Volkswagen Touran: Third time’s a charm

The Touran is what the intelligent Filipino driver should be driving.

MANILA, Philippines–I’m a fan of multipurpose vehicles like Volkswagen’s Touran. You can load it up to the brim with people, cargo and bigger, bulkier objects, easy to get in and out of on a typical market day weekend and despite being roomy inside, has relatively compact exterior dimensions comparable to traditional three-box C-segment sedans.

MPVs also offer noticeably higher ride height to help ensure a little more ground clearance for flash floods or bad roads, giving us a higher chance of getting to our destinations safe and secure. Since you also sit more upright, with a noticeable improvement of visibility ahead, it’s also less tiring to drive on very long distances. It’s a shame that Filipinos still haven’t warmed up to these MPVs yet as we have a growing number of MPVs available on the market.

But the seven-seater VW Touran seems to be the best of the lot. Powerful, responsive and very efficient diesel engine, six-speed DSG (direct shift gearbox) dual-clutch transmission, German engineering that rivals a Panzer tank, and very impressive driving dynamics, considering it is after all, an MPV. We have the Volkswagen Group’s A5/PQ35 chassis to thank for that, which underpins the previous generation Golf, Jetta and Audi’s previous generation A3, all fine handling vehicles in their own right. Power is supplied by a 2.0-liter TDI engine that delivers 108.45 horsepower and 280 Newton-meters of torque driving the front wheels via the aforementioned six-speed dual-clutch DSG (direct-shift gearbox) transmission.

It also has four airbags as standard (dual-front and curtain airbags), ABS brakes, ESP/ASR, electronic differential lock to get us out of slippery conditions and a really handy hill hold assist which prevents the Touran from moving backwards when you let off the brakes as you move off from an incline. You also get 16×6.5 alloy wheels and all-season 205/55R16 touring tires. Admittedly, Volkswagen makes some of the best looking OEM wheels so it’s a shame we don’t get the nicer 17-inch or even 18-inch wheel designs available in other markets. Nonetheless, the smallish 16-inch wheels do give more than enough grip despite offering oodles of comfort and compliance on bumpy roads.

The Doors have a sense of heft and solidity that’s surprising to find on what is essentially a mass-market car.

Since the Touran is German-engineered and -built, it feels really solid, really tough, really well-built, screwed together by proud German precision assembly workers we might mistake as the robots working in the main Wolfsburg factory. The doors have a sense of heft and solidity that’s surprising to find on what is essentially a mass-market car. Getting in, the doors close with a loud thud, and I slowly adjust the steering wheel, the seat height and recline, adjust the side and rear-view mirrors. Everything feels robust, solid and heavy.

Moving off, and thankfully, the Volkswagen’s DSG delivers forward progress smoothly. You can still confuse the DSG when you jump on and off and back on the throttle, as I discovered in a busy intersection, but for the most part, keep the throttle pinned consistently and the DSG feeds in power to the front wheels as smooth as a conventional automatic transmission with seamless shifting akin to a CVT.

The speed-sensitive power-assisted steering wheel has heft you’d expect from a German car and just the right amount of slack on-center to make highway driving a relaxed cruise even as you venture well into illegal speeds. There’s very good feel and feedback as you apply lock and the wheel unwinds progressively when rounding out a corner. The four-wheel disc brakes also deliver firm pedal feel, and an equally progressive, well-modulated feel that entices you to carry on just a bit faster, arrive at another corner sooner and brake just a little bit later. And as any proper German-engineered car, the suspension is Euro-firm, minimizing body roll (for an MPV anyway), and almost eliminating chassis pitching, squatting under hard acceleration and nose-diving under heavy braking, which you will do quite often when the controls of your vehicle, such as the Touran feel very responsive and willing to your most ardent desires.

Ah, yes, desire. I’ve always liked the idea of an MPV, but the Touran just pulled in a far greater chunk of emotional connection from me. It drives in a manner no MPV should have the right to, so cohesive, so organic and so naturally flowing. You can easily go 20 percent faster than the traffic conditions and still find it effortlessly easy because the Touran just gels with you and your thoughts and inputs.

Sure it’s not perfect. The third row seats, when up, leave almost zero luggage space (although the standard roof rails can increase cargo capacity by installing an aftermarket roof basket). You have to plop them down, move the slide-adjustable second row seats all the way back to give decent space for the average Filipino to sit in, effectively converting the Touran into a five-seater for long drives. It’s pricey too at P1,775,000 and the impressive eight-speaker media system doesn’t have Bluetooth integration with your phone or media device, which in this day and age is really annoying, despite having USB and aux-in connectivity. But it drives so well, has an eye-watering 10-kilometer per liter fuel efficiency in bumper-to-bumper traffic, possibly as high as 18 km/liter on the highway as indicated by the trip computer on a short stint on the open road, and always leaves you feeling fresh after an entire day behind the wheel.

I was very critical about the Tiguan SUV, I was pleasantly surprised by the Polo Notch, but I just really felt sad handing over the Touran. I loved it to bits indeed. It’s what the intelligent Filipino driver should be driving. VW Philippines, drop the price a bit, put on nicer, bigger 17-inch or even 18-inch alloy wheels, give it a few more ponies under the hood, leather seats, Bluetooth integration and we’ll all be happier.