VW Touran 1.9 TDi CAR review

I think 'new' might be stretching the truth a bit. The front lights are clearly new, but what else has changed?

In truth, not a great deal. Those lamps have been reshaped to resemble those of the Eos two-seater convertible, and they’re now bi-xenons and adapt to the corners of the road as you turn the steering wheel. The interior gets some fresh upholstery, the centre console styling has had a bit of a tweak, and there’s a socket to plug your MP3 player into the audio system. But essentially it's the same seven-seater Volkswagen launched in 2003 to take on the Vauxhall Zafira and its ilk.

It doesn’t sound like much of an upgrade so what’s all the fuss about?

The clever bit is a new optional extra called Park Assist. It’s technology that essentially means the Touran can park itself. Yes, you read that right… it can park itself. While the recently launched Citroen C4 Picasso can scan a parallel parking bay to see if the car will fit, VW has gone the whole hog and will actually put the Touran in the gap for you.