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At the dawn of recorded history, a German auto manufacturer unveiled a concept vehicle and promised North America — then weighed down by the oppressive bulk of towering ice sheets — a new midsize SUV.
Okay, that was only 2013, but it seems that the Volkswagen Teramont (VW hasn’t confirmed the name) has been in development for eons. Billed by some as the automaker’s make-or-break model in the U.S., the Teramont is a seven-seat SUV that borrows its design language from the CrossBlue concept. The automaker’s Chattanooga, Tennessee assembly plant will give birth to the model next year.
Now we know what lies under its hood.
Volkswagen released a teaser video yesterday showing a partially disguised Teramont on a backwoods adventure. Of course, we already know what the model’s face will look like, as spy photos appeared in Chinese media last month.
Not surprisingly, the automaker has chosen two tried-and-true powerplants for the model, and ditched any mention of a diesel.
The Teramont’s base engine is a 2.0-liter TSI four-cylinder making 238 horsepower, while the upgrade is the company’s venerable 3.6-liter V6, making 280 hp. In the Touareg, that mill generates 260 pounds-feet of torque. (As this is a sizeable SUV, Volkswagen likely wishes its brawny 3.0-liter diesel V6 was legal for sale.)
The four-cylinder’s output tops that of the 2.0-liter TSI found in the Tiguan, but nearly matches that found in Volkswagen Group’s SEAT León. The company has a myriad of 2.0-liters floating through its product catalog, so sourcing a base engine was hardly a chore.
The automaker describes the vehicle’s dimensions as being five centimeters (two inches) longer than the CrossBlue concept, for 198 inches of overall length. Teramonts roll into U.S. dealer lots starting in the spring of 2017.
If Volkswagen knows what’s good for it, it’ll keep entry level prices very competitive. Its American SUV-and-crossover strategy depends on it.
[Image capture: YouTube]
VW is putting 2 liter, 4 cylinder engine in a vehicle? Now that IS news!
Not only that – but it has a turbo bolted to it! Groundbreaking.
I sure hope VW can find a way to share drivetrain parts with other VW family products so they can keep costs down.
Snark of the day.
What is of note is that this is a new output from them on that engine. Or maybe they stopped using German dynos. Hard to say.
Sometimes I wonder if vw dyno’s have “calibrated by audi” stamped on the side of them.
4 cyl going to have AWD available or only the V6?
How big is “big”? We talking Chevy Traverse or Hyundai Santa Fe?
“The automaker describes the vehicle’s dimensions as being five centimeters (two inches) longer than the CrossBlue concept, for 198 inches of overall length.”
This puts it smack in the “3-row crossover” category with the Explorer (198.3″), Traverse (203.7″) Santa Fe (193.1″) and CX-9 (199″), as well as Pilot/Highlander/Pathfinder.
The Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (2-row), which I think you were referencing, is 184.6″ long for comparison.
No if I meant 2 row Santa Fe I would have said “Santa Fe Sport”. What I was referring to is the difference between “3 rows up and everyone’s luggage in their laps” and “3 rows up and there’s space for several carry-on bags standing up behind the 3rd seat.”
The Lambdas are about the only CUVs (besides a Flex) that can carry people and stuff, not one or the other.
Understood. Even the professional car reviewers can’t get the Santa Fe Sport/Santa Fe disambiguation correct. I should have known I was dealing with a better class of people around here. My apologies to the B&B.
Nah its cool. I think you’re a little new around here. :-)
I’m the guy who harps on being able to put cargo behind the 3rd row in a CUV, understanding that if you really need to haul cargo and people you really need a minivan or a Suburban/Expedition
It bothers me as well that there are no truly full-sized three-row CUVs beyond the Lambdas and the Flex. I mean, I like both of those, but there’s room in the segment for more.
Then again…neither Ford nor GM offers a minivan.
The 3.0-liter TDI seems to be reserved for longitude-engined vehicles, which we know this Teramont is not. I’d bet a prospective Teramont TDI would have the same variant of the 2.0-liter I4 TDI family as the Passat, which seems like a fine application.
It probably would’ve been the ~180 HP/280 TQ version rather than the ~150HP/230 TQ version.
IIRC it was slated to be homologated for the US for the 2017 A4 before it was derailed by the emissions scandal.
I can see it now: Volkswagen has taken so long to bring this CUV out, that six months after it finally comes out the market shifts and everybody wants something other than a crossover.
Sorta like Honda (motorcycles) taking so long to bring out the Fury (their custom chopper) that it finally hit the market as Harley fever was finally dying.
“harley fever” will probably always be along in some way, shape, or form, as long as interest rates stay low and HELOC;s are available :)
the japanese keep coming up with these crazy modernized contraptions, though. half bobber, half scooter, anyone?
sign me up for a cheap used morphous, if i had the garage space!
I wonder where the Teramont will be assembled? Kazakhstan?
They’ve already assigned it to Chattanooga.
its already been replaced by the petamont and examont.
Will there be a Skoda twin called the Tantamont?
But each would already have been rendered obsolete by the Quantum.
Damn. If only the article could’ve given SOME indication besides saying “The automaker’s Chattanooga, Tennessee assembly plant will give birth to the model next year.”
Whoops! See what happens when I speed read with a burrito in one hand…
I see nothing wrong with that strategy as long as it’s ONLY a burrito.
Make sure there’s an S trim with cloth upholstery, manual height adjusters, and wheel covers.
This is Volkswagen of America. There will ONLY be an S trim unless you’re willing to order the two prepackaged higher equipment levels (SE and SEL), unless they squeeze a “Sport” or “Wolfsburg Edition” high-value model just above the S in which case that will be the vast majority of what’s on dealer lots. It won’t have cloth upholstery but rather “leatherette” vinyl that won’t fool anyone. Huge alloys and inappropriate low-profile tires considered too important at the powers that be at VWoA to use sensible wheels and tires.
In the largest of animals, peristalsis may continue long after brain death.
Ouch.
Those are pretty typical numbers I guess. The design isn’t all that inspiring and if they are trying to keep it competitively priced, may have a lot of cheap bits as VW is fond of doing in “competitively” priced vehicles. If this is a make or break vehicle, would have thought it would be….more. I guess we will see, but seems like an also ran from a pariah auto brand. Give it a V8, something that can set it apart from the rest of the lifted station wagons.
I expect this will be a transverse engine vehicle which means that the V6 TDI was probably never really even considered due to cost and a wide V angle being worse for transverse packaging than a VR6. My bet is that few will likely opt for the VR6 as the 2.0 will be sufficient due to it producing more torque at lower engine speeds than the VR6. A 3.0 TDI would also require a transmission capable of longevity with torque capacity likely greater than what is presently in the parts catalog.
My sentiments exactly. Of course, other automakers aren’t at all shy about putting conventional V6 engines in transverse-engined vehicles (how many FWD cars have been sold with Toyota’s venerable 3.5-liter V6?); it’s just that Volkswagen isn’t known for doing so. With the company’s new MQB architecture, there may not even be *room* for a proper 60 or 90-degree V engine.
Currently, the only narrow-angle “VR” engine the company has *is* the 3.6-liter VR6 mentioned in the article, it seems. They may still make the 3.2-liter VR6 for other markets; I can’t tell.
They’ve got a turbo 3.0 vr6 in developement. It was in the states a few years ago and all anyone noticed was the vaguely scirroco looking concept that they homed it in. It sounded absolutely beastly.
Somewhere I read that they might have a 300+ HP 3.0L turbocharged version of the VR6 in the works for this and for the next generation US Passat.
Assuming there was any truth to that, it would probably be added to this CUV in a mid-lifecycle update.
and people complain about GM using old engines? this ones at least 25 years old.
The 3.6 is not 25 years old. The VR engines from the early 90’s could not even reach 3.6L of displacement.
15 degree V vs 10.5
12v vs 24v
Port injection vs direct injection
Coil pack with wires vs coil on plug
The basic idea of a inline-V engine is that old but the rest has been re-engineered a couple of times over.
In GM sucks terms: LFX is the same V6 as the iron duke.
In GM sucks terms: LFX is the same V6 as the iron duke.
Better sarcasm in saying the LFX is the same V6 as the 3400 HO headgasket-eater.
The Iron Duke was 4 cyl paint shaker.
“Volkswagen Leaks”
Wasn’t there supposed to be a larger, re-designed TIguan coming out this fall as well? WTH happened to that?
I believe it got pushed back to spring of next year.
I like how the video references size in metric, even though the video is intended for primarily the U.S. market. Canadians will know what those measurements mean, most Americans will not.
I’ll call it now, this thing will sell by the dozens per month.
“The company has a myriad of 2.0-liters floating through its product catalog, so sourcing a base engine was hardly a chore.”
But wouldn’t it actually be more of a chore if there are more choices to rule out?
Wake me up when it’s electric.
I don’t think this is the savior product vw people seem to think it will be. It’s a new market segment for them and one with many established players. More importantly, three rows aren’t the volume kings, cuv’s are. Still, it’s a necessary car to have here so I’m not really being critical of the decision, just the hype.
A reasonably priced 3 row SUV was what they needed about 11 years ago when everyone was living large on skyrocketing home equity. Now they need a good, reasonably priced competitor to the RAV-4/CR-V/Rogue/etc. VW is always late to the party in North America. It doesn’t matter how much lead time they have.
Trying to sort out the info posted about the’18 model SUV,one is built in Europe,one is to be built in Mexico and one to be produced in Tenn.
Differences in all the models?
I’m confused…are we supposed to be interested in *anything* VWoA is doing right now?
If so, why?
I think VW could hit pay dirt if it offered a retro inspired Microbus, sort of like a Honda Element type of vehicle, but slightly larger.
Nah, just build the old type 2 bus, but relocate the engine up front, between the seats, like the old Ford Econoline. VW did that already, but took the charm out of the FWD version. This time, they should stick with the original exterior design.
You’d have to be insane to spend hard earned money on this vs a Japanese or even domestic product.