The heir to one of Volkswagen's most iconic models is updated for 2021.

Volkswagen Multivan

Price: $79,500.

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel, 110kW/340Nm, 7-speed automatic, FWD, combined economy 6.6L/100km.

Vital statistics: 4904mm long, 1904mm wide, 1970mm high, 3000mm wheelbase,18-inch alloy wheels.

We like: It's a unique take on the people mover, loads of passenger space, clever interior fitout, highly efficient powertrain.

We don't like: No spare wheel, no orthodox power plug.

 AS is typical of best-laid plans, this one didn’t wholly go as I’d imagined it would.

The idea was brilliantly simple. I thought.

 We’re motorsport fans. The New Zealand Grand Prix had moved up from our favourite locale, Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, up to the Hampton Downs track in south Waikato. It would be Ken Smith’s 50th turn-out. Toyota New Zealand and circuit owner Tony Quinn had mustered a who’s who of famous Kiwi ‘name’ drivers to join the veteran great on the grid.

Irresistible, right? Particularly since I was down to test what logically seemed to be the perfect vehicle for such a roadie.

Before getting into that … basically, there were four starters to do this: Myself and Mrs B, and two mates.

We were at the point of sorting accommodation when things got wobbly.

Josh, so straight-out enthusiastic, had cold feet. Convincing his partner hadn’t gone well. “She’s threatening me with a visit to A and E.” One man down, just like that.

Big Jerry was still 100 percent in. But with a caveat. His much-loved but all-too-under-utilised motorbike needed a run, sooooo … a twist. He’d ride the Triumph to Hamilton, where we’d found digs, then ride in our vehicle to and from track on race day. Which he did.

This meant, all the same, that for 80 percent of its utilisation, ‘VIP1’ – our preferred reference for what Volkswagen calls a Multivan 6.1 Cruise – was tragically under-utilised.

Just Team Bosselman aboard and upfront meant the ‘lounge’ behind was, for much of our escapade, as empty as a Queenstown tourist hotel.

 We only managed to fill the ‘back room’ to something like capacity for a Saturday trip to a restaurant, Jerry and two old friends from Cambridge making a party of five for a 20-minute run each way.

That was the only occasion when the mid-row bucket seats were experienced on the move in their rear-facing position. Ken preferred to face forward, Julie taking the plunge and finding it “weird but comfortable.”

In fact, comfort was the common feedback factor from all, as well it should be. 

In this market, vans are associated much more with moving pallets and parcels than people. In Europe, VW’s mainstay model goes … well, both ways. In addition to formatting for cargo, this mobile box also fits out for human cargo.

The end result is hugely impressive. As much as a Multivan obviously draws from the Transporter commercial vehicle, look inside and it’s another, wholly VW-designed, impressively plush world:.

Ours was a standard wheelbase front-drive edition configured for day-tripping, so although it could convert into a mobile bedroom – assuming you don’t mind laying on the floor - , it’s really more a mobile dayroom, with two chairs up front purely for travelling plus three more in the back, provisioning as another pair of chairs that can swivel backwards to face big bench set up for three occupants. Everything, including a clever cubby that converts into a table, affixed to a tracking system in the floor. This allows all elements to slide, tilt, rotate and be removed completely, allowing the Multivan to transform from people mover into a full-blown van.

It’s not a complete Tardis, in that the packaging ultimately only allows a fully expansive rear guest room at expense of luggage room. Yet it’s not impossible to cart luggage and bodies. You just have to get creative. Sure, when the back seat is ALL the way back, the floor space reduces considerably: Basically, think Suzuki Swift. But you still gets loads of vertical room and, with a bit of thought about it could all stack without toppling, I got four bags - one each for us, two for Jerry (a bloke who apparently packs for EVERY possible occasion) – slotted in. Heading back two days later, I recognised that all that stuff could just as eaaily stow behind those reverse-faced chairs. If you were a family heading off, you’d use the roof rails and maybe fit a pod. Or big a bigger version. VW does those.

For me, though, what I got was just right and very pleasing; which kind surprised, because I’m anything but a ‘van man’. Yet, this one is so well considered I was pretty much won over; as vehicle configurations go, it gives a pretty solid reason to think outside the box. Even though that’s what it is.

The Cruise trim we experienced is a step up from the alternate Comfortline for equipment level. You’ll find some snazzy appointments within a space accessing by electric-opening (by touch or remote) sliding side doors and the thoughtfulness of the design is compelling, while for quality of materials, fit and finish it was well ahead of the far-from-inexpensive motel room we took for two nights. Maybe I should have thought about sleeping in the van. The motel’s bed was terrible, too.

The attention to technology detail really impresses. One of the big changes for this year is adoption of a dashboard straight from the latest VW cars, so you get a neat touchscreen with all the latest gadgets and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto inclusion. You know a brand is right up to speed when the personal electronics inputs are high-flow US-C types (don’t worry, US-B users, VW provisions an adapter). And in case you were wondering – there’s no chance of mid-flight escape from those side doors as there’s a child lock activated electrically from the dashboard.

The internal versatility isn’t entirely complete; there was sad faces within Team B on realisation that it lacks the three-point plug input required to run our Nespresso Pixi coffee machine. No fridge, either. But you could get around both (and we did) to enable the roadside ‘scenic spot’ coffee stop between Waiouru and Turangi, shifting to the back so as to enjoy the seating and table (which is also so perfect as a work station you could imagine it opening up as easily as a mobile office  as a use beyond weekend jaunts).

As a refresh of the T6 (which debuted in 2016), which in turn carried over the same platform that traces back to the T5 in 2003 (that, in turn, looks all the way back to the Type 2, colloquially known by every Kiwi as the Kombi),  the 2021 line achieves styling revisions that tie it more neatly with VW’s latest cars without any awkwardness. So, apart from the interior reshape, it also has a grille design replicating that of other Volkswagen models from the crossover and sports utility family. This one also had a chrome pack, darkness-piercing LED headlights and continued a Kombi-born tradition, of a two two-tone, ‘white on the bottom trendy colour of your choice’ paint scheme. Spearmint green seemingly being a bit too wild for some.

That 10.25-inch 'Digital Cockpit' instrument display and a huge touch-operated infotainment screen, on which users can adjust the layout to show driving data, full-screen mapping information from the navigation system or alternately use it as an Apple CarPlay portal, is brilliant, though integration didn’t operate seamlessly. I’m wondering if my iPhone is also to blame; you always hear about designed obsolescence and, after two and a bit years, the Bluetooth seems a bit dodgy. However, VW’s set-up also seems to demand decent WiFi link-up and that’s not a given in the central North Island. Driving up from the Manawatu and via Taupo then Tokoroa and to Cambridge provided a seamless podcast-listening, call-taking and making and map-using operability. Whereas coming back via the western side of Lake Taupo took us into a black spot that put the integration into quite a tizz. Even after radio reception returned, the phone integration never properly enabled for the rest of that day.

Never mind, the driving in itself was entertaining. For sure, the van-ness puts it in a wholly different category to a road car, but for those with SUV driving experience there’s a lot more similarity.

 You sit more upright in a van, yes, and there’s a dashboard gear selector, but there’s plenty of adjustment for the seat and the steering wheel (rake and reach) and though you do rely even more on the sensors, mirrors and excellent rear vision camera to cover off all the blind spots, forward visibility is mostly unobstructed. This, the imperious driving position and sense that it’s a vehicle that rewards those who respect its 2300kg mass and stance don’t make it much different than, say, a large Range Rover.

The model featured is powered by a 2.0-litre 110kW/340Nm turbodiesel. This churns through a seven-speed twin-clutch trans to spin the front wheels. There is a factory engine update package that boosts the grunt and other versions are all-wheel-drive. Maybe you’d look at that power upgrade if you were frequently going to be driving with most of the seats filled, and some luggage aboard, and AWD is good for all-weather, but neither seems an absolute imperative.

For sure, there’s good reason why you won’t see a GTI badge on the back of one of these. This drivetrain is more about hauling big kilos then high kmh count sprinting; it’s a toiler. There’s some brief turbo lag from idle, easily overcome by giving the throttle a decent stab initially then easing off when the torque arrives; that doesn’t take long. At same token, it’s far from being a road slug like a full-out campervan; when opportunity came to overtake, it delivered well.

 Low-end muscularity is what this engine is all about; you get a big wave of twisting force served up from just 1500rpm to 3000rpm. It’ll rev harder but, for the most part, you find no need to make it do that. That’s the sweet spot pretty much all the time. Even within that band, it’s hardly being stressed. Giving the throttle a small nudge on the throttle was quite enough to keep it settled on 100kmh on some serious ascents.

Having the seven-speed automatic helps, and it acts swiftly and smoothly to move up through the gears and exploit the engine's torque.

The benefits of how it presents as driven seem two-fold. First, it’s surprisingly refined. The only diesel clatter comes at start-up; from there on it’s a low-toned background noise. Second, when tooling around in a tall gear at a steady clip trip, it becomes impressively thrifty. I was stunned that the trip computer’s long term average at journey’s end was reading 7.2 litres  per 100km. That’s just 0.6L/km off the claimed optimal and better by 0.2L/100km than I saw from our Skoda Karoq TDi after our last big run.

This frugality meant the VW only needed a single refuel, which was more of a top-up since most of what I put in before leaving Hamilton still seemed to be in the tank 400kms down the line.

The refuelling exercise highlighted one quirk; the filler location is on the left side, right by the passenger door, which needs to be opened first so that the fuel hatch can be opened. Obviously, something that makes more sense when a driver is located on that side.

One salient change with this model is VW’s move to electro-mechanical power steering. You might not notice the change in respect to how it feels. That’s not the point. The more important reason for its implementation is that it enables better driver assistance systems to be added: Lane-keep assist, lane departure warning and park assist are now available. There’s also autonomous emergency braking (up to 30kmh), blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

Another element that will surely be appreciated is a cross wind assist that automatically activates at speeds above 80kmh. Should the van be hit by a sudden gust – or buffeted by a truck’s slipstream - the ESC will activate one or more of the brakes to help steer against it. If the vehicle begins to drift out of its marked lane at or above 60kmh, the system will counter-steer to correct its course. 

Some will argue that, with its commercial-grade bones, the Multivan doesn’t offer the same kind of ride sophistication that more dedicated passenger vehicle platforms offer. I take that point.

On the other hand, there’s a practicality and value side here that also demands consideration, though it might not be readily apparent.

Thought about this rose in the aftermath of this test, when colleagues on a national publication offered thought about what kind of seven-seater SUV would be best suit a workmate whose family had recently grown.

Here’s the thing: The candidate seemed to be a city person who lived, worked and played in a city environment. So there was no absolutely valid reason for it to be any kind of SUV.

As it turned out, only one of his associates recognised this, in nominating the Mercedes GLB (car-based, tightly dimensioned, a good choice if perhaps a bit tight). The others, depressingly, all pitched XXL-sized $100k-plus off-road models as ‘best picks.’ 

For sake of failure to use a better descriptive - ‘vehicle’ would have done nicely - the Multivan at half the price as some of their choices delivering twice the efficiency and double the practicality was ignored.

What’s the hardest challenge to overcome for passenger-sorted vans? Quite obviously, it’s gotta be another ‘v’ word. Vanity.