Volkswagen TranSporter Shuttle Van Range
Hotels, taxi firms, tour operators, there are plenty of businesses that regularly need to transport groups of people over long distances in comfort. Even private buyers with extended families or a vast clutch of offspring of their own may find that conventional MPVs dont provide the requisite space. To these and other kinds of customer with multi-person transit on their agenda, Volkswagen offer the Transporter Shuttle. Able to seat up to nine adults, its a heady mix of van, MPV and minibus characteristics that could be just what youre looking for.
| Build |  |
| Comfort |  |
| Depreciation |  |
| Economy | |
| Equipment | |
| Handling | |
| Insurance | |
| Performance | |
| Styling |  |
| Value | |
Similarly, there are MPVs on the market which their manufacturers claim can accommodate eight people but on closer inspection, these vehicles usually have at least two seats that are really only suitable for children or hobbits. Most businesses, with the possible exception of airline operators, are highly reluctant to shoehorn fully-grown, paying clients into spaces that would cramp a medium to large monkey and so these MPVs are less than ideal. By contrast, Volkswagen claim the Transporter Shuttle can seat up to nine in comfort and, refreshingly, it can. So were off to a good start.
If you want to create a passenger-carrying vehicle with the maximum possible interior space, a van is a sensible place to start. Space inside MPVs is often impinged on by a need to make the outside look pretty but commercial vehicle designers are not so restricted by aesthetic considerations. The Transporter Shuttle is based on the Transporter van and externally it looks just like a Transporter van with windows down the sides. Its not the sleekest of shapes but inside buyers certainly reap the benefits of all that space.
The Shuttle is available in short or long wheelbase form with even the shorter model offering a 5.8m3 volume. The LWB version ups this to 6.7m3 and even with all the seats in place it still provides loadspace behind the rearmost row thats nearly a meter in length.
You could conceivably carry nine people and their luggage in the long wheelbase Shuttle but the absence of that extra 400mm between the arches means that the SWB version has only half the space out back. A roof rack may be in order.
"Volkswagen claim, can seat up to nine in comfort and, refreshingly, it can"
Volkswagen offer a plethora of people carrying vehicles based on their latest Transporter van of which the Shuttle is just one constituent part. The Caravelle is the most luxurious with its swivelling seats and central folding table. Then theres the Kombi which has just one row of seating behind the driver leaving the whole rear section free for cargo. The Shuttle slots in above the Window van which has the same amount of passenger accommodation but is a more basic heavy-duty product, doing without some of the Shuttles Plusher features.
The likes of roller blinds for the side windows, electrically adjustable mirrors and electric windows all help lift the Shuttle above the level of a mere minibus. Meanwhile the SE trim level adds body coloured bumpers, air-conditioning and carpets to edge the Shuttle within spitting distance of the Caravelle. The Shuttles ninth seat is actually a cost option and it takes the form of a twin front passanger seat that replaces the standard single one to create the extra capacity. Head, leg and shoulder room on both of the 3-seater rear benches is good but there seems to be less space for the two passengers perched upfront in the nine seater versions.
Unless you actually need the ninth berth, it may do better to saving your money and getting an eight-seater Shuttle. The Shuttles van underpinnings may put some prospective buyers off simply because they associate commercial vehicle origins with industrial ride and refinement. In fact, the vehicle is a pleasant drive with one of four excellent diesel engines taking care of the legwork and the suspension doing a creditable job of ironing out the bumps. There is a tenancy for the Shuttle to get a but unsettled and bouncy over undulating surfaces but on the flat its smooth and the engine noise is well suppressed.
The engines are all Volkswagen TDI PD diesels. Two are 1.9-litre units and the remainder have a 2.5-litre capacity.
The smaller options generate 85PS and 104PS respectively and performance is reasonable but, as you can probably imagine, these engines do start to grow breathless with the full complement of passengers and luggage on board. The 2.5-litre options are the ones to go for if you plan on using your Shuttles full capacity. These units feel considerably more powerful and have bundles of torque for responsiveness from low down in the rev Range.
The 130PS option will be more than enough for most but theres always the 174bhp alternative should you need more under your right foot. The Shuttles gears are selected by a smoothly operating dash mounted gearbox with six speeds for the 2.5-litre models or five for the 1.9s.
The larger powerplants can also be ordered with a six-speed tiptronic automatic which actually suits the Shuttles character very well. Should you want the security of four-wheel-drive, the 4Motion system is available with the 130PS 2.5-litre engine but all models include ABS brakes and TCS traction control. Priced from under £20,000 on the road (£17,519 excluding VAT), the Transporter Shuttle looks and feels like a lot of car for the money.
Even the 174PS 2.5-litre model with long wheelbase and SE trim comes in under £25,000 and that has got to be enough to turn the heads of people who were considering paying £24,000 for a top-spec Ford Galaxy or £30,000 for one of the Plushest Chrysler Grand Voyager models. These traditional MPVs cant hold a candle to the Shuttle in terms of interior space or passenger accommodation and the Volkswagens van lineage means it feels considerably tougher as well. If space is your final frontier, the Shuttle is a model you should give serious consideration to.
Facts At A Glance
CAR: Volkswagen Transporter Shuttle Range
PRICES: £17,519 - £23,119 (ex VAT) ENGINES: 1.9-litre PD TDI (85 or 104PS), 2.5-Litre PD TDI (130 or 175PS)
PERFORMANCE: [2.5 TDI 175PS] 0-60mph - 12.2 seconds/ max speed 117mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.9 TDI 104PS] (Urban) 29.7mpg (Extra Urban) 42.2mpg (Combined) 36.7mpg
