After five years, there’s now an all-new Volkswagen Touran – the third-generation MPV has been unveiled ahead of its world premiere at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show next month, before going on sale in September.
Moving onto the Mk7 Golf‘s modular MQB architecture, the new Touran is 130 mm longer than before at 4,527 mm, with 113 mm going straight to the 2,791 mm wheelbase. It is also 41 mm wider and 6 mm lower than before, sitting at 1,814 mm wide and 1,628 mm high. Despite the increased dimensions and a 25% stiffer bodyshell, the new car weighs 62 kg less than its predecessor.
Looking very much like a taller Golf Sportsvan, the new Touran’s front end has a broader, more horizontal appearance to emphasise its width. The headlights have a slimmer, more three-dimensional shape; LED units can be specified for the first time, with dynamic cornering and dynamic main beam control functions also on the options list.
Moving along the side of the car, there are prominent wheel arches, a more dynamic D-pillar kink and a sharply-defined character line that emphasises the extra length, echoed by a chamfered side sill design. At the rear, there are wide, slim tail lights (LED units optional) and a broad trapezoidal number plate recess, again giving an impression of width. A sportier R Line kit will also be made available.
The interior is very similar to recent VWs, with a horizontally-aligned, driver-oriented dashboard and a flat-bottomed steering wheel. A lidded storage compartment has been integrated above the glovebox, incorporating media inputs on higher-end models, while an electronic parking brake with Auto Hold replaces the previous mechanical unit.
The new Touran makes use of VW’s latest MIB touchscreen infotainment systems, with 6.5-inch Composition Media and Discover Media and 8.0-inch Discover Pro units available with a Dynaudio sound system as well as App Connect with MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.
There’s also a new optional triple-zone Pure Air Climatronic auto air-conditioning with air filtration, an Easy Open kick-to-open function for the tailgate, as well as an optional family-friendly electronic voice amplification system that uses microphones at the front to relay speech to the rear speakers.
Being considerably larger than before, the new Touran is unsurprisingly more spacious as well, with the interior length having grown by 63 mm. Third row legroom has increased by as much as 54 mm, and redesigned seats free up 6 mm more headroom on the second row and 15 mm more on the third row, despite the new car being slightly lower.
All six passenger seats can be folded to create a perfectly flat load bay, and even when travelling five-up, the new Touran provides 917 litres of luggage space (loaded up to the roof), increased to 1,857 litres with the five rear seats folded. VW claims there are 47 storage spaces in total, including a large removable container under the front centre armrest.
Engine choices run the gamut of three petrol (110 PS 1.2 TSI, 150 PS 1.4 TSI and 180 PS 1.8 TSI) and three diesel (110 PS 1.6 TDI, 150 PS 2.0 TDI and 190 PS 2.0 TDI) mills, mated to either a six-speed manual, a six-speed DSG (2.0 TDI) or a seven-speed DSG. Thanks to a lower weight, standard start-stop and brake energy recuperation, as well as a drag coefficient of 0.296, the new Touran uses up to 19% less fuel than before.
Safety-wise, the Touran comes with up to nine airbags, Isofix child seat anchors on all five rear seats and an Automatic Post-Collision Braking System as standard. Also available are Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Front Assist with City Emergency Braking, Side Assist with Rear Traffic Alert, Traffic Jam Assist, Pre-Crash proactive occupant protection and Trailer Assist for the first time on an MPV.
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VW like to launch cars but we all know in Malaysia, DSG sure to kaput in our hot weather. Now March coming with very hot weather, expect to see many VW kaput on the road.
DSG kaput under hot weather??? so add cooler la!
DSG is a design that should not have been put on production cars.
Toyota and Honda Hybrids have experimented with CVT for many years before perfecting it enough for the mass market.
The Germans are really in the dark ages when it comes to reliability & durability engineering
Something wrong when German Tech not that reliable it should withstand all weather by right or is it just malaysian ppl way of driving to be question here..??
i had one unit for two years with no issue. i did not follow the stories locally on DSG issues but surely cannot be the heat – explain to me how all those units operate in the middle east when i worked there? no issues there, strange local issue.
Izit the parts they used?
They put ori in german produced. AP set in elsewhere produced?
yup probably the obvious reason.
all those car makers want to save cost and throw us malaysian a lousy spec as they know ppl still gonna buy them (for the status sake)
nothing to do with where it’s produced. the golf was imported from germany but it suffered the DSG issues.
anyway, the dsg issue is a thing of the past. naive people still harping on it is actually doing good for genuine buyers who can use that as an excuse to ask for more discounts. i got RM12k discount on my VW when i bought it 1.5 years ago thanks to the bad reputation. My car doing very well.
Leg and headroom was never an issue in the third row on the current Touran… the problem is that the seat is mounted SO low that you feel like you’re in a Japanese restaurant. Sitting on the floor. Very uncomfortable. Even an Alza is more comfortable in the 3rd row. Now you are sitting even lower? Great…
Why compare it to Alza…?
No wonder Alza got prevalent gearbox problem…
that dashboard..urggghhh
yeah man, awesome dashboard
If only future Exora replacement can have that kind of dashboard. Simple, neat and elegant. Proton should learn from VW (for dashboard & interior quality, not for the unreliable dsg/tsi mechanical parts).
They just sharpen the already mundane design. Strangely, Skoda and Audi does a better styling. Skoda especially.
am i high ? R badge on a Touran ?
Nope. R line… just bodykit etc. You can order it optionally. It’s a bit like Vios TRD… Mercedes AMG does the same, Audi does it (S line), … for people who want the looks, but can’t afford the power.
I have been using VOLKS for 4 years. I do not have a single issue. I would the driving style of Malaysian is the main issue.
not true if you need to change coil pack,water pumps twice, radiator fan, and 3 time clutch with in 3 years VW car.and i’m driving cars more then 20 years.