The VW Touran gets a dynamic makeover

The Volkswagen Touran has everything a compact multi-purpose vehicle needs to be popular in Hong Kong, where the MPV market is dominated by Japanese marques. The German-made seven-seater comes standard with a range of comprehensive safety features, excellent practicality, a top-notch drivetrain for its class and a competitive price tag.

It is the most popular vehicle in its class in Germany, where VW had produced 1.9 million Tourans since the model’s emergence in 2003. Sales in Asia, however, have not measured up.

VW Hong Kong knows that to compete against established segment leaders, it takes more than just a large number of air bags to grab customers’ attention, so the latest Touran has been given a new suffix. Whereas the 1.4 TSI in the vehicle’s name used in other markets indicates the engine displacement, Hong Kong and Taiwan get the “torque-based” 280 TSI suffix. This points to its “turbo stratified injection” engine with a torque range of 250 to 299 Newton metres (Nm), VW says. Also bear in mind that the number eight is considered auspicious in Chinese culture.

The Touran 280 TSI’s engine produces 150 horsepower and is mated to an automatic seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, driving the front wheels. It can accelerate to 100 km/h from a stop in 8.9 seconds. This means the vehicle is more powerful than most of its rivals, apart from the BMW 220 Grand Tourer, and VW Hong Kong is positioning it as a dynamic MPV. The first image that pops up on the Touran’s webpage shows a young man wearing a racing-car driver’s suit standing next to the vehicle.

Although VW’s official line is that the new Touran has had a distinctive sporty makeover, many distributors in Europe seem to be promoting it first and foremost as a family car.