FOR A WEEK I was the man with the van, a load lugger with attitude. In the 1950s Volkswagen planned for a practical post-war van and ended up with an icon.
We recently featured a piece about an Irish firm that brings old VW campers back to life with mod-cons and all the charm. On the day it was one of the most e-mailed stories on our website. The public’s love of the VW “people’s” van still burns strong.
But what of its modern equivalent? Relatively popular with taxi drivers, the current Transporter – or Shuttle, as it is known in its multi-seat guise – is often overlooked as a potential buy for large families. Instead they squash themselves into the smaller people carriers or compromise on loadspace, choosing between an extra suitcase or a home-alone child.
Yet we’ve heard some positive vibes from those who have taken the plunge. A taxi-driver recently raved about his Transporter all the way around the M50, while a celebrity-spotting friend recently spoke of the apparent fondness for the Transporter’s practicality among some of the tabloid favourites who would normally be associated with a lot more bling.
So in the name of research, I threw a sun-bleached red-top tabloid onto the dashboard, grabbed an artery-clogging breakfast roll and took to the road. No matter how metropolitan or cynical you become, there’s no escaping the sudden rush of testosterone when you climb up into a vehicle. A steeper rise than even the larger SUVs, this isborderline Yorkie bar territory and you can feel the onset of stubble and the sag of a budding belly hanging over your belt the moment you jump behind the wheel.
From up here you look down on the rest of the motoring world, and there’s an inexplicable magnetic attraction between elbow and window ledge. It’s the same buzz of natural regression most of us office drones get when we pull on a toolbelt or strut the aisles of Woodies or BQ, pencil behind the ear, resisting the urge to spit.
The Transporter comes in a vast array of guises. You can have either a short-wheelbase version or this long-wheelbase variant. You can have it with rows of seats, or splash out for leather, carpet and tables, turning it into a mobile sitting room. Stick a satellite on the roof and you can run a multinational from in here. A few do.
You can also have it converted into a camper van, a conversion that’s particularly popular in Germany, by all accounts. The point is it’s a van. You get a metal box with a front seat and the driving necessities like a steering wheel, but after that it’s down to the limits of your imagination and wallet.
In fairness to VW, they respect the fact that those who need such a vehicle probably have enough on their plate getting through the day without dreaming up a personalised minibus, so a collection of off-the-peg variants are offered.
The one we tested had a nine-seat format, with a three-seater bench up front, a two-plus-one bench in the middle and another three-seater in the back. With all seats occupied, you still have enough bootspace to raid Ikea. Even fully occupied, there’s nearly a metre of bootspace in the rear with over a metre of height.
The seats themselves flip down by pulling a toggle, while all the back seats can be removed from their runners to offer up the full loadspace of the van in its original glory, all 6,700 litres of it. This is not your Zafira-like people carrier however, as the seats are hefty and have to be stored elsewhere out of the vehicle. The test vehicle came with sliding rear doors on both sides, but this too can be adjusted to suit your needs and the bootlid can also come in a dual-door format rather than a regular boot.
The flexibility on offer means that not only can you add some homely touches to the cabin, but the Shuttle is also popular for drivers with a disability who may need a wheelchair lift installed.
Alas, the fun of being van man comes at a price. While you can virtually move the neighbourhood in one go, you can forget about the traditional driving dynamics family motorists might be more accustomed to. This is a sizeable vehicle and while there’s nothing at all complex about driving it, you need to be aware of your expansive footprint. This comes into play in tight corners, where you need to give yourself a wider line to ensure the tail follows through without hugging the ditch.
The extra length and width requires more focus from the driver, particularly in multi-storey car parks. Those tight turns on the ramps were never designed with this VW in mind and on at least two occasions we found ourselves creeping up a ramp with only a finger of leeway between metal and cement. Parking sensors are great but the cacophony won’t help you navigate such tight spots.
In terms of power, the Shuttle in Ireland comes with a 2-litre diesel powertrain as standard, with a variety of power outputs that include a new, more economical BlueMotion format. Match these up with the short-wheelbase version and you get an annual tax bill of €630. The Shuttle is also available with VW’s dual-clutch DSG automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive, both of which push emissions up but it still remains within the same tax band as the regular five-speed manual version.
The engine might be surprisingly capable of pulling this minibus along but it’s no pace setter. For all the effort and noise, it feels every second of the 0-100km/h time of 17.9 seconds. Overtaking can only be contemplated with a great deal of planning and while the handling is decent for a vehicle of this size, it’s actually improved when you add passengers. Again its driving characteristics don’t stray far from the vehicle’s origins. This is a van, and it drives like one.
Yet that’s not necessarily to its detriment. Handling isn’t on a par with the average people carrier, but the merits of a high seating position for the driver and greater legroom for passengers largely make up for this. Besides, there simply isn’t the potential to lug nine people and a truck-load of luggage about and not ask for a sacrifice in terms of driving dynamics.
And just because it’s roots are more utilitarian, it doesn’t mean there’s a resultant fall-off in safety. Standard equipment includes stability control, a host of airbags, ABS and brakeforce assistance. It effectively offers what you would expect on any quality people carrier or SUV with the VW badge.
So what’s it up against? Well there are a host of passenger vans in the commercial sector on offer at present, but for €47,615 it could be pitted against several seven-seat SUVs or the larger people carriers on the fleet. It’s certainly not as good to drive as the likes of the Touareg or Ford Galaxy, but neither of these offer anything like the flexibility or loadspace. The Hyundai Montana and Mercedes Viano are perhaps its closest rivals, and admittedly the Hyundai has slightly more power on tap.
There are compromises with the Shuttle in terms of driving dynamics and sluggish performance. It’s a van converted to haul people along instead of boxes. Yet the array of options means that you can really personalise these vehicles and that means they garner a real character over and above what most of us encounter in our motoring lives.
It’s that personalisation that many car firms now offer with upholstery options and colour combinations. But it all feels very corporate. The Shuttle and its options are far more functional, but at the same time feel more in tune with the practicality of the vehicle. It isn’t trying to be something it’s not. Too many people carriers try and cloak their van-like traits in family car features – and fail.
This vehicle doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a seated van. For the money it delivers this is certainly a vehicle that should be added to the list of potential buys for those with more space demands than the mid-sized people carriers can cater for.
Factfile
Nine-seater double-door long-wheelbase version
Engine1,968cc common rail direct injection diesel putting out 102bhp at 3,500rpm and 250Nm of torque from 1,500rpm with a five-speed manual transmission
0-100km/h17.9 seconds
Top speed157 km/h
L/100km (mpg)urban – 9.5 (29.7); extra-urban – 6.1 (46.3); combined – 7.3 (38.7)
Emissions (motor tax)193g/km (€1,050)
SpecificationFront, side, curtain airbags; ESP stability control; brake assist; ABS; electronic differential lock; driver seat height adjustment; 16-inch steel wheels; electrically-heated door mirrors; ISOfix mounting on second row
Price€47,615
The Rivals
Mercedes Viano 2.0D Trendline (eight-seater)
Bhp140
0-100km/h14.1 secs
L/100km (mpg)7.3 (38.7)
Emissions (motor tax)192 g/km (€1,050)
Price€49,332
Hyundai Montana 2.5 CRDi
Bhp170
0-100km/h14.5 seconds
L/100km (mpg)8.5 (33.2)
Emissions (motor tax)225g/km (€1,050)
Price€39,995
Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDCi Zetec
Bhp140
0-100km/h11.2 secs
L/100km (mpg)8.2 (34.5)
Emissions (motor tax)152 g/km (€302)
Price€42,415
Volkswagen Sharan 2.0 TDI Comfortline
Bhp140
0-100km/h10.9 secs
L/100km (mpg)5.5 (51.4)
Emissions (motor tax)146g/km (€302)
Price€47,600