Our Vans: Volkswagen T5 Transporter Kombi Sportline
15 August 2014: The Transporter goes out on loan
The Details
| Current mileage | 2132 miles |
|---|---|
| Claimed economy | 37.2mpg |
| Actual economy | 35.4mpg |
Our Transporter is proving popular as fellow motoring writer Kyle Fortune borrows it for a weeks holiday in Norfolk.
"David’s love of his Volkswagen wagon is high, so I was more than a little bit surprised when he said I could borrow it for a week-long family jaunt to Norfolk. I too have a soft spot for vans and his Sportline is pretty much my idea of the perfect family car. My wife needed convincing though, hence the loan.
By family I mean myself, my wife and my 2-year old boy and 4-month old daughter. As useful then as the gargantuan boot is my first concern was whether it offered Isofix fittings for child seats. There are two, which works, but they’re right beside each other on the bench side of the rear seat, the third passenger-side rear seat is denied an Isofix mount due to its folding function.
Thankfully my two are too young yet for any real sibling rivalry, but it would have been easier if the middle seat was free instead. Admittedly, as they get older and Isofix isn’t required, it would be less of an issue. Lifting the 2-year old over a sleeping baby, or more often than not, hauling him out for a hastily required wee wee stop wasn’t as easy as it would have been if there’d been more space between them.
The obvious answer would be to put the youngest (still in nappies) nearest the window, but that wasn’t ideal, either. Being able to walk through the cabin is a real benefit, though the optional driver’s side sliding door would be a useful - essential - add-on if you were really going to use this commercial as a family machine.
No need for folding in the Transporter with the buggy easy to wheel straight in
It works too, anyone with children will tell you it’s impossible to pack light. With the Transporter you don’t have to. It swallowed, with ease, and tied down with plenty of bungee cords; my pub bike and its child seat, a twin Phil and Teds buggy, a travel cot, a bouncer seat, high chair, two potties, my boy’s balance bike, a Tamiya Monster Beetle and Sand Scorcher radio controlled cars (for the kids, honest) and more suitcases and bags than your average luggage shop.
What it allows is the extras, the stuff that with our usual family Ford Grand C-MAX transport we’d have had to leave behind. This year the dog stayed with friends, though had she been with us her cage would have only taken up a corner of the massive loadspace and still not seen the luggage reach the top of the back seats.
The perfect family vehicle then? I think so, though my wife isn’t as convinced, but then when I’m around she gets a break from all the day-to-day loading and unloading duties. And that’s where the Transporter really shines. The ability to wheel the buggy into the back without having to fold it up first is an absolute joy. Being able to load bikes in the back is useful too, making David’s optioning of a bike rack seem rather unnecessary. The low loading floor makes for a perfect seat, while the rubber floor is both soft enough and wipe-cleanable for those swift roadside nappy-change pit-stops that any parent dreads.
That it’s big isn’t really a surprise though is it? It’s a van after all. If I were to buy one I’d look at partitioning up the loadspace more usefully, or going for the third-row rock-and-roll bed/seat and a pair of captain’s chair second row passenger seats. A quick browse on the internet - of which I’ve been doing too much - reveals all sorts of clever DIY, Volkswagen original equipment and aftermarket solutions for almost any need. That’s its appeal - it’s a true multi-purpose vehicle.
It may seem very big but doesn't look it alongside a new Citroen C4 Picasso and a Discovery
Like the best tools it’s simple, too simple perhaps for my wife. The lack of soundproofing and masses of space in the rear make for a sometimes boomy drive, road and suspension noise far more apparent than in a conventional MPV. The fiddly Kenwood touchscreen system lacks the punch to hear Radio 4 above the cacophony at speed, and the navigationv screen is all but invisible in sunlight. A Caravelle would sort out some of the refinement issues and I’d save the money on the integrated navigation and stick one the windscreen instead.
While Mrs Fortune might have found it a bit noisy and bouncy from the passenger seat I was loving every minute of driving it. There’s always something enjoyable about the lofty driving position a van brings, while 180PS from the 2.0-litre BiTDI meant that the view slipped by quickly. It’s indecently brisk for something so practical, masses of torque meaning plentiful skipped ratios on the pleasingly accurate and perfectly placed manual six-speeder.
On the rare occasions it wasn’t filled with kids and family paraphernalia it revealed it corners neatly, too. The steering is decent in its weight and response, but the real highlight is the leather-covered steering wheel itself, which is gloriously free of any other purpose than steering and beeping. Even driven without any regard to economy I managed 35.4mpg out of it.
I’m not prone to jealousy, but on this occasion I’ll make an exception. After a week with it I reckon it’s about as clever and useful a family car as you can buy, though I’ve still a job to do to convince my wife. Perhaps a Caravelle next year might do it…"
« Earlier: Transporter meets its ancestors Later: Racking up the miles - and the bikes »
