Thought it may interest owners if I gave a simple comparison of the Touareg V10 to the RRS V8 diesel. I have owned 2 V10's the last being an R50. My reason for going to the V8 diesel was that I wanted similar performance and a little more functionality.
I spent quite a while researching the RRS my first post here I think is about two years old.

So what are the differences?

Engine performance , about the same, more torque with the V10 but the R50 was a heavier car .
Driving performance , the RRS wins here but not by a real lot , the R50 had air suspension and variable dampers , 3 modes soft , normal, sport.
Cabin Ambiance , RRS sport wins here , the cabin is much nicer, but then again the car is current.
Accessories, this would be my biggest disappointment with the RRS. When I consider the R50 came out 7 years ago with the following , and to speck the RRS to the same would have made my pocket cry.
Tuning HID headlights
Cornering lights
Heated front and rear seats
Tyre pressure sensors
On board compressor that can be used to inflate tyres with tyre hose and gage.
Luggage barrier standard.

Now the things the RRS has that were not in the R50
Dynamic Response
Auto diming headlights
Traffic sensors in the mirrors
Side traffic
Full size Spare

So the things that I really miss are the TPMS the rest are more or less just neat to have but for me not real essential. I have now done 17,000 klm's in the 4 months of ownership. Have some 20 inch black wheels to put on so I can get dirty , the wheels are fitted with Cooper tyres.

Have washed the car about 3 times since owned, not a big believer in washing cars so mine stays dirty most of the time.

All up so far pretty happy with the drive, car still feels very big compared to the R50 , but is quiter inside, easy to over speed , and a nice car to do distance i M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

Spent the morning putting my 20 inch wheels on:

Click image to enlarge

I'm in between making a decision to buy a RRS SE SDV6, also from a Touareg V6 4xmotion now a Cruiser (200) for more space.

How do you find the boot space in the RRS compared to the Touareg Bails? On paper there is more, it just doesn't look much bigger? I'm just hoping I wouldn't regret it afterwards. I know there isn't anywhere near the same as the 200, but I love the look and the drive of the RRS. Plus there is limited choices in the luxury domain if you want low range...

I mirror your comments about the option list... OUCH I'd be waiting for the MY17 with the bigger infotainment screen.

Love the rims mate!

Iv heard some terrible story's of 4 year old v10's where the exhaust manifolds crack, which causes it to run lean and damaged the turbos and exhaust sensors, vw have been offering to cover labour but still landing a 14grand bill for parts spiteful Range Rover Sport tdv8

matsoutback wrote:

I'm in between making a decision to buy a RRS SE SDV6, also from a Touareg V6 4xmotion now a Cruiser (200) for more space.

How do you find the boot space in the RRS compared to the Touareg Bails? On paper there is more, it just doesn't look much bigger? I'm just hoping I wouldn't regret it afterwards. I know there isn't anywhere near the same as the 200, but I love the look and the drive of the RRS. Plus there is limited choices in the luxury domain if you want low range...

I mirror your comments about the option list... OUCH I'd be waiting for the MY17 with the bigger infotainment screen.

Love the rims mate!

Olly-ibiza wrote:

Iv heard some terrible story's of 4 year old v10's where the exhaust manifolds crack, which causes it to run lean and damaged the turbos and exhaust sensors, vw have been offering to cover labour but still landing a 14grand bill for parts

I have owned an early 5.0 Touareg, it went well enough but sounded like a skip lorry when starting from cold. Lots of torque but not very refined, found that there was just too much engine noise intruding inside the car for me to really like it. I only wanted one as I saw one towing a Jumbo jet on top gear. Life's too short to drive boring cars !
2005 Supercharged First Edition
2013 Evoque

I think the RRS is much more refined than my R50 however if I compare to the previous version of the RRS then IMO the R50 is light years in front. My comparison was a 7 year old vehicle to a current and of course I own the current because I thought it was an improvement on the R50.

In road noise I would say little difference to the RRS, the RRS is quieter. I did not opt for the V8 R-Line which smokes the RRS V8 in acceleration because it lacked features I wanted in a 4WD. I might also add a few more features the RRS has:-

Metal under body protection not plastic
Bigger brakes than the R 50
Better fuel economy
Better gear box

If I was not after a true 4WD I would have opted for the R=Line V8 or something really different like a twin cab M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

The comment about the gearbox surprised me, I thought the 8 speed in the Touareg was one of the highlights. The RRS tranny must be damn good then.

The R50 box I was referring too. Another plus for the RRs is the mid range sound system, a very good system that to date I have not experienced better.

Still though for the price of entry there are things missing as stated earlier on , but overall a great vehicle so far just a little overpriced in Australia. Now that the Poms have voted themselves out of the EU and the pound is sinking faster than the Bismark perhaps the price will be reduced 15%/ M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

With the currency exchange at quite low at the moment, now would be a good time to purchase a RRS even without any reduction in price.  John

RRS MY12 SDV6 HSE. Sumatra Black/Ebony & Walnut + Dynamic Pack, + Cold Climate Pack + Memory Pack, Digital TV/DVD, Premium Leather, Cornering Lights, Cooler/Fridge Box, & most Options.

Having bought 2 or 3 LRs and RRs over the last 10 years I can say that the price changes very little with the exchange rate. Maybe 5% at most.
I agree that the mid range Meridian system is excellent as opposed to the base system which is truly awful but not as bad as the one in my wife's Freelander/. Being in the sound business myself I wrote to Meridian regarding the system in the Freelander and suggested that they should be ashamed of putting their badge on such dreadful audio system. I notice that the base system in the RRS is not badged Meridian. Maybe they listened to me!

I thought the VW and RRS gearbox are the same unit from ZF. The RRS version would of course be more up to date. SDV8 arrived and fantastic even the infotainment!
1983 2 door Range Rover ARB Bar X9000 winch ARB Rear Bar now semi retired.
Many big trips done in this one.
1982 Rangerover nearly restored.
22 Defender D250 with lots of stuff for outback touring
Nice 2013 Freelander TD4 manual (for daughter to learn on) with much better stereo compared with previous SD4 SE with Meridian which sounded bad!
2013 Land Rover Defender ute.

Same box in the later models, I am referring to the R50 which uses a 6 speed unit. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.

Bails, does yours have 3 zone air?

I have ordered it on my SDV6 and was wondering if the panel looks like the 4 zone and how do you find the operation? 2017 MY17 SDV6 SE

yes I have 3 Zone and it appears to work well, I don't sit in the back or carry passengers all that often. M16 SVD8 ,4.4 HSE with a few extras, Sold R50 , Wife SQ5 , BMW R1200GSW.