Long-term report: Our Volkswagen Transporter loads up for the first time
An urgent relocation of a bookcase meant the Transporter was the ideal vehicle for the job.
It’s a well-known fact that if someone is running a van as a long-term test vehicle on a publication, colleagues suddenly become all friendly and charming to that individual and ask to borrow it. That’s exactly what happened this month, as I asked the very intelligent, witty and impossibly charismatic Jack Evans if he could lend me his Volkswagen Transporter.
I moved house during the summer, and for reasons that are too long and convoluted to explain right now, some of my furniture still needed to be moved from my old house to the new one. Bulky furniture, which couldn’t possibly fit in my long-term Mazda 3 – you can see where this is going.
The Transporter we have on our fleet is one of the smart new Sportline models. But importantly, it’s the Kombi model, so there’s a second row of seats, which sets it apart from the usual panel van version. It’s a clever alternative for those who want a work vehicle and a family load-lugger all in one package.
At first I thought that while the two-row layout was great showcasing how practical the Transporter is, it was going to be tricky loading long items, particularly my 6ft-plus bookcase. The bookcase was a non-negotiable item – I needed it in my new house to sit behind me on Zoom calls, just to make me look intelligent and well-read.
I’ve found removing the seats in previous Kombis to be a bit of a chore, but Volkswagen has improved this in this department with the new T7 Transporter. The second row is now made up of three individual seats rather than a two-seater bench and an individual seat, which not only means removing them is easier, but as a result they’re lighter. There’s a better rail system in the floor, too, and quick-release handles – again, two big improvements on earlier Kombis.
I only needed to remove one seat in the end, and it was a piece of cake – I didn’t need to eat a diet of spinach beforehand or have muscles like Popeye. The bookcase easily slid into place, aided by the smooth carpet the Kombi gets rather than a hard floor of the panel van.
As standard, the SportLine Kombi gets a one-piece rear door rather than two individual doors. But if you prefer the convenience of two, it’s a £336 option, which seems pretty cheap to me; it’s definitely more car-like with the single top-mounted door, but it is a little heavy. Especially for soft journalist’s hands.
Move completed, the van sat on my driveway for a couple of days, and I have to say that I couldn’t stop looking at it. The Sportline trim is a huge transformation over the standard Transporter, and it certainly gives it a very VW look. That might be an odd thing to say, but this T7 generation of Transporter has been built in partnership with Ford – in fact, if I were being really cynical, it’s a re-nosed Transit. The Sportline gives the Transporter more of a VW familiarity; with its red-trimmed grille, large alloys and pronounced split spoiler on the rear door, it’s very GTI-like.
The driving experience isn’t GTI-esque at all, but I wasn’t expecting it to be. We’ve got the 168bhp 2.0-litre diesel, and with 390Nm of torque it’s a punchy thing. The automatic gearbox works well, too, and it’s generally a pleasant thing to drive – you can feel the Transit relationship here, for sure. The ride is on the firm side, around town, but it softens up a bit when driving unladen.
The only thing that I struggled to get my head around was the interior. It’s well designed – ‘ergonomic’, I think, is the right terminology – with plenty of cubby holes and storage places, but the quality is more Ford than VW. That means robust but not very tactile materials, although the VW steering wheel and diamond-pattern-stitched leather seats do give a plush feel. But the Ford infotainment system is a bit tricky to use on the move, and the safety systems really do need to be switched off as they are quite intrusive.
I cannot deny that, just like its forebears, this current model is practical and well thought out. But perhaps more time behind the wheel will unlock some traditional Transporter magic.