As slick and well-sorted as you’d expect. It swings through corners with easy and precise composure, not resorting to understeer unless you push it rather harder than any MPV is ever likely to be pushed, and it does so with plenty of warning of much grip there is left.
Body control is kept quite tightly in check, so you don’t get the unpleasant, car sickness-inducing wallow and pitch of some softly sprung big people-carriers, while ride comfort is more than pliant enough even on the standard steel springs of our test cars.
Certainly you needn’t add the £770 adaptive dampers, since the standard set-up remains soft-edged over most potholes and stays settled enough over high-frequency intrusions.
This 1.6 diesel engine is a bit of a disappointment, though. It feels pretty sluggish, so you feel inclined to work it quite hard through the six-speed gearbox, and it’s not the quietest or most willing to rev of the diesels in this class. Still, it does the job adequately, and what power there is arrives in a predictable fashion.
On which note, it will come as no surprise to most that the Touran – despite being an extremely well-mannered car - doesn’t offer a particularly fun or feelsome driving experience. It drives in exactly the way it should do: composed, precise and nothing more.
For most buyers, it’ll be the interior that really sells this car. The dash is logical and easy to use and has a classy aura that’s lacking from any rival except the BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer, while space and practicality are among the best you’ll find.
Despite fairly compact exterior dimensions (the Touran is shorter and narrower than a Citroën Grand C4 Picasso or Ford Ford S-Max), it offers really excellent middle-row space, so two tall adults or three children will be fine, and the rearmost seats are also better than you’d expect.
Access to the third row is reasonable, although it’s still best left to the more dexterous to clamber through the fairly broad gap left by the tilt, lift and slide mechanism of the middle-row seat. Once there, there’s actually as much room as you’d enjoy in an Ford S-Max and more than in a Grand C4, so kids will be absolutely fine even on longer journeys.
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I don't have much to say here
Surely the S-MAX competes
S-Max
Grey
Always been the case, and always will be the automotive equivalent of an expensive radiator; desperately dull but makes the owner feel un-necessarily smug.
BTW, how come no mention of real-world mpg or emissions here?...
Not smug
Nope, cannot ever remember feeling smug about the Touran. Who are these smug people anyway, and how are they to be recognised? Most people I see driving cars (any make) look pretty deadpan, and rather grumpy when they are in a queue.
Fair point re real world mpg, though. If it is used for predominantly short/local trips, I think I would be expecting about 42 mpg. But then, if annual mileage covered is not great, consumption at that level may not matter too much. 50 mpg on a light-footed run should be achievable, I would have thought. Keep an eye on Whatcar for True mpg figures, which of course vary according to your type of motoring, and you can play with the sliders in Whatcar to your heart's content.