Volkswagen Touran Sport 1.4TSI DSG Review

Apparently, 1.4-litres in cubic capacity spoils everything. Mention that the Touran Sport has a 1.4-litre turbo-supercharged power unit and your arms will start flailing with frustration in no time.

That's because, when you try explaining this to someone who knows little more than the number of wheels each car has, and chances are you'll understand how I feel. But that's important, because the average family man like my next door neighbor might know nothing about the automobile. Yet, he'd still want to lay decent money down for a nice, big family mover.

Naturally, some will have trouble understanding what the Touran Sport really is about. In fact, this has to do with the way most MPVs are built - all you need to do is sketch a generic box shaped panel with a snout protruding up front, stuff in the smallest petrol engine available and voila - you have a car that can't haul its worth up any form of incline, and will leave you (yes - you!) gasping for air as you line up at Newton Circus and in the wrong lane. Then, it will continue to consume petrol at a rate of ten thousand gallons every nanosecond.

The problem is, nobody really chose to inform Vee-dub that they have something in their stable worth screaming for - that a 170hp, 240Nm Touran that gets to 100km/h from rest in under 8.5 seconds, apparently, wasn't as "hot" as Volkswagen's jumbo-jet towing Touareg R50.

But of course, we're cynical people who write cynical things. Those advertisements of a Touran, with seven passengers donned in bright coloured race suits, and crash helmets in tow. That must've served a sizeable plate of attention to any prospective car buyer, let alone the hardcore MPV maniac. We shouldn't be so, because Vee-dub's showroom was indeed packed the following days of its introduction.

In a similar fashion, you shouldn't be too cynical about this particular 1.4TSI engine, used in the Jetta TSI and Golf Sport. I was before I drove it, with my line of reasoning being the Touran's 1500kg or so weight penalty.

First Thoughts

We have to admit though, that the Touran is indeed, something refreshingly special under the skin. We say "under the skin" because there really isn't much to shout about on the outside.

The latest Touran gains an aggressive look compared to the original. The headlights, fog lamps and radiator grille have been fluidly restyled. The car has also been lowered, giving it a little more in terms of dynamism. However, it takes us backwards form the B-pillar onwards, when everything starts to look a little too safe and untried.
Inside is typical Volkswagen - signature grey, high quality plastics and leather seats that are more comfortable than your average five-series. New, gunmetal coloured garnishing adorns the otherwise docile centre console. The mp3-enabled player misses out on a CD changer, only being able to play one disc at a time. The headlamps are driver-adjustable for beam angle, so be sure to set it at "3" and above if you're driving in Singapore, lest you want a lump sized brake check from the car in front of you.

We love the flexibility of the Touran - legroom was found to be spot on in the "department of up-sizeability." Both front and middle row of seats were both horizontally and vertically (recline) adjustable, while the third row seats were partially adjustable.

The front passenger's seat double folds, while those lunch trays are big enough to comfortably hold one of those medium sized pizzas and a large drink. And if you really need van-like space, quick release levers take care of those chairs that gladly, do not weigh 100,000 kilos.

Perhaps our only complaint about this car's interior would be that the side storage compartments in the front doors were narrower than that of the normal Golf. They were unable to hold your typical 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water that I routinely buy from the stores.

However, with 39 different storage areas found in and around the cabin, we were flabbergasted as to what things we left where when returning the Touran back to Volkswagen after our week-long shenanigans with it. Try under-seat trays, three fold-down roof mounted cubbies, a rear under floor bin, and even more cup holders than a movie theatre.

Driving Impressions

Despite that, we found ourselves more than often, forgetting that the Touran isn't a Golf. So impressive are its capabilities that we routinely lost track of what version of Vee-dub we were driving. It has the same 170hp 1.4-litre TSI used in the Golf GT Sport

It also has the same torque band - 240Nm starting from 1,750rpm onwards, and a top speed of nearly 210km/h. Out of that, it will pull strongly all the way to 180km/h, where it starts to get tired and labor its way clockwise on the dials. It will get you to 100km/h in just over 8 seconds on a light load of fuel and general payload (read: one driver only!), and it will do so in great comfort.

It's hard to fathom, really - an MPV that pulls all the way to its 7000rpm rev limit. It accelerates hard from zero - where you'll already hear the faint, distinctive while of a supercharger in action. Keep your ears peeled and you'll be able to tell when the blower gives way to the turbocharger at around 4000 to 4500rpm, where you'll hear the roots supercharger winding down.

There's extremely little give in the car's smoothness and linearity under medium to hard acceleration. They've worked hard in order to tune those two forced induction systems so that their acoustic fingerprints aren't too obvious. The 1.4 TSI also returned far better fuel figures than Volkswagen's underpowered 1.6-litre FSI.
Around town, it'll manage around 10 to 12 kilometres to the litre with a moderately heavy foot, while highways are an average of 17 to 19 on flat terrain while cruising around 100km/h.

The 6-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) shifts slower than that in the Golf GT, but "slow" is relative; we doubt that any form of fancy manual transmission shifting could better its speed. Volkswagen also claims that the Touran emits as little as 180g/km in carbon dioxide emissions.

And it corners too. Being based on the chassis of the Golf V, the Touran pulls really mean cornering stunts despite being shod only with 205/55 profile 16-inch Michelin Energys. The suspension isn't as tight as the Ford S Max with more body roll readily available, but we can't call it soft either. In fact, with a full load of passengers and luggage, it played out to possess just the right level of damping.

Touran for everyone?

If we and diesel taxes had our way, we'd pick a Touran in TDI form, especially with Volkswagen's 2-litre turbo-diesel that might make its appearance in Singapore very soon. However we would hardly rate the 1.4-litre TSI below the TDI's belt, as it remains to be the benchmark petrol engine to contend with for power and efficiency without the excessive billing of a diesel.

The problem now is, how many such customers buy Volkswagen Tourans? To be honest, there's only one such car in contention with the so called "prized MPV" title for seven and eight - the one-size larger Honda Odyssey. While managing to attract a different sort of demographic, the Honda manages to be lower, longer and a little wider than the Touran, and offers a little more in terms of interior space."

The 2.4-litre VTEC engine is a gem, but it isn't half as "garang" as that of the Vee-dub. The price? $93,000-$100,000. The Touran Sport currently retails for $95,800, and while it appears to be a little conventional on the outside, take our advice to heart - it might be that one car that you were looking for, but never thought existed. It is comfortable, spacious, practical, fast, AND fuel efficient for its size and speed. To us, that means a lot.