Our Vans: Volkswagen T5 Transporter Kombi Sportline
20 October 2014: Has our Sportline been usurped?
The Details
| Current mileage | 4229 |
|---|---|
| Claimed economy | 37.2mpg |
| Actual economy | 33.0mpg |
When our Transporter Sportline arrived in the summer (remember that, when it was all sunny and sort of warm), it was the top of the range model in the Transporter line-up. A full bifta £38k worth of white van loveliness. But now that's changed because a new pesky whippersnapper has taken its place.
As the Transporter is now amazingly 60 years old in the UK, having been launched at the 1954 Earl's Court Commercial Vehicle show, alongside a prototype of the Routemaster Bus, Volkswagen is keen to celebrate this. And that means a new Sportline 60 model that replaces the 'standard' Sportline. The king is dead. Or not. He just has some new stripes down the side.
Of course if you're buying a new Transporter Sportline now, you'll be getting a 60 edition as standard. Underneath it's the same as the Sportline we're running. So you get the excellent 2.0 BiTDI 180PS engine and a choice of a standard six-speed manual gearbox or an optional seven-speed DSG automatic.
Like the old Transporter Sportline it comes as either a standard panel van or a kombi (like ours) and there are standard and long wheelbase versions, with one roof height. And as before there's a choice of three colours - Candy White (with the black roof) as an option along with Reflex Silver and Deep Black.
Posher stripes. Get you Sportline 60...
So what does it get to justify the 60 part of the name? Well in terms of styling it's not too different. There are special decals down the side (which I'm not sure about) along with black rather than silver steel side bars. You can get anthracite wheels as above or the black and silver two-tone wheels as fitted to our van. Perhaps the biggest visual change is the standard fit of xenon headlights with an LED daytime running light strip. It's something that's notable by its absence on our Sportline.
Our Sportline cost £38,615 on the road including VAT while the equivalent short wheelbase kombi Sportline 60 is priced at £39,658. So what do you get for your extra £1000? Well the differences are most noticeable inside. The leather seats are now posher with a quilted finished, very Bentley-esque, which don't have the garish grey inserts of the standard Sportline.
Perhaps the most useful addition is cruise control, something which I'm surprised was not standard previously given this is the top of the range Transporter. The rather duff Kenwood stereo and nav system remains but does at least now include a reversing camera.
With the new Transporter T6 due in 2015 this could be one of the last Sportline editions Volkswagen will produce in the T5 bodystyle. It may not be a big step-up from the previous Sportline, but then it was already such a good looking and well equipped van, there was very little else Volkswagen could add to it.
« Earlier: A leaky Transporter problem Later: Can you really have performance and economy? »
