Test drive and review of the Volkswagen Teramont (Volkswagen Teramont)
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Arguments about tastes
People are divided into two categories. Some find the exterior of “Teramont” brutal and attractive. To others, the largest in the Volkswagen lineup looks like it’s been in production for ten years in a row. And they are easy to understand! Despite the “muscular” arches, embossed sidewall stampings and intricate LED filling of the head optics, the giant from Wolfsburg is perceived as rustic and even slightly secondary. Especially faded Teramont looks in a free white color scheme. No wonder for any other shade ask to pay extra 25,000 rubles.
The interior of the large Volkswagen also evokes mixed feelings, once again reminding of the model’s American orientation. High-quality and thick leather on the chairs inexplicably coexists with the oak plastic of the lower part of the panel, and the modern and nimble multimedia system – with deliberately fake wood inserts. In order not to be upset at the dealership, it is better to learn on the shore: “rich inner world” and innovation – a story about Touareg. The larger Teramont offers, first of all, square meters.
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#On road
The American crossover of the German concern on Russian soil feels in its element. A car in our country is still something more than just a means of transportation, and therefore the attitude of neighbors downstream to a five-meter crossover is quite respectful. True, we don’t have America here, and the infrastructure sometimes fails: in the underground parking lots of some Moscow shopping centers at Teramont, it can be difficult to fit into a 90-degree turn the first time, not to mention parking in a standard lined parking space.
But in general, you don’t experience any particular inconvenience from using the VW Teramont in the city. Moreover, when driving a crossover, you quickly forget about its dimensions – the Teramont goes unexpectedly in a passenger car. Sufficiently stiffly tuned suspension minimizes body roll, so cornering on the Teramont is almost as easy as on a Tiguan. In terms of behavior on the road, the German is very different from the Japanese in the face of the Prado and TLC 200 and traditional Americans like the Chevrolet Tahoe.
The reverse side of such suspension settings manifests itself when traveling somewhere in the deep suburbs of Moscow, where the number of various pits and potholes per square meter exceeds all permissible limits. And so the not too quiet interior of the crossover is filled with a roar from driving over bumps, and the vibrations of the unsprung masses do not allow you to drive fast on bad roads. Yes, the suspension has a very large energy reserve, but it lacks elasticity, and on a bad road, the Teramont is frankly disappointing. Coupled with not the best soundproofing, the suspension, in my opinion, is the weakest point of this car.
But the Volkswagen Teramont has plenty of advantages. We add two rows of seats, move the front passenger seat as far forward as possible. Voila, you have almost three cubic meters of free space! A couple of trips to a hardware or furniture store and you’ll wonder how you ever managed without Teramont.
The 2-liter engine, despite such a modest volume for such a car, quite quickly accelerates a 2-ton crossover. The 8-speed automatic allows you to dial the first hundred in less than 9 seconds. There are complaints about the machine only when driving at low speeds: in traffic jams, strange jerks and shocks are sometimes felt. The tandem of a turbo engine and an 8-speed automatic made it possible to fit fuel consumption within an acceptable framework: I got around 11 liters per 100 km in mixed mode.
It’s better not to go off-road on the Teramont of your own free will, although the VW electronics traditionally work great and the crossover copes effortlessly with diagonal hanging. 20 cm of ground clearance and all-wheel drive will be enough to overcome most everyday difficulties, such as yards that have not been cleaned after a snowfall and a road to the dacha that is muddy after rain.
But the element of “Teramont” – long-distance travel on good roads. It was designed to easily devour hundreds of miles of American highways, comfortably moving families with three or more children from point A to point B. If you like to travel by car with a large group without abusing bad roads, the Volkswagen Teramont can become a true friend of your family . This is one of the most spacious and comfortable all-wheel drive vehicles on the Russian market.