Volkswagen Touran: the Golf-based seven-seater

The Volkswagen Touran is a compact MPV built since 2003 and sold in Europe and other select markets, filling the gap between the Golf, whose platform it shares, and the larger Sharan. Its name is a portmanteau of Tour and Sharan, and it is sold in five- or seven-seat form. In Japan it was sold as the Golf Touran, and its crossover-styled variant as the CrossTouran.

Volkswagen Touran at a glance

History of the Volkswagen Touran

The Touran was announced in August 2002, production started in December 2002 and sales began in 2003, making it the first Volkswagen MPV based on a Golf platform and more precisely the first car on the PQ35 platform. It joined an MPV line-up that already included the Sharan and the Caravelle. The Touran II can be seen as an extended Golf Sportsvan and the Touran I as an extended Golf Plus, since their front ends are similar in size, though the Touran I had a rear overhang 200 mm longer, which made it a seven-seater where the Golf Plus took five. The Touran introduced electro-mechanical steering, a first in its class and for Volkswagen, whose weight varied with road speed and which saved energy at idle, and it was the first vehicle to use Volkswagen’s 2.0 TDI engine. Launch engines were a 1.6 FSI and two diesels, the 1.9 TDI of 74 kW (101 PS) and the 2.0 TDI of 103 kW (140 PS), all Euro 4 with the exception of the 1.9 TDI with DSG; a six-speed manual was standard.

The first Euro NCAP test of 2003 gave the Touran four stars for adult protection. Volkswagen made small changes from November 2003, adding an intelligent reminder for the driver and front passenger to buckle their belts, which allowed the car to be retested the same year; it scored one extra point and so reached five stars. The Touran was facelifted for the October 2006 Paris Motor Show with redesigned headlights with chrome accents, a new grille and a reworked front bumper with a broader lower intake, revised tail lights and a cabin that could take seven people, though the third row was best suited to children. Both rear rows folded flat and none of the seats could be removed; safety equipment grew with curtain airbags for the first two rows and Isofix mounts in the second, and Volkswagen added Park Assist, which could steer the car into a space by itself.

The 2007 model year Touran was the first production car in the Volkswagen Group to get Park Assist: after activation the system looked for a space at up to 30 km/h, defined as 0.8 m longer than the car, and then steered while the driver worked the pedals. At the December 2006 Bologna Motor Show Volkswagen presented the CrossTouran, the third Cross model from Volkswagen Individual, with 17-inch alloy wheels, plastic body guards and suspension 15 mm higher. A second facelift in August 2010 brought the look of the Golf VI, the option of adaptive damping, Light Assist for xenon headlights, an improved Park Assist that could also handle perpendicular spaces and better aerodynamics, with the drag coefficient falling from 0.315 to 0.307. Later engines followed the downsizing trend, with a 1.2 of 77 kW and 1.6 TDI units of 66 and 77 kW replacing the 1.6 and 1.9 TDI. SAIC-VW released the new Touran in China in late 2010 with the German front and the older tail, adding a 1.4 TSI of 93 kW.

Design and features

• Golf-based MPV: the first Volkswagen MPV on a Golf platform and the first PQ35 car.
• Electro-mechanical steering: a first in its class and for Volkswagen.
• Park Assist (2007): the first car in the group to steer itself into a parking space.
• Seven seats: with both rear rows folding flat.
• CrossTouran: a raised, plastic-clad variant from December 2006.

Volkswagen Touran versions

• Touran I (2003–2010): the first generation on the PQ35 platform.
• CrossTouran (2006): the crossover-styled version with 17-inch wheels.
• Touran facelift (2010): Golf VI looks and adaptive damping.
• Golf Touran: the name used in Japan.

The Touran sits between the Golf and the larger Sharan, and its platform was used for the Caddy 2K. More cars are in the Volkswagen collection.

Video: Обзор б/у автомобиля Volkswagen Touran 2003-2010

Video by Перший Автомобільний. Автоспорт on YouTube.

Sources

• Volkswagen Touran, English Wikipedia: launch, platform, engines, safety, facelifts, CrossTouran