To some of us, the term performance SUV is an oxymoron. Anything as big and heavy as an SUV can’t be a performance car. So, can the the Alpina XB7 and the VW Touareg R prove us wrong?
It may seem unfair to compare these two quote-unquote performance SUVs since the Alpina costs considerably more than the Volkswagen but, in their approach to performance, they can still teach us something about what makes a good performance SUV.
Despite weighing 5,860 lbs, or about 400 lbs more than the Touareg R, the XB7 is a much more engaging car to drive, according to PistonHeads’ latest video. That’s not just because it makes 612 hp to the VW’s 455 hp, either.
Read Also: Does The World Need The 612 HP Alpina XB7 Super SUV? Hell Yeah!
The XB7 is “actually alarmingly quick,” says Dan Prosser. “Given how much bigger it is than that VW, I’m amazed at how much better it is to drive in a sort of spirited way. It’s night and day.”
Prosser complains that the Touareg R’s steering is vague and uncommunicative, whereas the XB7’s steering is pin-sharp and intuitive. Between the active chassis damping and the four-wheel steering, the Alpina feels much more agile than you’d think it could be.
“All of that stuff just makes this car freakishly agile,” says Prosser. “It shouldn’t be this good to drive along a winding B-road, but it is.”
The Volkswagen, meanwhile, feels fine. Acceptable. And that’s despite legitimately impressive performance figures. They just never come together to create something that’s all that engaging.
Whereas the tradition of sports car design, as espoused by the likes of Colin Chapman or Gordon Murray, would suggest that less is more, the key to succeeding with a performance SUV appears to be accepting that more is, indeed, more.