When is a van not a van? When it is the Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan Concept, a car that rather obviously closely previews the next generation Golf Plus. Indeed, you kind of wonder why they bothered calling it a concept at all... Anyway, it made its debut at the Volkswagen Group Night tonight and will be on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show from tomorrow and, we believe, will go into production in mid-2014.
Exterior
The Sportsvan uses, of course, Volkswagen's new MQB platform, which means it's closely related to the new Golf and also the Skoda Octavia, SEAT Leon and Audi A3. The styling plays things very similarly to that of the existing Golf Plus (think standard Golf only taller), but it's slightly bigger this time around: 83mm longer, 80mm wider and it has a 48mm longer wheelbase for more interior room.
Interior
That extra space is put to good use in the more family friendly Golf Sportsvan; the boot capacity is up from the Golf's 380 litres to a massive 498 litres. This can be increased to a whopping 585 litres by sliding the rear seats forward. The extra height of the Sportsvan will be appreciated by parents when it comes to loading child seats in the rear while children will revel in the space and view of the road ahead.
Like the regular Golf the Sportsvan can be equipped with a raft of standard and optional passive and active safety systems that include automatic post-collision braking system and a PreCrash system, which, upon detecting the possibility of an accident, pre-tensions seatbelts and closes the windows and sunroof, leaving just a small gap, to ensure the best possible protection from the airbags.
Mechanicals
Volkswagen engineers have elected to leave out the smaller Golf powerplants for the new Sportsvan so the engine range will start with four 1.4-litre TSI petrol engines with outputs of 85-, 110-, 125- and 150hp. On the diesel front there are three choices: 2.0-litre 150hp, 1.6-litre 90hp and 1.6-litre 110hp for the Sportsvan BlueMotion. All engines, excluding the lowest-powered petrol unit, can be ordered with a DSG automatic transmission and the entire line-up is Euro 6 compliant, plus has standard stop-start and battery regeneration technology.
Anything else?
To avoid confusion with any possible commercial versions of the Golf the Sportsvan will not be called such when it arrives in Ireland next year. Naming will be confirmed closer to launch but may we suggest Golf Plus?