The Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan concept has been shown at the Frankfurt motor show, offering a thinly veiled look at the next-generation Volkswagen Golf Plus.
The production version will follow in mid-2014 but won’t use the Golf Plus or Sportsvan names.
The Sportsvan is 134mm longer than the outgoing Golf Plus and 83mm longer than the five-door Volkswagen Golf on which it is based. The wheelbase has also grown 48mm over the Golf’s, and it’s 126mm taller and 80mm wider to boost cabin room.
Boot space rises 74 litres over the old Golf Plus’s to 498 litres. The rear seats split and fold 60:40 and can slide fore and aft by 180mm creating a further 87 litres of room. The front passenger seat can fold forward and flat, creating a load space of up to 2484mm.
Volkswagen says a raft of safety equipment will be offered, including post-collision braking which applies the brakes after a crash to prevent additional impacts and a pre-crash system which tensions seatbelts and closes windows should a collision be imminent.
The engine range will include 1.4-litre petrol units developing 84, 109, 123 or 148bhp and a range of diesel units including a 148bhp 2.0-litre, 89bhp 1.6 and a 109bhp 1.6 Bluemotion model. The latter is expected to return 76.3mpg and emit 95g/km.
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VW's take on BMW's GT?
The previous Golf Plus was nothing more that a high riding Golf with barely any more space or flexibility than the regular hatch. This new model appears to be more of a conventional MPV, although it could even be seen as a much more flexible Golf without the full-on MPV features of the Touran, almost as if it's the Golf's take on BMW's 3 and 5-Series GT concepts.
The VW C-Max!
The Golf Plus never made a lot of sense as it was just a 5% fatter Golf. Whereas the Touran was the full miniMPV. So This is the result: the VW equivalent of the 5-seat C-Max. Much better idea IMHO, especially as the Golf seems a trifle under-booted as a full family auto...
sportsvan must be the biggest
sportsvan must be the biggest oxymoron ever