Volkswagen Touran Bluemotion Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Volkswagen Touran BlueMotion
Prices: £16,905-£19,020 – on the road
Insurance Group: 6
Emissions: 144g/km
Performance: Max Speed 111mph / 0-60mph 13.2s
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 52.3mpg
Safety: Six airbags / ABS with brake assist / ESP
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4390/1790/1650mm WHO TO SEE:

SAVE WHEN YOU’RE FEELING BLUE

Our Rating: 7.0 / 10

Volkswagen bring low emissions technology to the mini-MPV people carrier sector with their Touran BlueMotion. Jonathan Crouch reports

So you’re a responsible parent. You’ve resisted the temptation to buy an exciting car and instead, invested in a practical mini-MPV. Something like Volkswagen’s 7-seater Touran. In which case, why not go the whole hog and buy the most socially responsible BlueMotion version with its 144g/km of CO2 showing and 52.3mpg combined fuel economy. After all, in for a penny….

Eco motoring is big business these days, with countless superminis and family hatchbacks now offered in low emission form. It’s a trend however, that has left MPV people carriers largely untouched, something that Volkswagen is keen to put right. Having already brought us a BlueMotion version of their Sharan large MPV, the German brand felt it would be remiss not to make the same technology available to those in search of something slightly smaller. Hence their Touran BlueMotion.

Volkswagen has chosen to use the more powerful of its two 1.9-litre TDI diesel engines as a basis for this BlueMotion model. This unit puts out just 105PS, so don’t expect to be beating any GTis away from the traffic lights.

On the road, the Touran is a reasonable, though not a memorable drive. We found the ride to be a little on the firm side but the car’s body control is excellent even over quite challenging undulations, twists and turns. The steering, too, has a surprisingly firm and communicative feel. Volkswagen have produced a very stiff body structure and that means the car is quietly refined over rough roads, as well as being safer in a crash.

Under-bonnet changes apart, the basic Touran recipe remains untouched – and very flexible. The rearmost pair of seats, whilst only really suitable for kiddies, can fold flat into the floor which means that for most of the time you’ll have an easily accessible and spacious luggage bay. You can even fold the middle seat of the middle row, making a four seater that can transport long items like skis with supreme ease. All three of the middle seats slide backwards and forwards on separate runners. Quick release levers take care of seat removal and it’s good to see seats that don’t weigh a tonne when you lift them out.

With 39 separate storage areas around the cabin, you may need to make a mental checklist of what you left where. Included in that number are under seat trays to keep valuables out of sight, three fold-down roof mounted cubbies, a rear under floor bin and more cup holders than the Real Madrid trophy room. Pockets in all four doors can accept a litre drinks bottle so nobody’s going thirsty and there are the usual MPV accoutrements such as seat backs that double as tables and aircraft-style fold down trays. Access to the rearmost set of seats is refreshingly easy due to the thoughtful way the middle row flips and slides forward.

There’s only two Touran BlueMotion models on offer (S and SE) and both come with six airbags, ABS, a CD stereo and air conditioning. There’s just the one engine choice too, so if you’re set on making a ‘green’ choice with this car, then there won’t be too much head-scratching to be done.

That’s until you come to the options list of course. 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.

The BlueMotion concept is to combine a series of small changes to the vehicle’s body, drivetrain, engine and even the tyres in order to reduce strain on the engine and, in turn, reduce emissions and increase economy. The outworking of that on this Touran has led to a number of small but collectively significant modifications.

There are subtly redesigned front grille elements for example,