VW's new Touran: The most connected car around?

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VW's new Touran: The most connected car around? VW's new Touran: The...

Derryn Wong

03/07/2015

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS –
Given the new, third-gen Volkswagen Touran is based on the VW Group’s latest MQB platform, it’s no surprise the car’s packed with tech.
But one area where the small MPV is really leading the charge is in-car connectivity technology.

Higher-spec Tourans (those packing the new ‘Discover Media’ and ‘Discover Pro’ full-colour, touchscreen infotainment systems) will have full connectivity options, or as its product marketing specialist Piotr Mitka says, “The Touran will be able to talk to almost any smartphone on the market.”

Not only will it speak TO iOS devices through Apple CarPlay, like the Audi Q7 we tested earlier this year, it also packs Android Auto. Both services allow you to connect your smartphone to the car, to navigate through it and receive notifications as well as operate certain apps (such as music streaming app Spotify) all through the ‘head unit’ itself.

TEST DRIVING TECH: CarBuyer tries out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

Another option of controlling a smartphone is also offered through MirrorLink, a third-party smartphone control app/tech that works on both Android and Apple products. We wanted to try Android Auto and MirrorLink with our test drive of the new Touran here in Amsterdam but ironically, apps for both aren’t available in the Singapore version of Google’s Play App store. In contrast, Apple’s CarPlay is already available on third-party infotainment systems like Pioneer’s.

What’s also interesting is Volkswagen’s own native connectivity environment, called Car Connect, which is an expanded set of functions (like BMW’s ConnectedDrive) that include traffic alerts, parking information and even augmented search and navigation with Google and Street View. If you have a camera such as a GoPro, you can even mount that in the back and it’ll stream video to the front screen so you can keep an eye on the kiddies.

VW isn’t the first to offer this type of connectivity of course: Audi and BMW have similar, but the Touran is very likely the first non-luxury vehicle anywhere to have such a host of choices when it comes to keeping yourself in the grasp of the grid.

Stay tuned for our review of the new 2015 Volkswagen Touran soon!

About the Author

Derryn Wong

CarBuyer's former chief editor was previously the editor for Top Gear Singapore and a presenter for CNA's Cruise Control motoring segment.

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