T4 – 1990 to 2003: Turning on the car radio in 1990 without hearing a song by Phil Collins or Madonna and – in Germany – BAP, Westernhagen and Grönemeyer was practically impossible in the early 90s. This was the musical backdrop when Volkswagen presented the new T4 in August 1990. The fourth generation was a technical revolution. After 40 years of rear-wheel drive and a rear-mounted engine, Volkswagen completely changed the drive concept: from now on, the engines were located at the front; and they also no longer powered the rear axle, but the front wheels. Unless – as already optionally available in the T3 – the syncro drive was on board, which also powered the rear axle in the T4. This switch to front-wheel drive changed everything: design, chassis, engines and space. Much more room was now available above all at the rear, where on the T3 a fair bit of space was still taken up by the flat engine. Some of this was claimed by the new semi-trailing arm rear axle and the optional syncro all-wheel drive system, but the rest created extra cargo space. The new drive system layout made the handling even more like that of a passenger car.
At the front, the T4 became longer so as to provide sufficient space for the transversely mounted in-line four- and five-cylinder engines and to create better crash characteristics. At the market launch, T4 buyers could choose between three water-cooled petrol engines and two diesel engines (49 kW/61 PS to 81 kW/110 PS). All-wheel-drive fans could buy a T4 syncro from 1993. From 1995, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles acted as an independent brand within the Group. This was celebrated in January 1996 with a comprehensive update of the T4. There were a particularly large number of changes under the bonnet. A 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine was introduced in the T4 as the first turbodiesel direct injection engine (TDI) in a VW Transporter. The longer front section of the passenger car variants now allowed the integration of the VR6 petrol engine with a capacity of 2.8 litres. From 1998, the top-of-the-range TDI produced a remarkable 111 kW (151 PS), while the six-cylinder even unleashed up to 150 kW (204 PS). Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles heralded the end of T4 production with an exclusive special model: the Multivan Last Edition with particularly generous standard equipment. After a production period of 14 years and around two million units built, the revolutionary T4 was replaced by the T5 in 2003.