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Sports cars usually excel in deer tests for their inherent agility, but the Volkswagen Multivan (T7) isn’t the most agile vehicle on sale today. Big and heavy, the large family carrier has a high roof and consequently a high center of gravity. It’s also quite a hog if we’re talking about the plug-in hybrid version as the extra bit of power pushes the curb weight to over 2,100 kilograms (nearly 4,700 pounds).
It’s safe to say the odds were against it from the start in this deer test organized by the Spaniards in km77. Measuring 235/50 R18, the Bridgestone Turanza T005 tires also don’t help as journalists have had disappointing experiences with that type of rubber in previous evasive maneuver tests conducted with other vehicles.
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After several failed deer tests without dropping any cones in the process, the VW T7 Multivan completed the track at a relatively low entry speed of 69 km/h (43 mph). That said, it is still slightly better than the Ford Tourneo Custom by having a 1 km/h higher entry speed. Journalists point out that the Blue Oval van reacts to driver input better.
The T7’s electronic stability control goes into action and reduces speed to 64 km/h (40 mph) at halfway before the boxy PHEV hits the track while doing 42 km/h (26 mph). Attempting to have a higher entry speed didn’t work as it didn’t take long for the Multivan to hit at least one of the cones.
In the next slalom test, the electrified Multivan performed better by giving the driver a better sense of control to make smoother directional changes. As in the deer test, the ESC plays its role in slowing down the vehicle. The vehicle takes 26.5 seconds to complete the slalom, so it fits perfectly into a much smaller and lighter car from the same Volkswagen Group, the new Skoda Fabia. For reference, the Polestar 2 has hit the fastest time so far, just 22.8 seconds.
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