Volkswagen Touran Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Volkswagen Touran range
Prices: £16,225-£24,045 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 6-12
Emissions: 144-194g/km
Performance: [1.6 FSI] Max Speed 115mph / 0-60mph 11.7s
Fuel Consumption: [1.9 TDI 105PS] (urban) 37.7mpg / (extra urban) 53.3mpg / (combined) 47.1mpg (overall)
Safety: Six airbags / ABS with brake assist / ESP
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4390/1790/1650mm

TOUR GUIDE

Our Rating: 7.0 / 10

Volkswagen has refreshed the Touran in recent times to give it a little more personality. Andy Enright reports

It’s hard to think of a much more buttoned-down sensible shoes car than Volkswagen’s original Touran. It did a job of transporting a family and their gear around effectively but without any injection of pizzazz or personality. Even the styling seemed to have been cut and pasted from the generic MPV file. Don’t get me wrong – it always has been a very good vehicle but it badly needed a small dose of charisma. The latest model aims to add a little of the missing x-factor.

The mini-MPV market is one that values conservatism but Volkswagen seemed to explore a position with the Touran where conservatism lapsed into blandness. All that was required to nudge the vehicle back into the sweet spot of buyer focus were a few well-judged nips and tucks. So it is that the current Touran has a more assertive front end, compliments of a revised radiator grille and headlights which are similar to those of the Eos coupe-cabriolet. With a distinct double curve to the underside of the lamp unit, it’s a welcome diversion from the anonymous blobs fitted to the old Touran.

Move round to the rear and you’ll spot even more strident alterations. Redesigned rear light clusters and a completely different bumper assembly give it a more aggressive, hunkered-down appearance. Indoors, there are new trims and stainless steel trim that lifts the otherwise drab colour scheme. An MP3 compatible radio/CD player has also been released, so you had better get onto iTunes and start organising your playlists.

This generation Touran is the first Volkswagen available with ParkAssist, an optional parking guidance system developed by Volkswagen engineers. ParkAssist enables automatic parking, using front and rear ultrasonic sensors to detect available parking space and a control unit to calculate the ideal manoeuvring path. Acoustic and visual displays guide the driver to the correct parking start position, then once reverse gear is selected the car parks itself in less than 15 seconds. All the driver has to do in this time is accelerate and brake – the Touran does all the steering. Say goodbye to dinged bumpers and kerbed alloys.

Once, no fewer than eight engines were available in the Touran line-up, which seemed like overkill in a car that sold around 10,000 units per year. Volkswagen has sensibly rationalised the powerplant selection with the current Touran and has more accurately reflected buyer preferences. Out go the 115PS 1.6 FSI and the 150bhp 2.0-litre FSI petrol engines, the green pump line-up now comprising the entry-level 101bhp 1.6-litre and the 140bhp TSI ‘Twincharge’ engine.

Turbocharged cars have been around for decades and supercharged models even longer: the 140bhp 1.4-litre FSI Twincharge engine fitted to this Touran uses both. The supercharger operates at a maximum of 1.8 bar pressure, boosting the low end torque response where turbo cars can often feel lethargic. Once the supercharger has done its bit, the turbo kicks in for high-end power. Experts will realise that this makes a flexible and inherently driveable engine. The old cliché that this is a small capacity engine that drinks like one but drives like a bigger unit is, in this instance, bang on the money.

That said, most Touran drivers want an engine that drinks like a desert scorpion and they rightly look to the diesel models to supply that sort of parsimony. Offering a decent slug of mid range power, 156g/km CO2 emissions and fuel economy that nudges 48mpg, the 105PS 1.9-litre TDI unit is likely to be the favourite of private and corporate buyers alike, especially as you can order it in eco-friendly ‘BlueMotion guise where it puts out just 144g/km of CO2. This engine also comes in 90PS form where it should win friends with its low price tag. Should you be tempted by a little more clout when you acquaint pedal with metal, Volkswagen can offer the impressive 140PS 2.0-litre TDI. It’s certainly a good deal quicker than the 100bhp engine, reaching 60mph in 10.4 seconds, but it retails at around £3,000 more which is a lot of money in this price sensitive market sector, it’s also worth considering the impressive 170