Volkswagen Caravelle T5


The thing about space, is that you never really appreciate it until you don't have enough. That 2 door sports car seems great until the holiday is planned or she pees on a stick and looks at you all doe eyed before breaking the news. People wagons are the antidote. Yup, the good old minibus. The trouble with them is, well, you have to drive around in a bus, and while many of us had fireman fantasies in days gone by, not too many of us pictured our future firmly behind the wheel of something resembling public transport, with all the delirious luxury and elegance attached to the idea.

Now I have a distinct bias towards performance cars, and knowing a bus was on its way was hardly keeping me waiting in paroxysms of expectant bliss. My first drive was a quick one. Barely enough time to form a real opinion.

I loved it. Walk towards it and press the (optional) buttons for the side doors to power open and you begin to get the idea. This car is packed with great features. Versatility with grace and not a little luxury. Seating seven in leathered comfort, the rear bench seat slides forward and back, allowing you to choose between boot space (which has a roll up cover) and legroom. Both of which are overly generous to begin with. The centre two armchairs, swivel around allowing far better mobile conferencing than the average luxury barge, with better air conditioning. There are three working air-con zones, with some very clever ducting. There is even an optional table thingy. Part table, part magazine rack, part stowage centre, holding everything from large bottles to little Jimmy's favourite toys. The table even changes height and swivels.

Not that stowage is an issue here. It abounds, from any of the seven seats. Power points too, those little cigarette lighter sockets are as prolific as cupholders on an american car. Even one built into the drivers seat. If you want to splurge out, order the optional fridge, with heating and cooling systems and an extra battery system. Land Rover and Toyota Landcruiser, I hope you are taking notes. The car is fitted with a proper rail system to which these seats and accessories slide and remove relatively easily from. The front seats have heating and two arm rests each. They are super comfortable. The walk through flat floorplan, allows one to get to and from any seat with ease.

There is a lot of glass and visibility from any seat is unbelievable. This is the perfect game viewing vehicle for any family. The 135kw 2.0 diesel is not able to turn this into a fire breathing dragon of a car, but it does allow you to more than keep up with the cut and thrust of daily driving, and while acceleration is not the thing, has excellent freeway capabilities, never leaving you feeling underpowered. The DSG gearbox remains my favourite. The 7 speed dual clutch box in this case not being VW's best use of it. They left off the flappy paddles, and they are missed. They also seem to have set it up to behave in a way more reminiscent of a traditional auto box, and I think this is a mistake.

Don't get me wrong, it isn't irritating like a bad auto and never hunts or gets silly, it just doesn't have the immediacy of all the other DSGs I have tried.

Perhaps it was just the test vehicle, which seemed to have been put through its paces by every other journo judging by the high odometer reading. My only other complaint is the sound system. Poor radio reception by bluetooth is fitted, and despite regular references to the manual, once I connected my phone to it, the car took the phone over, not allowing me access through the phone keypad. While the Polo I recently tested had the best bluetooth I have ever used, this was not a pleasure. Perhaps I fail to get it?

The car is outstanding. Fuel consumption of around 8l/100km. It corners very flat for what should feel like a bus, the steering feel is surprisingly good. Other than the driving position, which took a day or so to acclimatise too, this became one of those few cars I didn't want to give back.

This is the people wagon for those of us who grew up on a GTi.