They may be practical but seven-seat cars don't win many prizes for their looks. These cars are designed to attract family owners who need more seats than three child-friendly seats and are willing to compromise on looks. The main requirement is to ferry their brood from home to school or the myriad other trips parents have to undertake these days to ensure the juniors get to their increasing list of sports; play dates and whatever else might come into their minds at a moment's notice. Owners are also forced to compromise on boot space, as seven-seat cars offer negligible boot space when all seats are in use.
Volkswagen's new Touran
The latest arrival on the scene is the Volkswagen Touran, which recently went on sale with a price tag starting at €29,725. It is quite an improvement on the previous model, although slightly improved looks don't necessarily mean great looks. It is longer and wider this time and access and ease of movement within are improved as a result. It also has five ISOFIX child-seat anchor points for those for whom this is a priority.
Unlike Ford's C-Max, which comes in both five and seven-seat configurations, the Touran only comes with seven. Both rear rows of seats can be folded flat easily to convert the space occupied by them into luggage space but there is still an issue when it comes to what you can accommodate when you are using the third row of seats, so it is wise to look at exactly how you use your car and its passenger and storage space before committing. For example, if you occasionally use the third row you can have reasonable storage space but if you need it all the time then you will be looking at a compromise on what it is that you carry around with you. A roof box would probably be a requirement for holiday trips.
The interior is now a good deal smarter and the finish is comparable to and derived from cars like the VW Golf and the Passat. What you get then is smart materials and a functional and well-thought interior that meets most requirements without offering any great feeling of character or emotional involvement.
There is a choice of engines, ranging from the 1.2 petrol engine producing 110 BHP to two diesel engines - a 1.6 producing 110 BHP and a 2.0 litre producing a quite unnecessary 150 BHP. The 1.6 diesel should be the best-seller, although I offer my usual caveat for cars of this type that if you are not doing an annual mileage of at least 20,000 kilometres per year then diesel may be a much more expensive option to begin with.
The basic model has manual air conditioning; 16" steel wheels; a 5" infotainment screen and Bluetooth and media jack-in.
What you get with the Touran is a practical children-mover that does truly stand out, but when practicalities become the main consideration then price and functionality win the day.
Star rating: 3.5/5.
