Published:
16 February 2016To occupant space first. Volkswagen claims that the new Touran has 40mm more leg room in row two and 54mm more in row three than the old one, as well as greater head room in both rows.
The second-row chairs also now slide fore and aft by 200mm. So where does that leave it?
Set the front seat for one metre of typical driver leg room, as we always do, and the cabin measures up well. Those individually sliding second-row seats allow for up to 720mm of second-row leg room – more than a Ford S-Max, equal with a Citroën Grand C4 Picasso and narrowly beaten by a Vauxhall Zafira Tourer. Plenty, in other words.
What that leaves for the third row is less plentiful, but there is more leg room in the Touran’s case than in any of its aforementioned rivals. And although head room is generous enough for larger adults in row two, it’s still respectable in row three – bettered only by the Ford, and then by only a solitary centimetre.
You still wouldn’t ask a grown adult to travel in the Touran’s third row for very long, but you can seat one back there fairly comfortably when you need to – provided you don’t pick your lankiest passenger. The middle-row seat tilts and slides forward to make a tough access route just about tolerable.
In seven-seat mode, the Touran has a smidgen more loading length in its boot than any of its rivals. Add to that a very spacious front row with plenty of oddment storage, Isofix child seat anchorages on all five rear chairs and seating that folds down completely flat right through to the front passenger seat when carrying long loads and the picture’s complete: this is one of the most practical cars in its class and probably the most convincing attempt yet at downsizing a true seven-seater.
