Volkswagen Multivan test drive since 2010 Minivan

Negotiating

Comfort can provide not only chic limousines. Volkswagen Multivan can also become a worthy alternative.
Representative cars often have to act as an office or negotiation room. But what can even the most luxurious sedan offer the parties? Full -fledged places for two interlocutors of an equal rank and even a couple of a lower class. Of course, there is an opportunity to order a limousine with three rows of seats - then there will be where to plant two more, but the consequence will be a loss of comfort and dynamic characteristics. However, recently, it has been possible to use minivans as service cars. One of the most interesting factory options is Volkswagen Multivan.
Ennobled. Before us is the fifth generation of this model that will help potential owners overcome the psychological barrier when choosing a minivan as a traditional office car. The appearance is completely devoid of vanimality. In general, the Volkswagen compact minibuses used to look quite stylish, and the trends of fashion as a whole now force all manufacturers of commercial cars to pay more attention to design and equipment. So even the base for Multivan Transporter T5 van was made with an eye on the cars. And in order to emphasize the exclusivity of Multivan, it was equipped with bumpers, mirrors and handles painted in the color of the body, as well as completely different headlights. Another difference is the instrument panel. Multi-Van, in comparison with the commercial Transporter, has a more advanced front console with the built-in folding section for a rallying plastic bottle and tanks for trifles. It is not only convenient, but also looks more office. The ventilation system also differs for the better: the standard equipment includes air conditioning, which can be supplemented with panels with individual deflectors on the ceiling for the rear passengers. And the Highline version provides a three-zone climate control with a separate control panel.
Perhaps a lot. Typically, minivans are unified with cars, but VW designers came up from the other side. Fortunately, in the range of folk cars there are already more modest Sharan and Touran. The van allows you to immediately solve several problems that for designers of ordinary minivans are a stumbling block. So, the smooth floor along the entire length of the cabin, two side sliding doors and a sufficient place to accommodate two rows of passenger seats in the salon, the design of the van usually provides initially. In principle, the left sliding door is an option for 50 autopilot of vans and the basic performance of Multivan. But in the more expensive Comfortline and Highline, it is included in the standard equipment.
The most interesting and pleasant awaits in the salon designed for five. Two separate chairs on average
a row can turn 180 degrees and, moreover, is fixed in intermediate positions. The rear sofa is really three -seater, not 2+1, as is now in almost all sedans and limousines. All seats are installed on rails that stretch along the cabin, that is, you can change the configuration in a variety of versions. For example, slightly moving forward the sofa, you can increase the volume of the trunk due to the space for passengers. Charges, of course, can be removed, although this activity is not for the weak. Despite all the efforts to reduce the mass, they weigh 42 kilograms, so it is better to carry out redevelopment work together. But this is a completely forgotten drawback for seats, which are equipped with a complete set of adjustments, armrests, headrests built in three -point belts and mounts for ISOFIX children's seats.
Opportunities for pastime in the cabin sharply expands the central table. At first you don’t seem to notice it: in folded form it looks like a modest box, which is essentially and is. However, the box is not simple ... Tipping the protruding handles, we sequentially find locks of the latch to move the box on the rails back and forth, a holder for glasses, an ashtray, a rather roomy drawer and, finally, a key, when pressed, which is raised and laid out. Round table. Due to the fact that the leg is not attached in the center, the structure can be turned both to the right and to the left. Here they played in all its glory and armchairs: I just want to turn them a little to such a cozy table! It turns out really either the living room, or negotiating.
 
 
The abundance of corps furniture pushes to comparison with the room - a variety of containers are literally under all seats. And the boxes under the rear sofa, as it turned out, are available not only from the cabin, but also from the luggage compartment.
To emphasize the prestige of Multivan, Volkswagen tried: the interior decoration is no worse than in Passat, or maybe even better. Chrome parts create a charm of an expensive car, which this Ven is both in price and in fact. Elegant lanterns for illuminating steps with a luminous blue -colored inscription Multivan are especially impressed. This is not even found on every representative sedan.
As a passenger. No matter how hard the designers try to make the van look like a passenger car, they will not be able to solve one problem: the driver’s landing will almost always be higher and vertical. This has its advantages in terms of visibility, but the behavior of the car is perceived by the driver differently. This is partly plus, since from the habit, the car seems less stable and, accordingly, you lead it more carefully. Nevertheless, the rest of Multivan was really close to the light. The lever of a six -speed gear lever placed on the console is perhaps even more convenient than traditional flooring, the steering wheel has a fairly large angle of inclination, and the range of adjustments of the steering wheel and chair allows you to choose a convenient landing. Review of back can be called very good, but you can guess rather than to see you at a minimum OKU distance - the head restraints interfere.
A diesel five with turbocharging and direct injection of 2.5 liters is offered in two versions. The most powerful that is installed on the car we got develops 174 hp. and 400 nm. So it is not surprising that all these 2300 kilograms can behave on the road much more lively than other cars that are twice as easier. In this case, sufficient traction is provided in almost the entire engine speed. The natural psychological limiter at first is a certain feeling of instability due to a high height. However, having traveled in this car relatively little, you begin to trust it. Soft suspension is exactly enough to remove part of the specifics of Russian roads. The steering also seems quite Passenger: with a relatively high gear ratio - from the stop to the stop 3.3 turnover - the efforts on the lamb are small, and the modest radius of turning is pleasantly surprising.
Text Valery Chusov, photo Alexey Ilyin
 
Volkswagen Multivan Comfortline

Diesel engine with turbocharged, 5-cylinder
Working volume (cube, cm) 2460
Power (kW (L.S.) at rpm) 128 (174) at 3500
Moment (Nm at rpm) 400 at 2000-2300
Front drive
Mechanical gearbox 6-speed
Length/width/height (mm) 4890/1904/1945
Wheel base (mm) 3000
Mass weight/full (kg) 2199/3000
Maximum speed (km/h) 188
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 11.8
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 10.5/6.6
The price in Moscow is $ 66.8 thousand.

 

Source: "Autopilot"