Thing is, it had the most efficient shape for the people carrying job that it was designed for. Substance over style, which isn't unusual for Volkswagen. And anyhow, the killer competitors in the compact MPV game, Renault's Scenic and Opel's Zafira, didn't ride their success on style either.
But people stopped to look at this new Touran while I had it. Several times. There had something in the overall package that works aesthetically, I realised. I looked a little closer.
OK, the square shape that elicited John Reilly's epitaph remains. And is as practical as ever. There are neat details, though. The lights and grille, in latest VW family style, have a 'look at me' appeal. There'a a raised centre part of the bonnet, and a strong character sculpting along the side linking to an almost Hoffmeister Kick at the rear quarter lights. And good alloys do set a car off, which the 16" Sedona alloys do here.
And in fairness, I did keep coming back to the sense that Jane being plain doesn't mean she isn't handsome.
It would be stretching it to say, though, that the interior is something that similarly brings one around to be fond of. Very well finished, very practical, everything in its place. Not exciting, but in many matters good.
Good like the steering wheel and gear shifter. A nice handle and a good hold, respectively. The review car didn't have multifunction aspects, but the cruise control is handy enough as part of the direction indicator lever.
I like where they have the heating/ventilation controls. Three rotary knobs high on the centre stack. But they do need to make the position indicators on these larger.
The radio in the review car was an extra, a touch-screen unit that makes a breeze of switching stations. (I had an almost spirited conversation with a BMW person about the comparative benefits of touch-screen and iDrive recently. Didn't win and didn't lose. But the simplicity of the Touran's radio wins it for me.)
The car is a 7-seater. Now, a 7-seater in the compact MPV game is always slightly compromised. Both in the centre of the middle row and the pair in the rear. But this is, in this part of the world, the school run mom car segment. So a few smaller-sized seats aren't a real problem. In fact, there's enough head space for this writer in the rearmost set, but it is a case of the knees coming very close to the chin. And elegance isn't part of the entry and exit process.
The review Touran was the BlueMotion version, powered by the same 105hp 1.6 diesel which I have found so satisfying in many models in the VW Group in the last couple of years. In truth, I had to look at the specification sheet when I got it home, wondering if I had a quiet petrol engine up front.
In the Touran it is a B-rated car for tax purposes. Starting at €27,495 in the model, the review car came in at €30,995 in the Comfortline grade.
Standard specification includes ESP and rain sensor among a bunch of goodies. The alloys were extra, as was the radio and the mats in all seat rows, totalling €1,130.
The drive experience was pretty good. Not as overall nice as with the same engine in the Passat that I drove recently, but there are differences in the size, shape, and centre of gravity that change things.
I'm a long way beyond the need for carrying a passel of teenagers about the social and sporting scene that is the norm today.
But if I was still there, the Touran wouldn't be off my list of contenders for residence in my driveway.
