Review of the new Volkswagen Sharan 2.0 TDI 140

Families ask a lot of their vehicles but few kinds of car can answer more of those questions than the large MPV. The Sharan is Volkswagen's idea of the ultimate big people carrier, with a variety of seating options and punchy yet economical engines. Sliding side doors enhance access, plus all the seats themselves offer plenty of space and magically disappear when you don't need them. There are more affordable options in this class - but few better ones, especially in the popular 2.0 TDI 140 diesel guise we look at here.

Volkswagen wasn't the first maker to popularise People Carriers across Europe but, along with partner Ford, they were the first, back in the Nineties, to make them palatable. MPVs, it seemed, didn't have to be bus-like. They didn't have to be grudge purchases. Having a family is supposed to be fun. In many respects, owning an original Volkswagen Sharan actually was.

But time moves on and so do the needs of People Carrying-people. Today, the Sharan is only one of four MPVs the German brand offers and the availability of less expensive Caddy and Touran models that also have seven seats has pushed it up-market, making it bigger - and more powerful. Which has had to happen at the same time as the car becoming more efficient and less expensive to run. Not an easy brief to meet, but the result of it has been that Volkswagen's defining People Carrier is, once again, more palatable for fast-moving families. It's moved on - but will potential buyers want to move on with it? We decided to find out at the wheel of the most popular 2.0 TDI 140 variant.

Bigger though it is, this car is actually about 30kgs lighter than its predecessor, a rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick that must have occupied Wolfsburg's finest brains for many of the fifteen or so years it took Volkswagen to bring an all-new Sharan to market. As a result, perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised that it's actually quite an eager thing to drive on the road. The 2.0 TDI 140PS diesel we tried is the one that most customers will choose, relaxed, refined and with plenty in reserve for short notice overtaking. Its merits are certainly enough to ensure that two more powerful options - a 170PS 2.0 TDI diesel and a 200PS 2.0 TSI petrol - will remain of minority interest. As usual with Volkswagen Group products, the clever twin-clutch DSG semi-automatic 7-speed gearbox is available as an option.

"If you can afford one of these and need to move a large family, this is one of the classiest ways to get the job done.."

Also requiring an extra cost tick of the box is ACC adaptive chassis control, one of those systems that individually adjust the dampers at each wheel to give better body control, improve ride comfort or try and achieve a workable combination between the two should the driver over-ride the normal setting and select either 'Sport' or 'Comfort' modes. Normal seems the best compromise - which rather defeats the point of specifying DCC in the first place. We'd rather spend the extra money on the improved version of Volkswagen's Park Assist system that you'll find on the options list for this car. This can now guide you not only into parallel parking spaces but also those at right angles to the direction of traffic. Neat.

A 220mm increase in length means this Sharan is nearly five-metres long, as well as being 92mm wider and 12mm lower than its immediate predecessor. All increases which, as you'll find from a seat inside, have been put to very good use. Especially at the very back. Entry is by optionally electrical sliding doors these days and once in these rearmost chairs, kids will be delighted to find that they sit a little higher than those ahead, while their parents will discover that this is one of those unusual things: a 7-seater that seven fully-sized adults can actually fit into.

Second row occupants, who can recline their three individual seats for greater comfort on longer journeys and slide them by up to 160mm back and forth as required, are even better looked after, with the option for parents of flip-up booster cushions for use when needed. For business buyers really wanting to spread out, there's a more palatial six-seater version too. The problem though, with all these seats in the old model came when you didn't want them. For the really van-like carrying capacity promised by that boxy shape, you had to lug them out of the vehicle and store them in your garage - hardly ideal.

Today, thanks to this Sharan's clever EasyFold seating system, it's all very different. The five rearward seats fold flat into the floor in single easy movements, instantly freeing up an enormous 2,430-litres of cargo space that can be extended still further by folding the front passenger seat flat, allowing nearly three metres of load length. With five seats in use, the boot space is as much as 1,339-litres if you make use of the detachable mesh partition that allows cargo to be stacked to the ceiling. Travel 7-up and of course, it's a total that falls substantially - to 300-litres.

Before we get into this, my advice to families considering a 7-seater MPV would be to make sure that you're considering like with like. There are, after all, many compact People Carriers that claim to be 'seven-seaters' when all they really offer is a couple of extra eunuch seats that fold out from the boot. The whole idea of paying the extra money for a large MPV like this is that it can properly carry 7 adults anywhere. Which partly explains the £25,000 budget you'll probably need for this Sharan 2.0 TDI 140.

On the face of it, the biggest issue that this pricing represents for Volkswagen dealers is the availability of this car's virtually identical design stablemate, SEAT's Alhambra, for at least £1,500 less model-for-model. But they've a ready answer for that, pointing out that higher Volkswagen residuals should more than make up that difference. Outside of the Volkswagen Group, the Sharan's most obvious rival in the large MPV sector is Ford's Galaxy, a more dynamic rival but, like the SEAT, not one that will overly protect your investment when the time comes to sell.

All trim variants get the expected features at this price point - all-round electric windows, 2Zone electronic climate control and an eight-speaker stereo with digital radio reception and a socket for your iPod. Options include power for doors and/or tailgate, a panoramic glass roof and a neat retractable towhook that disappears under the rear valance. Safety-wise, there's seven airbags (including a driver's knee airbag and curtain airbags that run the length of the cabin), ESP stability control, the usual braking and traction aids and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Like every Sharan model bar the minority interest 2.0 TSI petrol variant, fuel economy on this 2.0 TDI 140 diesel model is helped by a standard Stop-Start system and regenerative braking, which both reduce the workload on the engine. The upshot is combined cycle economy at around 50mpg in regular use, whilst emissions are pegged at 143g/km. Sharan buyers can expect the usual sturdy VW residual values.

Creeps up on you doesn't it? The need for this kind of car I mean. The process that starts with that first wrestling match against an ISOFIX child seat and ends with mum and dad buried beneath a pile of bicycles, nappy bags, footballs and pushchairs ultimately leads to a large MPV. There are, it's true, bigger ones than this Sharan, but they relinquish the rewarding driving experience that this car pioneered at its launch all those years ago. And as I said at the beginning, having a family ought to be fun.

Not much chance of that if you're having to lug seats in and out every time you want to go to the dump - or indeed confining poor old granny to a third row berth so cramped she'll need massaging by the time you reach the garden centre. Which is why, with both these issues at last properly taken care of, this Volkswagen is such a hard option to ignore in the big people carrying sector, especially in the 2.0 TDI 140 diesel guise we've been looking at here. It isn't inexpensive but holds its value tenaciously and offers hi-tech features to match the advanced engineware under the bonnet. Bottom line? If you can afford one of these and need to move a large family, this is one of the classiest ways to get the job done.