Sharan/Touran - could it mark the end of the current VW grille?
Please, let it be so. The current chromed snout on VWs offerings is not only beastly to look at, it doesn't help Audi's cars stand apart, either. We suppose that cuts both ways -- VW probably benefits by a familial resemblance to their cousins. However, the front end on the upcoming Sharan/Touran twins looks to hint at the future face of Volkswagen, we hope.There's a bumper crop of spiffy van-lets over on the Continent right now, and the Touran/Sharan are latecomers to the party. The vans won't drop until 2010, due to styling tweaks that Martin Winterkorn has reportedly requested.
The Sharan will likely be available with sliding doors, while the Touran will make do with conventional front-hinged points of entry. A healthy selection of powertrain options is expected to be available, from the turbocharged FSI 2.0 liter four cylinder to a 3.2 liter FSI VR6, along with the requesite TDI powerplants. 4Motion will be available, which we'd love to sample hooked up to the gruntiest of the diesels (which will surpass the VR6 in torque output). Being based on the Passat's underpinnings yields a van that's easy to wield while offering great space-efficiency. We like the look of these boxy family haulers, with their crisp edges and large glass areas, but alas, we'll have to take up intercontinental jet-setting if we wish to drive them.
[Source: Autobild via German Car Blog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dausman 9:29AM (5/05/2007)
M-B looking grill ?
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Avinash machado 10:13AM (5/05/2007)
VW needs to work on reliability too.
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Ligor 10:17AM (5/05/2007)
I agree with #1,
to add to it, it seems liek a cross of the new M-B and G35 grill
I guess the chiness are not the only ones copying
the Germans do it too.
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tim 10:29AM (5/05/2007)
Dausman is right. It's a steal of the new MB corporate look of the smiley face. Again, not very original, but if you're going to steal, do so from MB, Buick, BMW, like the Asians do. VW's steal of the AUDI look was an attempt to give VW some class. This is the same move only, sorry to the pig snout lovers, much better design. Has a little bit of the Saturn L/new Aura grill look too, but that wasn't executed as nicely as MB/spy VW, the Saturn needed more chrome.
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OZZY 10:53AM (5/05/2007)
SHARAAAAAN!!!
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Malcolm Ryder 11:49AM (5/05/2007)
This new grille is hugely boring. Only virtues are in adding the illusion of width and differentiating from Audi (although we don't know what Audi will do next, so that's not a plus, that's just speculation). Current VW/Audi grille is vastly more interesting in the way that it sets up small car designs (GTI, & best new iteration Audi TT) as voracious air-burners, solving the design problem tha Subaru has failed to solve three model generations in a row, and interestingly that the current Shelby *did* solve the same way. Meanwhile it sets up larger car designs (Jetta/Passat) in the key new compositional language that from the front view keeps the mass and verticality of the left and right sides of the car (see Cadillac CTS, Bentley, Chrysler 300). On the larger cars, the problem is not the grille, it's usually silly proportioning of horizontal headlamps, which is easily exacerbated by *poor* use of decorations like chrome. The larger grille simply requires the entire front end to have overall visual restraint. Also, the larger grille is not a "nose", it's a "mouth". The grille on this Sharan/Touran is completely boring -- a giant step backwards. But it's safer, so more people will pay for it, and that's why it will get done.
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Marty Vance 1:39PM (5/05/2007)
Yes, the grille sharing between VW and Audi the past few years smacks of blatant badge engineering.
This grille really seems to hearken back to the previous VW design language, but it's terribly boring.
With everyone paying so much attention to the new Scirocco, why don't they take some design cues from it? The heavily chromed hexagon shape is distinctive, and a lot can be done with it, especially if they make the bumper bar running through the middle a lot less obvious.
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jgp 2:05PM (5/05/2007)
Well, it's better than the horrid grill they're currently using on the Jetta, R32, and others.
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gus 2:07PM (5/05/2007)
Can someone tell me what's special about the new "Grille"???
My MkIII and MkIV Golf had the same big VW emblem in the middle, and then two horizontal bars grille.
Am I missing something?? Help!
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big L 5:14PM (5/05/2007)
spending a lot of lines on cars that will never be sold in the USA
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Mike G 8:58PM (5/05/2007)
Re #6, how can you say the new grille is so boring when the whole care is boring, have you even noticed all VW's have been boring for the last decade? It's hella boring!
I agree, redesign the grille, but don't stop there, redo the whole car. Look at the new 08 Mitsu Lancer, now that's a spicy meatball...
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Sherief 2:59AM (5/06/2007)
The GTI's blacked out grille is spiffy.
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nagmashot 5:49AM (5/06/2007)
my good guys that are renderings done by a car magazine painter... not the real deal
There is nothing copyed... because this is not real...the drawings are from Autobild drawer Huckfeldt
That is what they think the future VW´s could look like
Touran
http://media.autobild.de/bild/B/1604bca645e791a0507251d5d99dd35b_1.jpg
http://media.autobild.de/bild/A/1fc40bc3eda9a1a97052ae61a63b804a_1.jpg
Sharan
http://media.autobild.de/bild/2/808db4b5d45b13fb45f74b437d1beaf2_1.jpg
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Sean 11:04AM (5/09/2007)
This just looks like a photo-chopped Nissan minivan by a magazine looking for a story.
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Malcolm RYder 1:27AM (5/10/2007)
re: #11 -- as our pal John McEnroe would say, "you have got to be joking!" No, but respectfully, if you like what the Lancer lines suggest, then instead think about what an angry Eos would look like. However, VW lines typically are subtle, not for everyone.
On the other hand, the Lancer ES in profile looks like a Kia trying to be... a BMW (gee what a shock), and even on the Lancer website http://www.lancerproject.com/lancer/?cid=Google_lancer the only gripping views of the vehicle are the half of one photo where the grille is blacked out, confessing its envy of (gasp) a VW or Audi... and the upshot of the rear explaining that the taillights were lifted from Lexus.
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jeff 10:24PM (6/07/2007)
#11, you are extremely stupid. You said "the whole care is boring". I'm pretty sure you meant car, but you're too dumb to spell correctly. VW's cars are not boring. You've probably never driven one, because you're not cool enough. Mitsubishis are crap.
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