Ever since TV went digital our local PBS station has three channels, with 23/3 being the MHz Worldview channel featuring things like France 24 News, This is Beijing, My India, the Swedish detective series “Wallender,” in Swedish, etc.  While awake at 0400 this morning I found an English language show called “Drive It” on DW-TV, sort of like a German “Motorweek,” and one of the spotlight tests was of the new T5 Multivan that is not imported here.  

For those who’ve only seen still pix of this van it was a treat, but basically a brochure in motion with the handsome and stately vehicle shown being driven around left curves, right curves, down tree-lined roads, etc..  All bland exterior shots and nothing very exciting.  Some of the highlights: Weekender-type interior with second row seats that face forward or rotate to face rearward across the fold-up table, twin-turbo TDI with a top speed of 192 KM/h, seven-speed dual-clutch manumatic, 7.9 liters/100 KM (is that about 30 MPG?), and costs from the basic 30,000 Euros to the as-tested 49,000.  Wowch!  I did get back to sleep secure in the knowledge that I would not be buying one soon, for many reasons.

Stephen