The VW Touran doesn't make its claim for favour on style, which is quite pedestrian really. Rather it depends on its pedigree and how it actually does its job.

Based on the Golf platform, it was the first VW-badge vehicle to roll out on the latest underpinnings, so since the middle of last year or so it has had time to get itself known in the compact MPV field.

And, plain Jane or no, it has received very good reviews indeed, not just for its ability in accommodating up to seven people, but also on how well it drives. Unlike its larger Transporter-based sibling, it has no van antecedents and behaves at all times like the well-bred car it comes from.

The review version was the 1.9-litre TDi, which has 105bhp on tap. And until I checked, I thought it was the even punchier 136bhp version, so decent was the torque when pull was called.

It comes with a six-speed shift, which kind of threw me a few times because the gate is quite compact and occasionally put me into a different gear than I'd intended. But I know it would not be a problem if I was living with the car for longer than the weekend I was able to give it.

To come back to the handling, I can only reinforce what I said above. It is truly car-like, helped by a very direct steering and enhanced by the high-riding position which gives a chance to anticipate road and traffic conditions a little easier than in many cars.

Opel put it up to this segment when it was first to go seven-seat, with a patented foldaway rear seat business. But there's a lot of catch-up going on, and it is a fact that flexibility in this segment of the MPV market is way ahead of that in the large people carriers, where seats usually have to be removed and left behind if certain configurations are required.

Most manufacturers in this family segment are doing it with simplicity and ease of use in mind. The Touran's rearmost seats can be tipped over in a one-handed movement and leave a completely flat floor behind. Though the headrests must be removed and are stored in a special compartment first.

And, like most of this segment vehicles, the actual leg depth is shallow, so an adult will find a knees-under-chin posture which doesn't make for long journey comfort. Kids' zone, really.

The middle seats include a centre one which can be flipped over to make a central table for two passengers. All three can have their backs down, which gives a usable but not flat space. And for further luggage area, they can be rolled over forward, but that leaves a complicated underfloor and a rather 'belt and braces' set of struts to keep them in place.

Loading through the rear I found that the door in elevated mode could preferably have been a little higher. But then I'm 6'2" and still probably not the standard operator profile.

The luggage cover bar can be in two places, to cover the space if the rear seats are down, or right behind them if up. A bit fiddly to change, and I suspect that if there's much of that, it will get left in the garden shed.

Otherwise, the interior is standard VW, with sound system and heater/ventilation controls from the same parts bin as used by Skoda, SEAT and latest Golf. Nothing wrong with that, though some competitors do score better in the style stakes.

As driven, there was no aircon, nor was there a sunroof. On the other hand, the sunroof space was taken up by a series of roof-mounted drop-down storage spaces. And there are many other storage places too, including a couple of pull out trays under the front seats and spaces under the seat pads in the second row.

Bottom line, Touran buyers are going to get as much as they expect, which includes a good degree of practicality. They might not expect it to be as good a drive as they actually get, and there's a bonus.