturbo diesel V-8 making 415 horsepower and 663 lb-ft of torque. All that power and torque is routed through an 8-speed automatic to all four wheels.

Each of the Last Edition cars will be individually numbered, making each one unique. Six different paint colors (Pure White, Antimony Silver Metallic, Silicon Gray Metallic, Malbec Red Metallic, Deep Black Pearl Effect, and Oryx White Pearl Effect) are on offer, but all of the cars will come with a black accent package that nets a black-painted grille, window surrounds, door mirror caps, and wheel arch covers. Each Last Edition rolls on a set of black-painted 21-inch rims that help give the car a slightly more purposeful look.

All in all, the Touareg Last Edition looks like a fine way to say sayonara to the brand’s diesel V-8—and if you’re reading this in a market where they still sell the Touareg, you can order one of the 400 Last Edition starting on August 17.

This car is more than just a misty-eyed goodbye. It marks the end of an era for VW. Big diesel V-8s are simply unsustainable (even more so than the diesel V-10 long ago offered in the original Touareg), and that’s why the new king of the VW SUV lineup is the Touareg R, a 465-hp plug-in hybrid that aims to carry Volkswagen’s SUVs well into the future while being kinder to both the environment and the automaker’s image.

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