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Zafira vs Touran - which should I choose?

An enlarging tribe of grandchildren means I need to change my 3yr old 2-litre diesel Vauxhall Antara for a seven-seater.

I have good offers on new Zafiras (e.g. loyalty bonus) but don't like the inflexibility of the centre-row bench seat. Friends have a VW touran which looks better inside, but more boxy outside. And no loyalty bonus to help me, of course.

Should I be worried about DPFs and Dual Mass Flywheels (DMFs) which often feature in the readers' letters?

Petrol engines don't use DMFs, I assume - correct?

My runs are often quite short - bad for DPFs I know, but no problem with my Antara so far.

Asked on 23 November 2011 by JB, Herefordshire

Answered by Honest John
The new Zafira Tourer has an entirely new three-centre seat arrangement, demonstrated on video here:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/vauxhall/vauxhall-.../

But yes, you should be worried about Diesel Particulate Filters if the car will be used for short runs from cold, and Dual Mass Flywheels if it's a manual or a DSG.

Virtually all four cylinder diesel manuals have DMFs.

(I thought an Antara was a a 7 seater. I've seen a 6' 6" guy get into the 3rd row of seats in one.)

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